Although open educational resources (OER) are high on the agenda of social and inclusion policies and supported by many stakeholders of the educational sphere, their use in HE and adult education (AE) has not yet reached the critical threshold which is posing an obstacle to a seamless provision of high quality learning resources and practices for citizens’ lifelong learning efforts. This has to do with the fact that the current focus in OER is mainly put on building more access to digital content. There is little consideration of whether this will support educational practices, promote quality and innovation in teaching and learning. The project OPAL therefore extends the focus beyond 'access' to 'innovative open educational practices' (OEP). OEP are defined as practices which support the (re)use and production of high quality OER through institutional policies, promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning path. OEP address the whole OER governance community: policy makers, managers/ administrators of organisations, educational professionals and learners. The project will support the mainstreaming of OEP, and will 1. study and map quality approaches and methods for quality and link them to OEP in order to provide validated European Guidelines for Quality and Innovation through OEP in HE and AE,2. launch the European Consultative Group for Quality and Innovation through OEP in order to concert existing initiatives, form a multistakeholder validation environment, and liaise with existing international networks in order to contribute a chapter on quality and innovation to them,3. set up the EU Open Educational Quality Clearinghouse in which peer-reviewed OER and OEP will be linked and which will serve as a Register for organisations which want to join the European Charter for Quality and Innovation through OEP, and 4. develop a European Award for Innovation and Quality through OER in HE and AE.