Several slide presentations 1st UNESCO Working Group on Open Science Policies and Policy Instruments, May 23, 2022.
National open science policies in Africa – Existing or in preparation
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Scholarly Communication Infrastructure Guide: Buy, Build, or Partner A Decision-Making Framework to Support Campus Leaders
“The Higher Education Leadership Initiative for Open Scholarship (HELIOS) created this rubric to assist institutions in making informed decisions when buying, building, or sharing/partnering on scholarly communication infrastructure.”
Open science round-up: April 2023 – International Science Council
“Open Science with an in society: Around eighteen months ago, all member states of UNESCO unanimously approved recommendations on Open Science. These recommendations could transform the meaning of Open Science beyond just providing access to research articles and data to fellow scientists.
The most far-sighted aspect of Open Science is embedded in ‘open dialogue with other knowledge systems’. Open Science acknowledges that knowledge also resides outside the realm of ‘scientific institutions, professionals & journals’ and calls for collaboration between diverse knowledge systems. However, the challenge lies in bridging the gap between different knowledge systems to address urgent global issues.
A recent international study on ‘Bridging Knowledge Cultures’ found that professional training of scientists and academic researchers often prevents them from appreciating the existence of other cultures of knowledge outside their field. For example, a representative of a tribal community from Dumka, a small town in India, asserts that knowledge is crucial for their daily life, while for academics, it is their profession.
The UNESCO Recommendations also highlight the importance of ‘open engagement of societal actors’ and value ‘citizen science’ and ‘participatory research’. The movement of participatory research as a methodology for co-creation of knowledge has been in practice around the world over past five decades. This methodology encourages valuing oral and artistic expressions and experiential knowledge of community; indigenous and community knowledge resides in culture, rituals, ceremonies and expressed through local languages.
Post-pandemic world, experiencing serious and continuous climate disruptions, is just beginning to acknowledge that ‘co-creation’ of knowledge solutions may indeed be urgently required. Building capacities, mostly attitudes and normative appreciations of young scientists, towards these principles and methodologies requires urgent investment, if such a transformative potential of ‘open science within society’ is to be realized….”
Working Group on Open Science Infrastructures, 2 March 2023 | summary | UNESCO Digital Library
“…Summary of the Discussions: The online meeting brought together over 80 participants from 35 countries. All the regions were represented with attendees from universities; research institutes; cultural associations; education institutes and education initiatives; citizen science experts; National Academies of Science; associations of universities; librarians; open science and open education initiatives; research funders; open access publishers; private sector science services; intergovernmental organizations; Permanent Delegations to UNESCO; and UNESCO Category 2 Center and UNESCO Chairs.
The key messages can be summarized as follows:
With the Working Group, UNESCO has prepared an index of thematic open science infrastructures supporting sharing of knowledge and information in UNESCO’s science priority areas.
The Group identified the following key issues to consider when developing open science infrastructures: adequate and sustainable funding; cost recovery, commercialization and integration of the views of the private sector; coordination and communication among actors seeking to create, use and sustainably support open science infrastructures.
Equity in access to the digital tools, skills needed for engagement of different open science actors and multilingualism were identified as key prerequisites for meaningful engagement and dialogue among open science practitioners at multiple scales, from individual researchers to country level.
Digital knowledge identifiers were recognized as a way to maximize the benefits of knowledge sharing.
As for next steps, the following actions were highlighted as priorities through the discussions of the Group: Identification of good characteristics of existing knowledge sharing platforms, including ways to promote and support multilingualism; Identification of ideal criteria for open and interoperable systems, as well as the ways to illustrate effective interoperability and coordination among knowledge-sharing platforms at multiple scales….”
Towards Equitable Scholarly Publishing for SDGs and Beyond | panel 2 May 2023 | United Nations
“…The United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library and UNESCO will host a virtual panel addressing mechanisms towards an equitable scholarly publishing ecosystems for the SDGs and beyond. In this session, attendees will hear concrete recommendations from experts for generating greater access to scientific knowledge in service of the SDGs and the need for a Global Science Commons. The discussion will be presented as a side-event during one of the most important 2-day global forums the United Nations delivers annually, the 8th Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals.?The event will take place on 2 May 2023 from 10:00AM – 11:30AM EDT (New York Time). Panelists:
Dr. Virginia Barbour, Director, Open Access Australasia
Dr. Chris Bourg, Director of Libraries, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Dr. Tshiamo Motshegwa, Director, African Open Science Platform (AOSP)
Dr. Ana Persic, Program Specialist, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Mr. Thanos Giannakopoulos, Chief Librarian, UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library
Moderator: Mx. Meg Wacha, Scholarly Communications Officer, UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library…”
Open Science in Developing Countries_AMPPS.pdf
Open science is growing as the mainstream in developed countries and is promoted by UNESCO. However, Open Science still needs to achieve its diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) goals; indeed, the movement needs to catch up in the developing world. Recently, researchers from developing countries have started to make their voices heard, calling for a re-design of open science to suit developing countries (Onie, 2022, Nature), support for grassroots open science networks (Jin et al., in press, AMPPS), and to avoid potential harm (Ross-Hellauer, 2022, Nature).
Although these arguments may attract some attention to Open Science in developing countries, without actions, there will be no changes. Actions need practical guidance and examples, especially for early career researchers. Here, we are calling for co-authors for an invited paper that will be published in Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, a leading outlet focused on promoting open science methods and practices. Specifically, we are seeking co-authors for a paper that can provide practical guidance/examples for actions to promote open science in developing countries. We emphasize practical solutions and examples that are feasible and within reach of researchers in developing countries. Thus, we invite colleagues from different regions/countries to share their experiences, examples, and practical suggestions specific to their sociocultural backgrounds
This paper will collect practical solutions for researchers in different developing countries, with both a global view and fine-grained granularity to specific countries. It will provide a practical guide for researchers who hope to promote open science and DEI, as well as insights for policymakers, funders, and other stakeholders interested in promoting open science practices in their respective regions or countries….”
Open Science in Developing Countries_AMPPS.pdf
Open science is growing as the mainstream in developed countries and is promoted by UNESCO. However, Open Science still needs to achieve its diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) goals; indeed, the movement needs to catch up in the developing world. Recently, researchers from developing countries have started to make their voices heard, calling for a re-design of open science to suit developing countries (Onie, 2022, Nature), support for grassroots open science networks (Jin et al., in press, AMPPS), and to avoid potential harm (Ross-Hellauer, 2022, Nature).
Although these arguments may attract some attention to Open Science in developing countries, without actions, there will be no changes. Actions need practical guidance and examples, especially for early career researchers. Here, we are calling for co-authors for an invited paper that will be published in Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, a leading outlet focused on promoting open science methods and practices. Specifically, we are seeking co-authors for a paper that can provide practical guidance/examples for actions to promote open science in developing countries. We emphasize practical solutions and examples that are feasible and within reach of researchers in developing countries. Thus, we invite colleagues from different regions/countries to share their experiences, examples, and practical suggestions specific to their sociocultural backgrounds
This paper will collect practical solutions for researchers in different developing countries, with both a global view and fine-grained granularity to specific countries. It will provide a practical guide for researchers who hope to promote open science and DEI, as well as insights for policymakers, funders, and other stakeholders interested in promoting open science practices in their respective regions or countries….”
UNESCO’s toolkit can help accelerate the transition to global open science | UNESCO
“The UNESCO Open Science Toolkit has been designed to support implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, the first international standard-setting instrument on open science.
This Recommendation was adopted by 193 countries in November 2021 at the 41st session of the UNESCO General Conference. The Recommendation provides an internationally agreed definition and a set of shared values and guiding principles for open science. It also identifies a set of actions conducive to a fair and equitable operationalization of open science for all at the individual, institutional, national, regional and international levels….”
UNESCO’s Global Call for Best Practices in Open Science (Page 1 of 4)
“To assist Member States with the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, UNESCO is launching a Global Call for Best Practices in Open Science to collect best practices in open science at individual, institutional, national, regional and international levels with a particular focus on the seven priority areas highlighted in the Recommendation (http://bit.ly/3VI5oHP).
The resulting compendium of best practices will be made widely available and broadly disseminated and will be a useful tool to better understand the current landscape of best practices in open science, to identify possible gaps and challenges, share lessons learned improve knowledge and understanding.
If you are involved in an open science initiative that you consider to be a good example or best practice in open science, please provide your input to the survey (available in English, French and Spanish).”
Open Science Infrastructures – third meeting of the UNESCO Working Group – YouTube
“The objective of the Working Group on Open Science Infrastructures is to gain a better understanding the current ecosystem of international, regional and thematic open science platforms for sharing of knowledge and best practices; and understanding the key gaps and challenges for their effective and sustainable development, use and maintenance. The specific focus will be on thematic platforms in UNESCO’s priority areas, including biodiversity, water, disaster risk reduction, geosciences, ocean sciences, climate change, etc. It is one of 5 ad-hoc Working Groups convened by UNESCO and focusing on key impact areas relevant to the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, bringing together experts and open science entities, organizations and institutions, according to their field of activity and expertise. The third meeting of the UNESCO Working Group on Open Science Infrastructures took place on 3 of March 2023….”
Community radio: A case of knowledge democracy in action
“Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and the UNESCO Co-Chair on Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, with support from the Asia Democracy Research Network, organised a seminar on “Knowledge Democracy: Bridging knowledge cultures” in February in New Delhi, India.
A total of 57 participants, from academia, grassroots organisations and civil society sectors, attended the seminar. It was an opportunity for them to share their perspectives and experiences of identifying practical ways in which authentic bridging may be practised and taught to the next generation….”
Global Summit on Diamond Open Access –
Towards a FAIRer World: Implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science to address global challenges | UNESCO
“This one-day, hybrid symposium will examine the role of open science in addressing global challenges, specifically in times of crisis, and in accelerating progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It will explore the existing and most recent cooperative scientific, digital, and ethics frameworks for advancing the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021) across its areas of action….”
Positioning software source code as digital heritage for sustainable development | UNESCO
“The second annual symposium on the theme “Software Source Code as documentary heritage and an enabler for sustainable development” organized by UNESCO and the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria) on 7 February 2023, took stock of the initiative’s achievements over the previous few years.
Throughout the conference, five major dimensions of software source code were explored:
as documentary heritage and as an enabler for digital skills education.
as a first-class research object in the open science ecosystem.
as an enabler for innovation and sharing in industry and administration.
its perspectives on long term preservation.
technological advances allowing massive analysis of software source code….”
Positioning software source code as digital heritage for sustainable development | UNESCO
“The second annual symposium on the theme “Software Source Code as documentary heritage and an enabler for sustainable development” organized by UNESCO and the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (Inria) on 7 February 2023, took stock of the initiative’s achievements over the previous few years.
Throughout the conference, five major dimensions of software source code were explored:
as documentary heritage and as an enabler for digital skills education.
as a first-class research object in the open science ecosystem.
as an enabler for innovation and sharing in industry and administration.
its perspectives on long term preservation.
technological advances allowing massive analysis of software source code….”