This year's Open Access Week theme is "Open with Purpose: Taking Action to Build Structural Equity and Inclusion", building on our discussions in 2018 (“Designing Equitable Foundations for Open Knowledge”) and 2019 (“Open for Whom? Equity in Open Knowledge”), 2020 marks the third consecutive year the theme for International Open Access Week will focus on the urgent need for action on equity and inclusion, underscoring the urgency of continuing to center this work.
Openness can be a powerful tool for building more equitable systems of sharing knowledge. Rebuilding research and scholarship to be open by default presents a unique opportunity to construct a foundation that is fundamentally more equitable. Yet today, structural racism, discrimination, and exclusion are present and persistent in places where openness is a core value. As a global community, it is important to understand that the systems and spaces of the present are often built upon legacies of historic injustice and that addressing these inequities is a necessity.
We need to examine who these spaces and systems are designed for, who is missing, who is excluded by the business models we use, and whose interests are prioritized. As we work together to rebuild these structures, we need to commit to moving from conversations to concrete commitments and to hold one another accountable for making real progress.
International Open Access Week is a time for the wider community to coordinate in taking action to make openness the default for research and to ensure that equity is at the center of this work. This year's Open Access Week will be held from October 19th through the 25th; however, organizers are encouraged to host discussions and take action around this year’s theme whenever is most suitable during the year and to adapt the theme and activities to their local context. This is especially true for this year with the varying levels of disruption due to COVID-19.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion must be consistently prioritized year-round and integrated into the fabric of the open community, from how our infrastructure is built to how we organize community discussions to the governance structures we use. International Open Access Week is an important opportunity to catalyze new conversations, create connections across and between communities that can facilitate this co-design, and advance progress to build more equitable foundations for opening knowledge-discussions and actions that need to be continued, year in and year out.
Iryna Kuchma has been managing the EIFL Open Access Programme (EIFL-OA) since 2008. Working in collaboration with libraries and library consortia in more than 60 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, she advocates for open access to research results, facilitates the development and implementation of open science policies and infrastructures, and provides support and training.
Varvara Sosedova graduated from Moscow Linguistic University in 2010 and earned a PhD in Philology from Moscow City Pedagogy University in 2015, where she did research into connection between English language and culture. She specializes in cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Varvara Sosedova also has a specialization in Economics from Moscow Aviation Institute, which lets her apply project management techniques in the teaching process.
Kathleen Shearer is the Executive Director of Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR), an international association of repository with a membership of over 120 institutions worldwide from 36 countries in 5 continents. COAR is developing a model for scholarly communications based on a global network of open access repositories and actively promotes the role of libraries in the future of scholarly communication. Shearer is also a consultant for several other organizations. She is a research associate with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and a strategic consultant with the US-based Association of Research Libraries (ARL).
We are pleased to invite you to attend the online debate in celebration of the 13th International Open Access Week dedicated to "Open with Purpose: Taking Action to Build Structural Equity and Inclusion".
NU NOMAD Debate Club members will argue on the benefits and risks of Open Access.
Due to COVID-19 spread around the world, we had to host Open Access Week (OAW) online. But we are very glad that many people not only support the idea of OA but also took the time to participate in our event. If you missed it on a date, find all materials on the website dedicated to OAW2020.
