[IP-OA_Forum] Panel spotlight: what's shaping the OASPA 2026 programme?

[bernie.folan@oaspa.org]

Join us at OASPA 2026 (September 21-23, Zagreb, Croatia) where the programme will tackle today's most pressing challenges in scholarly communication with a focus on interactivity and interchange. Selected lightning talks will spark connections and new ideas.

Secure your place now and join representatives from over 100 organisations already registered to exchange thoughts with a global network of experts and peers - and help shape the future of open scholarship.

Over the next few weeks we will showcase in a little more detail the sessions we have lined up. Today, we delve into two of the panels we have planned. 

How does open knowledge contribute to society? Opening Keynote Panel

Moderator: Ben Johnson – University of Strathclyde

Panellists:
Afek Ben Chahed – Diocesan Library of Tunis; Collective Youth Africvs; Wiki in Africa
Nataliia Sokolovska – Knowledge and Society programme at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
Nokuthula (Noks) Mchunu – National Research Foundation (NRF), South Africa

In an era of global challenges, how does open knowledge drive the flourishing of society? This opening keynote panel frames open research as both a moral claim and a practical question for the present moment. Through three interlocking lenses of legitimacy, usefulness and connection, we examine the evolving relationship between scholarship and the public.
In a world where private and authoritarian actors increasingly capture both scientific substance and public imagination, is openness alone enough to sustain the legitimacy of the institutions and publishing activities that produce and share knowledge? Bringing together disparate perspectives, this session explores if and how open research can help ensure discovery is not just accessible, but meaningfully integrated into the world that our work seeks to improve.

The many faces of sustainability in open access

Moderator: Liam Earney – Jisc

Panellists:

Iva Grabarić Andonovski – University of Zagreb; HRČAK; Croatian Association for Scholarly Communication (CROSAC); European Association of Science Editors (EASE)

Kira Hopkins – London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Library

Rebecca (Becky) Hill – Open Research at Taylor & Francis

Susan Murray – African Journals Online (AJOL)

"Sustainability" is an overused yet undefined term in our sector. While often invoked as a shared goal, its practical meaning often shifts depending on an organization’s scale, mission, context and geography. Sustainability might look different still when we broaden our focus to the entirety of the research lifecycle, and consider open research and supporting infrastructures. How do publishing organisations of varying types innovate and endure? And what of the preservation of publicly funded resources when institutional or governmental priorities change?

This panel examines what sustainability means across these different lenses, and leads to a critical interrogation: what—and who—is actually being sustained by open access publishing today? Is this different from what we should be sustaining? 

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Learn about the full programme and networking opportunities - register today. Your perspective and expertise are valued in this critical conversation. With huge thanks to our 2026 conference sponsors. Please get in touch to take up a remaining sponsorship opportunity.

Don't just witness the future of open access—help create it.

We look forward to seeing you in Zagreb!

Note: Following OASPA2026, the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) will host an invitation-only, co-creation workshop for publishers and journals at the same venue on September 24. Although participation will be by invitation only, you can declare your interest to join when registering for the OASPA conference.    

Best wishes,

Bernie

ernie Folan

Communications, Engagement and Outreach Manager, OASPA

OASPA, Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association

bernie.folan@oaspa.org
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