Provisional Adoption of UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

1 June 2021, THE HAGUE – We are pleased to announce that as of the 11th of May 2021, UNESCO member states have agreed upon a final draft of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.  

The Recommendation defines shared values and principles for Open Science and puts forward concrete measures on Open Access and Open Data1. It serves to complement the existing Recommendation on Science and Scientific Research from 2017 and, according to the UNESCO website, also “[…] build[s] upon the UNESCO Strategy on Open Access to Scientific Information and Research and the new UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources”. 

At the end of 2020, LIBER submitted an Open Letter to UNESCO on the initial draft Recommendation on Open Science.  The purpose of the letter was to comment on the balance of information presented in UNESCO’s Draft Recommendation and to enrich the draft with further inclusion of library related topics which we and our network deem crucial. 

According to Astrid Verheusen, Executive Director of LIBER, “[t]he UNESCO Open Science Recommendation is very much in line with LIBER’s current Strategy (2017-2022). We believe that Open Science policies are as important as national frameworks and that we need both to be successful. Moreover, we also importantly need to consider the specifics of Open Science within each field, as well as the related academic culture, customs, methods and ways of conducting research”. 

The final draft of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science will go to the General Assembly for approval in November 2021.  

ABOUT LIBER 

LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries) is the main network for research libraries in Europe. Founded in 1971, the association (a Foundation or Stichting under Dutch law from 2009) has grown steadily to include more than 400 national, university and other libraries from over 40 countries. Together we work to represent the interests of European research libraries, their universities and their researchers in several key areas. We lobby policymakers on issues such as Copyright and Open Access. We collaborate with our member libraries on European-funded projects and through events such as our Annual Conference we create opportunities for library professionals to meet and learn from each other.