Our mission is to support our stakeholders in their journey towards openness by facilitating the exchange of actionable insights and the development of practical policies. A key part of that strategy is the Community Development Series, designed to provide insights and learning opportunities for all stakeholders looking to engage with open science at an institutional level, including funding groups and government ministries, libraries and universities, non-profit solutions providers, and all members of the region’s wider research communities.

These free events are held on a monthly basis, online, in collaboration with non-profit organisations and open source solutions providers. The goal is to offer practical guidance on a broad array of issues relating to the implementation of open science policies and practices in scholarly ecosystems, from leading global experts.

Our first event is a collaboration with the International Science Council, titled ‘Normalising Pre-prints: The MENA Dialogue’, and will take place on the 28^th of February at 1.00pm (GST) / 9.00am (GMT).

This 3-hour seminar and workshop will explore the nature, impact and benefits of scientific preprints for the entire scholarly ecosystem. Participants will gain an understanding of the global Open Science landscape and the work of the International Science Council on Scholarly Publishing. The interactive sessions will explore how scientists and other stakeholders of the scientific community can contribute to the use of preprints so that they will be better equipped to partake in the growth of Open Science in the MENA region. 

More information about this free event is available here.

We also have a host of other events coming up in the coming months, in collaboration with a wide range of global experts in the Open Science arena, including the Directory of Open Access Journals, cOAlition S, ORCiD, EBSCO, and the Public Knowledge Project. So do keep an eye on our events pages, or subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates.