Today marks the start of the 2021 International Open Access Week (25–31 October), a global, community-driven week of action organised by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), who aim to make ‘open’ the default for research and education.

The theme of the 2021 International Open Access Week is ‘It matters how we open knowledge: building structural equity’, which aligns with the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and highlights the need for ‘equitable participation for all producers and consumers of knowledge’.

As highlighted by the organisers:

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion must be consistently prioritised year-round and integrated into the fabric of the open community, from how our infrastructure is built to how we organise community discussions to the governance structures we use. International Open Access Week is an important opportunity to catalyse 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.”

Check out upcoming events here or follow the conversation at #OAWeek.

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