DIAMOND ERA: Fostering Openness in the European Research Area

09:00–09:30 | Registration & Welcome Coffee

A welcome coffee will be served upon arrival.

09:30–09:45 | Opening Remarks

Official opening of the conference.

09:45–10:45 | Opening Session: The Policy Horizon for Diamond OA in Europe

This opening session sets the strategic tone by mapping the policy and funding landscape shaping Open Access (OA) in Europe. Representatives from member states, European Commission, funders, and universities discuss how Diamond OA aligns with ERA objectives, research sovereignty, and multilingualism, identifying levers for sustainable implementation.

Moderator: tbc

Panelists:

• Michał Goszczyński – Deputy Director, Department of Research & Innovation, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland.
• Victoria Tsoukala – Open Science and Research Infrastructures, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission.
• Bregt Saenen – Senior Policy Officer, Science Europe.

10:45–11:45 | Showcase Session: Institutional & Community-driven Diamond OA Initiatives

This showcase spotlights pioneering Diamond OA initiatives and infrastructures led by universities, scholarly societies, and independent publishers. Through short presentations, participants will explore diverse approaches to academic-led publishing, governance models, and innovative tools that advance equitable and multilingual dissemination in the SSH. Q&As will follow the series of lightning talks.

Moderator: Mateusz Franczak – Open Science Officer at the Digital Humanities Centre (CHC IBL PAN)

Panelists:

• Agnieszka Wiktor Sass – Editor at PRESSto, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (UAM).
• Lucy Barnes – Senior Editor and Outreach Coordinator at the Open Book Publishers (OBP).
• Caroline Edwards – Executive Director, Open Library of Humanities (OLB) at Birkbeck University of London.
• Tomasz Umerle – OPERAS Innovation Manager, OPERAS Innovation Lab, Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Centre (PCSS), Polish Academy of Sciences.

11:45–13:00 | Lunch Break

Lunch will be served on site.

13:00–13:30 | Keynote: The European Diamond Capacity Hub

The keynote introduces the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) as a central coordination and support mechanism for Diamond OA across Europe. The keynote speaker will present the goals, governance model, and partnership structure, demonstrating how the Hub fosters collaboration, capacity-building, and funding alignment to scale up community-led publishing practices.

Speaker: Johan Rooryck – Leiden University, Co-coordinator of the European Diamond Capacity Hub (EDCH) at OPERAS

13:30–14:30 | Panel Discussion: How to Support Diamond OA in the ERA

This interactive panel gathers representatives from the scholarly community, research infrastructures, funders, and the EC to discuss policy and technical enablers for Diamond OA. The debate will focus on integrating initiatives on both European and national levels to build sustainable support mechanisms for OA. Results of the recent Inspiring ERA Exchange workshop on overcoming barriers in OA publishing will be presented.

Moderator: Maciej Maryl – Head of the Digital Humanities Centre at the Institute of Literary Research, Polish Academy of Sciences.

Panelists:

• Henriette Van Eijl – Head of Unit for Health & Societal Transitions, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission (tbc)
• Suzanne Dumouchel – Head of international cooperation at CNRS Open Research Data Directorate, Partnership coordinator at OPERAS and EOSC-A Director
• Michael Kaiser – Head of Unit, Research Infrastructures, Libraries, IT at the Max Weber Foundation/li>
• Maciej Zdanowicz – Inspiring ERA project & National Centre for Research and Development – Poland (NCBR).

14:30–15:30 | Panel Discussion: Indexing Diamond OA Content

Focusing on visibility and recognition, this panel explores the role of indexing services and metadata infrastructures in strengthening Diamond OA. Community experts will debate strategies to ensure discoverability, interoperability, and fair evaluation of Diamond publications across SSH disciplines.

Moderator: Magdalena Wnuk – Coordinator of OPERAS-PL, Head of the Section of Open Humanities at the Digital Humanities Centre (CHC IBL PAN).

Panelists:

• Pierre Mounier – School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris, Deputy director of OpenEdition, Co-coordinator of OPERAS and Co-director of DOAB.
• Markus Bang – European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Sciences (ERIH+) & Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir).
• Joanna Ball – Managing Director at the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
• Jarosław Protasiewicz – Head of the National Information Processing Institute (OPI PIB).

15:30–16:00 | Closing Reflections & Recommendations

The Diamond Open Access model, grounded in academic-led, non-commercial publishing, provides a robust framework for strengthening the autonomy of European research, fostering multilingualism, and ensuring that publicly funded research remains a public good. Sustained support for those who implement this model, together with its formal recognition within policy frameworks, is essential to secure its long-term development. Such measures will help make the model competitive with commercial publishing entities abroad and reinforce the sovereignty and resilience of European scholarly communication.

Speaker: Maciej Maryl – Head of the Digital Humanities Centre at the Institute of Literary Research, Polish Academy of Sciences.

16:00–17:30 | Networking & Refreshments

Informal networking session with drinks and refreshments.