United Nations Open Science and Open Scholarship Conference

The right to participate in & benefit from science

Despite significant commitments, billions of people – especially in developing countries – still lack meaningful access to participate in and benefit from critical scientific knowledge, research infrastructure, and emerging technologies. Open science and open scholarship provide a transformative pathway to reverse these trends, fostering multilateral cooperation, responsible innovation, and the equitable dissemination of knowledge. As stated in the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, we must ensure “reciprocal access to science for all producers and consumers of knowledge regardless of their location, nationality, race, age, gender, income, socio-economic circumstance, career stage, discipline, language, religion, disability, ethnicity, migratory status or any other grounds”.

Organized by the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library of the Department of Global Communications in collaboration with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division of Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO’s Division of Science Policy and Capacity-Building, the 4th United Nations Open Science and Open Scholarship Conference will serve as a platform to advance these principles as key priorities in the international agenda for implementing the Pact for the Future. From 16-18 October, 2025, the conference will convene policymakers, IGO representatives, researchers, scholars, librarians, publishers, and civil society, both online and in person United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo, Japan. It will serve as an urgent call to accelerate transformations in science and scholarship in alignment with actions 28-33 of the Pact of the Future, to map progress in national and international efforts towards opening the record of science, and to inspire collaborative actions and coalitions to expedite progress ensuring no country, community, or individual is left behind.

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