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Open Access Policy Alignment STrategies for European Union Research

Final Report Summary - PASTEUR4OA (Open Access Policy Alignment STrategies for European Union Research)

Executive Summary:
PASTEUR4OA (Open Access Policy Alignment Strategies for European Union Research) aimed to support the European Commission’s Recommendation to Member States of July 2012 to develop and implement policies to ensure Open Access to all outputs from publicly-funded research. To achieve this aim PASTEUR4OA has engaged in a number of activities at national, regional and European level. In particular, PASTEUR4OA established a European network of centres of expertise that developed a coordinated and collaborative programme of activities in support of policymaking at the national level, under the guidance of project partners. It facilitated the exchange of best practices and experiences at regional and European level through the organisation of regional workshops and Europe-wide events (European meeting of national experts, final conference). It developed a policy typology on the basis of an analysis of ROARMAP and analysed the effectiveness and growth of policies. It provided support and guidance tailored to the needs of different countries and regions (as identified by the project) through the production of an extensive list of advocacy materials and visualisations covering a wide range of issues from policy templates, to introductory materials on open access and open science to case-studies and thematic resources.

Project Context and Objectives:
PASTEUR4OA aimed at improving coordination in developing Open Access policies that align with the European Commission’s Recommendation of 2012 on access to and preservation to scientific information and the Horizon 2020 (H2020) framework. The above aim has been achieved through the following activities as described in part B of the Description of Work (DoW):
• The identification of Key Node organizations throughout Europe and in accession/ association countries and the development of a network of expert organizations (WP2)
• The development of a programme for engaging policy makers, commonly agreed upon by project partners and Key Node organizations (WP2)
• The organization of a Europe-wide meeting project meeting of national experts (WP2)
• The development of the foundations of a Knowledge Net by the end of the project (WP2)
• The recording of policies and policy types through analysis of ROARMAP in order to develop a policy typology (WP3)
• The elaboration of a policy analysis on effectiveness and growth of open access policies (WP3)
• A mapping of existing policies to policymakers to inform policymakers’ engagement (WP3)
• The development of advocacy materials to be used in policymaker engagement (WP4)
• The identification of policymakers in the member states and accession/ associated countries and their engagement through the organization of regional meetings (WP4)
• The development of the project website (WP5)
• The development of a solid communication plan (WP5)
• The development of promotional literature and dissemination items (WP5)
• The organization of the project’s Final Conference (WP5)

A number of the above activities have taken place during the previous period (and reported in Deliverable D1.1. First Project Report): these include the identification of Key Node organizations throughout Europe, the organization of the Europe-wide meeting of national experts, the recording of policies and policy types, and the policy analysis on effectiveness, the development of the project website and the elaboration of the communication plan. Others have been on-going (spanning over the entire project period) like the programme of engagement for national policy makers, the activities related to the operation of the Knowledge Net, the development of the advocacy materials, and the dissemination activities. Finally, a number of the above activities were planned to take place during the second project period such as the Regional Workshops, the organization of the Final Conference as well as those concerning the future sustainability of the Knowledge Net.

The five Regional Coordinators (EKT, UMINHO, EOS, CRIStin, and EIFL) have continued to provide support to Key Nodes of their respective region regarding the development of programmes of engagement for national policy makers. Meetings between Regional Coordinators have taken place on a regular basis to report on the progress of each region, plan future steps and resolve issues that arose. In addition, skype calls have been held between each Regional Coordinator and the Key Nodes. The latter have reported on the progress of their work, the successes and difficulties they encountered in engaging with policymakers in their countries. The national activities have informed the three-month reports submitted by each Regional Coordinator to UMinho.

With Key Nodes being the key actors of the Knowledge Net, work during this period has focused on strengthening its operation, among others by exploring ways of ensuring its future sustainability. To that end, a Task Force has been set up to study the most effective way of ensuring this. The study of various organizations and projects indicated OpenAIRE as the most suitable choice. This choice has been approved by the consortium and Key Nodes have been extensively informed on numerous occasions about the implications of this choice.

Extensive discussions have also taken place over this period between the two projects to explore the ways in which the embedding of the Knowledge Net within OpenAIRE will take place and the distribution of tasks. As agreed, from September 2016 the work will be performed by OpenAIRE NOADs.

The development of advocacy materials is another task that spanned over the second period. Advocacy materials have been a core part of the project as they have supported the national programmes of engagement and have played a key role in awareness-raising about OA. During this period further advocacy resources tailored to the needs of different policymakers at different levels of OA development have been prepared by project partners. The materials have been disseminated widely from Key Nodes as well as during project events like regional workshops and the final conference, while they have been promoted extensively through the social media. A selected number of them have been translated in French, Portuguese, Hungarian, Slovak, Spanish and Turkish to increase dissemination and visibility.

Dissemination activities also span over this period. Project results and key highlights have been promoted through peer-reviewed and other articles, the project newsletter and flyers, participation in various events in Europe and beyond and through a more targeted use of the social media. In relation to the latter, a special group was set up to ensure continuous and active presence of the project in the social media.

From September 2015 until April 2016 Regional Workshops were organized in the five regions of PASTEUR4OA and tailored to their needs. Workshops have included participatory sessions on good practice in Open Access policy making, examples and tools for policy design, presentations and discussions on policy effectiveness, best practices on monitoring compliance, and advice on the benefits of policy alignment. Overall, they have included the participation of 255 policymakers and other key stakeholders. Advocacy materials have been used extensively.

The Final Conference was organized in May 2016 in Amsterdam. “Green Light for Open Access” has been an event officially associated with the Dutch Presidency and attracted some 150 participants. Issues evolving around Open Access policies were at the centre of the discussions during the conference: policy development, implementation, compliance monitoring, services and infrastructure. Some of the key takeaways from the conference included reflections on what can be learned from policies that are already established, how Open Access policies can be further aligned in Europe, and what their common denominators should be.

Project Results:
PASTEUR4OA has produced an extensive list of advocacy resources, tailored to the needs of policy makers in countries with different levels of open access policies. Advocacy resources have been developed on the basis of the expertise of project partners and the feedback received from contacts with national policy makers. Through this process PASTEUR4OA has ensured that the resources produced cater to the needs of different policy makers and the different levels of policy development. The development of advocacy materials was an extensive programme of work. A list of more than 50 peer-reviewed, up-to-date, authoritative and informative advocacy materials has been developed and most project partners have been directly involved in this process. The materials draw on work already carried out by the project and on more general OA-related information. The items created include briefing papers, checklists, guidelines, institutional and national case studies, slide sets and web tools. The materials have been used by project partners and Key Nodes in their engagement with policymakers, and have been widely promoted to the community through activities in Work Package 5. A number of them have been translated in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Slovak, Hungarian and Turkish and disseminated through national channels.
The main project results have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

Potential Impact:
PASTEUR4OA aimed at improving coordination in developing Open Access policies that align with the European Commission's Recommedation of 2012 on access to and preservation to scientific information and the Horizon 2020 (H2020) framework. This has been achieved through theestablishment of the Knowledge Net, the network of experts from EU countries, a core output of the project. As the Knowledge Net will continue its work for the promotion of OA policies in Europe through its embedding in OpenAIRE, we have succeeded in the project having a long-term impact throughout Europe. The network, with the support of the resources provided by the project will thus contribute in the promotion of OA in Europe and beyond. By mobilising this key stakeholder group we expect to enhance the positive implications stemming from the transition to open access.

List of Websites:
http://pasteur4oa.eu/home