In the context of this year’s Open Access Week theme, Who Owns Our Knowledge?, the Open Library of Humanities (OLH) is hosting a webinar to highlight how different organisations are supporting and advancing Diamond Open Access on Friday 24 October 2025, 1:00 – 2:30 pm BST. The event brings together leaders from across the Diamond OA ecosystem, including publishers, infrastructure providers, and collectives, to discuss challenges, share experiences, and reflect on the future of Diamond OA in books and journals.
Diamond Open Access has become established in some regions, like Latin America, but remains marginal in many parts of the Global North. This webinar explores how Diamond OA can move from being an alternative model to a mainstream, equitable publishing approach, fostering accessibility and fairness for both readers and authors.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Kira Hopkins (Copim Open Book Futures, Birkbeck, University of London): Works on the Opening the Future model for Diamond OA books and supports the Open Journals Collective initiative for journals.
- @joanna (DOAJ): Managing Director of the Directory of Open Access Journals, curating a global index of 22,000+ open access journals.
- Caroline Edwards (Open Library of Humanities, Birkbeck, University of London): Executive Director of OLH, co-founder of the Open Journals Collective, and advocate for Diamond OA.
- Joe Deville (Open Book Collective, Lancaster University): Leads the Copim Open Book Futures project and co-founder of Mattering Press and ScholarLed.
- Dr Rupert Gatti (Open Book Publishers): Co-founder and director of a Diamond OA publisher, involved in COPIM/OBF projects and multiple open infrastructures for OA publishing.
The panel will be chaired by Dr Paula Clemente Vega (Open Library of Humanities, Community Outreach Manager).
