The Diamond OA Policy Forum

National policymakers:

• Bianca Amaro (Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Brazil),
• Michelle Doran (National Open Research Forum, Ireland), and
• Steven Sebbale (Uganda National Council for Science and Technology) 

Institutional policymakers:

• Francisco Alarcón (Consejo Superior Universitario Centroamericano),
• Nicolas Fressengeas (Université de Lorraine, France)
• Birgit Schreiber (Southern African Regional Universities Association), 

ALMASI partners:

• Arianna Becerril García (Redalyc, AmeliCA, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico),
• Susan Murray (African Journals Online),
• Vanessa Proudman (SPARC Europe)
• Johan Rooryck (OPERAS)

and Victoria Tsoukala, representing the European Commission, which funds ALMASI.

Following a series of regional meetings held in March 2026 in Africa, Latin America, and Europe, this second cross-regional Diamond OA Policy Forum (Africa–Europe–Latin America) will connect these conversations. It will open with brief highlights from the recent regional meetings, with each region sharing key insights and emerging priorities. Building on these reflections, we will explore commonalities and policy synergies, before examining Diamond OA policy excerpts collaboratively.

The meeting will be held in French/English/Portuguese/Spanish

First regional Diamond OA Policy Forum – Africa in English.
This forum discussed findings from the Scoping Report on Non-for-profit Publishing Ecosystems, and the Landscape Report on Diamond OA Publishing in Africa, Europe, and Latin America, advocacy materials for Diamond OA publishing, national and institutional approaches to Diamond OA publishing and policymaking processes and challenges.

Speakers:

• Susan Veldsman, Academy of Science of South Africa
• Iryna Kuchma, EIFL
• Susan Murray, AJOL, South Africa
• Lighton Phiri, University of Zambia
• Milica Ševkušić, EIFL

First regional Diamond OA Policy Forum – Africa in French.
This forum discussed findings from the Scoping Report on Non-for-profit Publishing Ecosystems, and the Landscape Report on Diamond OA Publishing in Africa, Europe, and Latin America, advocacy materials for Diamond OA publishing, national and institutional approaches to Diamond OA publishing and policymaking processes and challenges.

Speakers:

• Hugo Catherine, IRD, France
• Bernard Dione, CNDST/MESRI – Senegal
• Fadoua El Maguiri, CNRST/MESR – Morocco
• Roger Tsafack-Nanfosso, CRUFAOCI, Université de Tschang Cameroun, Cameroon

First regional Diamond OA Policy Forum – Africa in Portuguese.
This forum discussed findings from the Scoping Report on Non-for-profit Publishing Ecosystems, and the Landscape Report on Diamond OA Publishing in Africa, Europe, and Latin America, advocacy materials for Diamond OA publishing, national and institutional approaches to Diamond OA publishing and policymaking processes and challenges.

Speakers:

• Pascal Aventurier, IRD, France
• Eurico Gungula, Universidade Óscar Ribas, Angola
• João Baptista Machado Sousa, Associação Multidisciplinar de Investigação Científica, Angola
• Horacio Zimba, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique

This session includes presentations of key findings from recent reports on non-profit publishing ecosystems and the Diamond OA publishing landscape. It will then provide expert perspectives on national and institutional policy developments, followed by interactive breakout discussions focused on advancing Diamond OA national and institutional policies in practice.

Speakers:

• Pilar Rico Castro, Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), Spain 
• Marie-Emilia Herbet, Université Jean-Moulin Lyon 3, France
• Mikael Laakso, Tampere University, Finland
• Thomas Liebundgut, swissuniversities, Switzerland

This bilingual forum (Spanish and Portuguese) brings together key regional experts to discuss the landscape of Open Science and Open Access across Latin America and the Caribbean. This initiative stems from the ALMASI Project, which connects national, regional, and institutional policymakers from Africa, Latin America, and Europe. The session will focus specifically on showcasing successful national and institutional models before transitioning into breakout groups for collaborative discussion and the development of a regional proposal. We invite all those committed to advancing sustainable policy and funding frameworks for Diamond OA to join us in developing this regional proposal.

Speakers:

• Andrea Mora-Campos, Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica
• Arianna Becerril-García, Sistema de Información Científica Redalyc-Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, México / AmeliCA Ciencia Abierta para el Bien Común 
• André Luiz-Appel, Instituto Brasileño de Información en Ciencia y Tecnología (IBICT), Brasil
• Laura Inés Rovelli, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) / Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina
• Víctor Gómez-Valenzuela, Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), República Dominicana
• Alejandro Uribe-Tirado, Universidad de Antioquia / EIB-CICINF, Colombia