The United Nations has identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as targets to aim for when tackling most pressing issues facing our world. Among the many recent crises, COVID-19’s grip on the globe particularly underscores how science and research must be central to the conversations that address emerging and deep systemic problems alike. The problems that underlie the SDGs demand the attention of the scholarly communication community, higher education and academic research. However, our conversations can no longer just be ‘academic’ - they must be one with a much higher social consciousness attached to it. The discussions surrounding Open Science (OS) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are central to the intersection of social consciousness and science. . Libraries, in particular, can be essential drivers of sustainability in research, shaping research trends through decisions on discoverability, coverage and access. It is only through access to high quality research that evidence-based solutions can be developed.
This session will address ways that the scientific community, publishers and librarians can drive change and wider societal outreach through open science policies and by embracing SDGs as a key topic in research impact, mission and practice. It will also explore the changes that the scientific community can be in addition to those that it makes. It will also feature case studies around the current state of open science, open science policy, and the practical ways that open science is impacting the SDG programme.
The United Nations has identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as targets to aim for when tackling most pressing issues facing our world. Among the many recent crises, COVID-19’s grip on the globe particularly underscores how science and research must be central to the conversations that address emerging and deep systemic problems alike. The problems that underlie the SDGs demand the attention of the scholarly communication community, higher education and academic research. However, our conversations can no longer just be ‘academic’ - they must be one with a much higher social consciousness attached to it. The discussions surrounding Open Science (OS) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are central to the intersection of social consciousness and science. . Libraries, in particular, can be essential drivers of sustainability in research, shaping research trends through decisions on discoverability, coverage and access. It is only through access to high quality research that evidence-based solutions can be developed.
This session will address ways that the scientific community, publishers and librarians can drive change and wider societal outreach through open science policies and by embracing SDGs as a key topic in research impact, mission and practice. It will also explore the changes that the scientific community can be in addition to those that it makes. It will also feature case studies around the current state of open science, open science policy, and the practical ways that open science is impacting the SDG programme.
Laura Helmuth is the editor in chief of Scientific American, which is published by Springer Nature. She is a former editor for The Washington Post, National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian and Science magazines. She is a past president of the National Association of Science Writers. She serves on the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's committee on science communication and the advisory boards of 500 Women Scientists and SciLine.
Robin Kear is the liaison librarian, at the University of Pittsburgh, for part of the Research, Learning and Media team, specifically providing support for the English Department, the Film Studies Program, and the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program. During her 20 years as a librarian, she has worked closely with the American Library Association and international organizations, including the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), which is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. Over the past four years, the UN SDGs have become an increasingly important part of her work with those organizations, including through the IFLA North American Regional Division Committee and the ALA UN SDG Task Force.
