Berlin Open Access Conferences

20 years of international exchange on Open Access

A congress organised by the Max Planck Society and the European Cultural Heritage Online (ECHO) project took place at Harnack House in Berlin’s Dahlem district in October 2003 with the aim of developing a new web-based research environment.

The most significant result of the congress that was later dubbed the Berlin Conference (Berlin 1) was the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

The initial signatories of the Berlin Declaration agreed to organise regular follow-up conferences.

Berlin 16 | Berlin

Together for Transformation:
With the 16^th Berlin Open Access Conference, organized by the OA2020 Initiative and hosted by the Max Planck Society, participants returned to the setting where the Berlin Declaration originated. They discussed how to refine and renew our approaches to achieving the vision for an open information environment in the service of science and society, with a particular focus on transformative agreements.

Berlin 1 | Berlin

Developing a new web-based research environment: Open Access to the Data and Results of the Sciences and Humanities

Berlin 2 | Genf

Steps Toward Implementation of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities

Berlin 3 | Southampton

Progress in Implementing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities

Berlin 4 | Potsdam

Challenges, Experiences, Perspectives in an Open Access World

Berlin 5 | Padua

From Practice to Impact: Consequences on Knowledge Dissemination

Berlin 6 | Düsseldorf

Changing Scholarly Communication in the Knowledge Society

Berlin 7 | Paris

Reaching Diverse Communities

Berlin 8 | Beijing

Implementation Progress, Best Practices, and Future Challenges

Berlin 9 | Washington D.C.

The impact of Open Access in research and scholarship

Berlin 10 | Stellenbosch

Networked scholarship in a networked world: participation in Open Access

Berlin 11 | Berlin

In order to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the "Berlin Declaration", the Berlin 11 Conference took place in Berlin again on November 19-20, 2013.

Berlin 12 | Berlin

The 12^th conference in the Berlin Open Access series was organized as an invitation-only workshop for high-level representatives of the world’s most eminent research organizations.

Berlin 13 | Berlin

The 13^th Berlin Open Access conference provided a networking and reviewing opportunity in the context of the OA2020 initiative for the large-scale transition to open access.

Berlin 14 | Berlin

The 14th Berlin Open Access Conference, hosted by the Max Planck Society and organized by the Max Planck Digital Library on behalf of the Open Access 2020 Initiative (OA2020), was held as a summit meeting in which 170 participants from 37 countries discussed strategies to accelerate the transition of scholarly publishing to open access.

Berlin 15 | online

Nearly 400 participants, representing hundreds of institutions and consortia from around the world, came together for the 15^th Berlin Open Access Conference to discuss the ongoing transition of the scholarly publishing system to open access. Co-hosted by the University of California and the Open Access 2020 Initiative of the Max Planck Digital Library / Max Planck Society, the online conference placed particular emphasis on negotiation processes with publishers.

From the announcment of the first Berlin conference:

Strategic Aims of the Conference

The 3−day conference aims to bring together key players from national and international research organizations, learned societies, museums, archives, libraries and research funding agencies and political institutions, commercial and non−for profit publishing services concerned about the future of scientific e−publishing and scholarly communication. The declared aim of the meeting is to provide guidance to all players involved on how to help build a future−proof, flexible, open, and high−quality scholarly and scientific publishing system. Prepare the transformation of all areas of research from the print into the electronic world.

Establish an open−access policy on the Internet for scientific information, including cultural heritage.
Define future models for web−based scientific/scholarly communication and publishing and for making cultural heritage accessible on the Web.
Provide blueprints on how to make publishing alternatives work in a sustainable way.
Encourage funding agencies and research organizations to support the creation and implementation of open access models for scientific publishing.
Encourage funding agencies and research organizations to support the transfer of existing content both from science and culture to the new medium.
Define prerequisites for a future Web of Culture and Science

The meeting was attended by more than 120 German and international experts and decision-makers from the following organisations:

Research organisations
Professional societies
Museums
Archives
Libraries
Research funding organisations
Political institutions
Commercial and non-profit providers of scientific information

The discussion focussed predominantly on ways of providing access to research findings, otherwise known as the Open Access paradigm. The most significant result of the congress that was later dubbed the Berlin Conference (Berlin 1) was the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

The initial signatories of the Berlin Declaration agreed to organise regular follow-up conferences. The first of these Berlin Conferences, Berlin 2 Steps Toward Implementation of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, took place in May 2004 at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland. This major European research institution signed the Berlin Declaration itself during the conference.

The conference on occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Berlin Declaration was hosted by the Max Planck Society again and took place in Berlin on November 19 & 20, 2013.