[Geo4All] Open Research for All: Announcing the Launch of the Munich Manifesto

[Suchith Anand]

Dear colleagues,

On behalf of the Ethical Data Initiative team, I am pleased to share the news of the public launch of the Munich Manifesto for Equitable Open Research. The Ethical Data Initiative is proud to be a founding signatory.

The Munich Manifesto for Equitable Open Research originated within the Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments (PHIL_OS) project, led by Professor Sabina Leonelli at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) as part of a European Research Council (ERC) project. It was conceived to address critical structural risks in the open science movement – specifically, how top-down policies and standardised digital tools disproportionately favour well-resourced institutions, while commercial platform practices risk deepening global inequities. Following a year of international consultations, the framework was formally introduced and collaboratively refined at the FOR2026 Conference <https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/2026/05/22/shaping-a-fairer-future-for-global-knowledge-insights-from-the-for2026-conference/> (“The Future of Open Research: Reliable, Responsible, Equitable”) in Munich in May 2026, uniting global scholars, policymakers, and activists behind a shared vision for ethical and inclusive research.
While open publishing and shared datasets have accelerated discovery, they have also created new hurdles. Top-down policies and standardised digital tools are usually built around well-funded institutions. As a result, wealthy research centres end up setting the standards, while researchers in less-resourced settings, non-academic experts, and local knowledge holders can be left behind. Furthermore, unchecked commercial practices, such as high open-access publishing fees and uncredited AI scraping of public data, threaten to widen global disparities rather than close them.

Building an equitable open science ecosystem takes collective action. The Munich Manifesto isn’t just a statement of values – it is a practical framework for institutions, funders, and researchers. We encourage communities to support the document, at both the individual and institutional level, and adapt it to their own regional and disciplinary needs.
Visit the Munich Manifesto Signatory Page to read the full text, add your support, and help build a fairer research ecosystem.

More details at https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/2026/09/15/open-research-for-all-launch-of-the-munich-manifesto/

If you want to learn more about the Munich Manifesto for Equitable Open Research and the work of the EDI, please join our upcoming Ethical Data Initiative <https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/> Stakeholder Forum on Framing the Future of the Global Research Commons, which will be held as a side event to the Research Data Alliance 27th plenary in London <https://www.rd-alliance.org/plenaries/p27/> 

Date: Monday, 5th October 2026
Time: 14h00-17h00 UK time
Venue: The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London

This pre-plenary Forum will unite leading global voices in research governance, international funding, and data policy to bridge the gap between technical infrastructure and ethical stewardship. The afternoon features two complementary panel discussions: the first examines the governance of data sharing to ensure research commons remain inclusive and equitable, while the second explores the practical challenges of reconciling complex management principles such as FAIR, CARE, and TRUST. Together, these sessions provide a strategic roadmap for moving beyond theory to build robust, socially responsible data infrastructures.

This is a hybrid event, you can join online, so please feel free to share this event invite with your networks and colleagues. The event is free and open to all. In-person places are limited and allocated on a first come first serve basis.

More details and  agenda at https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/2026/08/11/bringing-ethics-to-the-global-research-commons-the-edi-stakeholder-forum-at-the-rda-p27/

Best wishes

Suchith

Professor Suchith Anand
Professor of Practice in Science Policy | Senior Adviser to Governments and International Organisations | Scientist | Global Citizen | Science Diplomacy |  SDG Volunteer and Advocate
https://spspa.exeter.ac.uk/people/profile/index.php?username=sa1131 
https://ethicaldatainitiative.org <https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/geoforall/attachments/20260915/49a7ea89/attachment-0001.htm>