Unlocking climate justice through open access
| 24 October, 2022 | admin |
T08527 People with banners protest as part of a climate change march
Born out of a goal to make all research open, accessible, and equitable, International Open Access Week is underpinned by the idea that open access can change the world for the better – advancing not only research and scholarship, but also international policy, global health, industry, and, ultimately society as a whole.
Taking place from 24 – 30 October and entering its fifteenth year, the week aims to raise awareness of open access, share guidance on open access practices, and encourage collaboration – all with the aim of making open access the new norm in research and scholarship.
This year’s theme, ‘Open for Climate Justice’, shines a light on a particular way that open access can change the world for the better.
Read on to find out more about how open access can help achieve climate justice and discover some of the cutting-edge open access climate research being published on Wellcome Open Research.
What is climate justice?
It’s widely acknowledged that the climate crisis is unequal in its impact, with the world’s most vulnerable communities often bearing the brunt of climate change.
Climate justice means finding solutions to the climate crisis that not only reduce emissions or protect the natural world, but that do so in a way which creates a fairer, more just and more equal world in the process.
Climate Action UK
As a result, climate justice is a fundamental shift in the way we view the climate crisis. Rather than focusing solely on scientific or environmental facts and solutions, the climate justice movement seeks to place human and civil rights at the center of any climate action.
Tackling climate justice through open access
Equal access makes up one part of the climate justice movement – whether that’s to technology, policy, finance, or, in the case of open access, education and research.
Open access commitments help put cutting-edge climate knowledge in the hands of those who need it most. By removing the barriers of both publishing costs and subscription costs, as well as ensuring full transparency in outputs and data, open access ensures that all climate research is published freely, can be accessed equally, and can be built upon by others.
Sharing knowledge is a human right and tackling the climate crisis requires the rapid exchange of knowledge across geographic, economic, and disciplinary boundaries.
International Open Access Week 2022
As a result, it can enable more informed policy, underpinned by the latest available research; foster deeper collaboration; and ultimately help tackle the inequality of the climate crisis.
Climate justice and health
Wellcome recognizes that the impact of climate change on human health is one of today’s major global health challenges, with factors like illness or death from extreme weather, changes in infectious disease distribution, and food insecurity all stemming from a changing climate.
As a result, climate and health forms one of Wellcome’s three core research pillars, seeking to fund and publish research that improves our understanding of the effects of climate change on health, and helps define effective action to respond to the climate crisis in a way that supports global health.
A core part of delivering this programme is a commitment to publishing open access Wellcome-funded climate and health research on Wellcome Open Research.
A dedicated, free publishing Platform for all Wellcome-funded researchers, Wellcome Open Research ensures that all research outputs can be published completely transparently, and used effectively by policymakers, researchers, and wider decision-makers for informed, research-led action.
Open access spotlight on sustainable cities
The Wellcome-funded Complex Urban Systems for Sustainability and Health (CUSSH) project is working to help cities develop in ways which improve population health and environmental sustainability, with a dedicated Collection on Wellcome Open Research to publish the latest findings from the project.
With a focus on six cities around the world, the project seeks to address environmental, climate, and health concerns in urban environments, including population growth and movement, climate change and disaster risks, declining natural resources, environmental pollution, and emerging diseases.
Read some of the latest open access research from the CUSSH project on Wellcome Open Research:
In conversation with CUSSH Research Fellow and Science Manager, Ioanna Tsoulou
How can the CUSSH project help contribute to achieving climate justice and mitigate climate change impacts more generally?
CUSSH has generated essential evidence on the connection between climate and health.
Through its focus on cities with varied socioeconomic and environmental contexts, the project has highlighted that transformational rather than transitional change is needed and that, due to their complex structure, cities require a spectrum of methods, systems thinking, and participatory engagement for environmental improvement.
The project has developed novel methods for achieving population-level changes for climate change mitigation in areas such as energy, transport, green infrastructure, water and sanitation, and housing, with findings highlighting the need for research evidence to inform policymaking and planning to achieve effective change.
How can open access research help achieve the project aims?
Open access is essential to this by ensuring immediate, transparent knowledge-sharing in a way that maximizes research visibility and its potential use and benefits.
The CUSSH project has highly benefited from the open access Wellcome Open Research Platform, and especially from the opportunity to have a dedicated Collection of CUSSH publications – increasing the project’s visibility and ensuring rapid sharing of results, open access is imperative to the project’s goal of providing scientific evidence for policymaking regarding the health and sustainability of cities.
Publish your work with Wellcome Open Research
If you’re a Wellcome-funded researcher conducting cutting-edge research in your field, whether that’s climate change and health or infectious diseases, you can publish your findings for free with Wellcome Open Research.