2026 Annual Forum
Bringing together leading international experts and key regional stakeholders, the Annual Forum for Open Research in MENA supports the Arab world’s transition towards more accessible, sustainable and inclusive research and education models.
The 2026 Annual Forum looked at the importance of open science policies and practises for countries facing challenging circumstances, with a particular emphasis on human-made crises. The programme included presentations, case studies, and a workshop session discussing what resilience and autonomy mean in the open science movement during human-made crises, the challenges of maintaining open policies and practices during times of crisis, and the challenges associated with recovery and reconstruction.
The 2026 Annual Forum was held Online, with continued support from the Knowledge E Foundation.
The conference theme, Resilience in Research: The Role of Open Science in the Arab World, addressed the value of open science activities and outputs during periods of upheaval and aftermath, the benefits provided by transparency, visibility, credibility, and accessibility.
Join Our 2024 Annual Forum
This year’s conference theme is: Transforming Knowledge Into Action. We are honoured to have the Qatar National Library as our Host Partner for this event, and to have the continued support and funding from the Knowledge E Foundation.
We invite librarians, researchers, policy makers, higher-education institutions, publishers, and solutions-providers to submit presentation proposals relating to the development and implementation of open science policies and practises, and the building of open science communities, in higher education institutions and libraries. We are looking for 20 minute presentations in both English and Arabic. The first day of the programme will be for online presenters who are unable to attend the conference in person.
