Launching and Pursuing an Integrated Strategic Approach to Open Science and Open Education at UCLouvain

Abstract

This presentation was given during the Open Access Week as part of a Circle U Open Science Taskforce event hosted by University Paris Cité. This presentation outlines UCLouvain's integrated strategic approach to Open Science and Open Education. It traces three phases: experimentation (2015), consolidation (Horizon 600 strategic plan, 2021), and stabilisation (2025, "Un cap, du sens"), establishing governance, an institutional policy and dedicated action plans. The integrated approach rests on three ideas: a single paradigm of openness spanning research and teaching, a continuum from knowledge production to knowledge transmission, and a shared culture of common values, tools and governance.

The presentation describes UCLouvain's open infrastructures, its support ecosystem for researchers and teaching staff, and the inter-university Data Ambassadors network. It concludes with the eight key areas of the institutional guidelines being drafted, the main challenges and the levers to address them.