Ramune Petuchovaite, Manager of the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP), shares case studies of successful public library advocacy with Universal Service and Access Funds in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, and first steps taken in Malawi and Zambia.

In January 2025, the European Commission announced plans to develop a European Research Area (ERA) Act. In October, the Commission launched a public consultation to collect evidence on issues hampering the full achievement of the European Research Area, a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the EU, along with views from stakeholders on solutions that could be supported by legislation at EU level (the consultation closed on 23 January 2026). The Commission intends to publish its proposal in the third quarter of 2026.

Teresa Hackett, Manager of the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme, reports from Geneva where she joined advocates for copyright law reform promoting the adoption of modern copyright laws that maximize access to knowledge. She attended two events: the launch of the new Centre on Knowledge Governance and the 47th session of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.

A new player in Geneva - Centre on Knowledge Governance 

Milica Ševkušić, EIFL Open Access Programme Project Coordinator, shares tools and resources developed by the EU-funded DIAMAS (Developing Institutional Open Access Publishing Models to Advance Scholarly Communication) project to support the quality and sustainability of Diamond open access (OA) publishing and implementation of the Diamond Open Access Standard (DOAS). 

Ugne Lipeikaite, EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) Impact Manager, discusses the benefits of interlibrary exchange visits - a new activity in the Digital Learning @ Ghana’s Public Libraries project.

EIFL’s Iryna Kuchma participated in the Ukrainian Open Science Forum in Lviv (21-23 November 2024), and shares news about the launch of the Ukrainian Reproducibility Network.

The Open Science Day V (5 November 2024) revealed an interesting new trend in advancing open science in Serbia, writes Milica Ševkušić, Project Coordinator for the EIFL Open Access Programme, who was one of the presenters at the event.

Britt-Marie Wideberg, EIFL Licensing Programme Manager, analyzes the amount of research published in open access in 2023 by authors from EIFL partner countries to find out how EIFL-negotiated open access agreements are making a difference.  

Teresa Hackett, EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, reports on the launch of a new policy document by COMMUNIA setting out four actions to empower European knowledge institutions in the digital age.

Public librarians are teaching children at schools across Ghana digital literacy, covering digital reading, coding, fake news, online safety and much more. Ugne Lipeikaite, EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme Impact Manager, reflects on the impact of the library outreach programmes.