Setting up a Diamond Open Access fund: budgets, policies and practicalities

In the last few years several Dutch universities have created a diamond open scholarly communication fund. These funds support diamond open access initiatives, both focussed on content and on infrastructure. With a panel of representatives from four different universities we want to discuss: The motivations behind setting up these funds What differences and similarities there are in the policies and practicalities of these funds How we measure success Lessons learned in setting up such a fund We discuss why we create and maintain these funds even when we face budget cuts and what steps were necessary to be able to sway the library or university to approve these funds. We talk about how funds like these can be used in the universities’ strive towards sustainable Open Science & academic sovereignty in these turbulent geopolitical times. The session will begin with a brief introduction of the panelists and the funds of their respective libraries, followed by an interactive discussion based on the topics of budget, policies, and practicalities. We hope to inspire other universities/ libraries to also consider setting up funds like these and advise them on how to start.