Open Science under pressure: Lessons from the Global South in times of crisis

What happens when open science is not a policy aspiration but a condition for scientific survival? In this talk, I reflect on my experience conducting research in Argentina during times of profound instability, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, an acute agricultural emergency, and now the dismantling of national science infrastructure under a libertarian government. In this context, openness has not been optional: real-time data sharing, preprints, open protocols, and public genomic resources became essential to act under extreme constraints. As Canadian researchers begin to face budget reductions influenced by shifting global ideologies, including echoes of U.S. science defunding, lessons from the Global South become urgent. I will share how we have maintained integrity, speed, and global collaboration from a position of austerity, and how open science has allowed us to stay engaged in international research while meeting local demands. These experiences offer not only caution, but also a roadmap for resilience: a grounded, globally connected vision of openness that is radically practical, ethically grounded, and deeply political. In doing so, I hope to contribute to a broader conversation on how open scholarship can adapt not only to systemic change but also lead it, by embedding values of solidarity, sovereignty, and shared responsibility at the core of how we produce and communicate science.