The project "Peer-to-peer strategy consulting for university management as a tool for establishing a living open access culture at universities of applied sciences" (P2P.OA.HAW) was launched at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and the University of Konstanz at the beginning of November. The successful peer-to-peer strategy consulting approach of the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (HFD) is to be tested in the field of open access for „Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften“, HAW (universities of applied sciences, UAS).
The organisation of structures, processes and strategies for open access is challenging for many academic institutions. This is all the more true for UAS, many of which have only been developing and expanding their open access activities in recent years and are therefore challenged strategically, structurally and financially in their own way. At the same time, strategic frameworks and organisational structural adjustments for an open access-friendly future require management action at university management level.
Against this background, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and the University of Konstanz are launching a joint project with the aim of testing the HFD's peer-to-peer strategy consulting model to support a culture of enabling and recognising open access and making it reusable.
The approach of peer-to-peer strategy consulting for open access consists of supporting UAS over a period of eight months to identify the university's own development goals in the area of open access and to design and implement appropriate development paths. The project will test a tool that universities of applied sciences can use to support the open access culture they practise and the change towards more open access at their institution, and make it openly reusable.
The core element of the project is the assessment and support of more experienced peers as "critical friends": university management of UAS are supported and advised by the management of other universities or scientific institutions as equals in a structured process. The peers are selected from the open access community in close consultation with the participating universities. The experience gained from the first rounds of counselling in 2024 and 2025 will be incorporated into a continuation concept for peer-to-peer strategy consulting for open access.
Expressions of interest in participating can be submitted through the UAS. Further information can be found at: https://www.hsbi.de/bib/p2p-oa-haw
The project "Peer-to-peer strategy consulting for university management as a tool for establishing a living open access culture at universities of applied sciences" is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) from 1 September 2023 to 28 February 2026.