October 2014 marked the launch of the Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network (OCSDNet), a research network aiming to gather observations on whether, and under which conditions, open approaches to research and collaboration could lead to various development outcomes in the Global South.

As part of the development of the network, the OCSDNet coordinating team from the Centre for Critical Development Studies (CCDS) at the University of Toronto Scarborough (Canada) and iHub (Kenya) called for case studies that employ innovative and transformative open processes to address a range of development challenges in marginalized contexts. After a successful call for concept notes that saw 90 applications from across the Global South, 14 projects were shortlisted to attend the OCSDNet Proposal Development Workshop (October 2014) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Applicants submitted final applications in December 2014 and we are pleased to announce the first group of awarded OCSDNet grants. The 13 awarded OCSDNet projects span 27 countries, with 3 projects focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in the Middle East, 1 in the Caribbean, 5 in Latin America, and 3 from South, East and Central Asia.

Projects will run over the next 24 months and project teams will be providing regular updates through www.ocsdnet.org and other platforms. We invite you to provide feedback and ideas on the projects.

Find links below for more information on the projects.

Lead Organization Country Project Title OCSDNet Research Themes
IBICT – Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia Brazil Social Development from Open and Collaborative Science Communities 1, 3, 4
The Scinnovent Centre Kenya Developing Policy Guidelines to Harmonize Open Science and Commercialization in Research Partnerships in Kenya 1, 3, 4
STEPS America Latina and Centro de Investigaciones para la Transformación (CENIT) Argentina Collaborative Science for Sustainable Agriculture: Overcoming Health, Inclusion and Environmental Challenges in Argentina 1, 2, 3, 4
Hita Ordo Natural Fiber (HONF) Foundation Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines Open Hardware Research Infrastructure Supporting South to South (and North) Science Cooperation: MOBIL- Mobile Microbiology Open Lab 1, 2, 3, 4
CONICET/Fundación Azara Argentina, Brazil, Mexico How can Open Science Collaborations Meet Social Needs in Peripheral Contexts? 4
CATIE – RIABM (Ibero-American Model Forest Network) Costa Rica, Colombia Improving Adaptive Capacity by Combining Open Collaborative Science with Innovative Landscape Governance: A Case Study in Two Model Forests 1, 3, 4
Mona School of Business and Management Jamaica Collaborative Disaster Preparedness through Shared Ontologies: A Design Science Research Approach 2, 3, 4
Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental – CRIA Brazil Brazil’s Virtual Herbarium: Open and Collaborative Approaches to Knowledge Production 2
Université Lavaland
Université Cheikh Anta Diop		 Haiti, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Benin, RDC, Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Togo Open science as a collective tool of empowerment and cognitive justice in Haiti and French-speaking Africa: building the roadmap / La science ouverte comme outil collectif de développement du pouvoir d’agir et de la justice cognitive en Haïti et en Afrique francophone : vers une feuille de route 1, 3
CAMP Alatoo Public FoundationandUniversity of Central Asia Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz Mountains Environment Education and Citizen Science (KMEECS) Project: Exploring an Institutional Network Introducing Citizen Science in School Curricula, Enhancing Applied Environmental Education and Generating Local-level Environmental Data 1, 3, 4
American University of Beirut Lebanon Planning and Management of Pollution Sources via Public Participation and Open Science 1, 2, 3, 4
National Law University, Delhi India Breaking the Barriers of Knowledge Sharing in India 1, 3
Natural Justice South Africa Empowering Indigenous Peoples and Knowledge Systems Related to Climate Change and Intellectual Property Rights 4

Questions? Contact: info@ocsdnet.org