Advancing partnerships beyond publication to meet the Sustainable Development Goals

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The Link
By: Laura Graham-Clare, Tue May 19 2020
Laura Graham-Clare

Author: Laura Graham-Clare

A perspective from Account Development


Publishers and libraries are part of the scientific community at large seeking ways to address the most pressing societal challenges. As collaborators, we want to support the combined efforts from all stakeholders, including researchers, policy makers, entrepreneurs and science communicators, in pushing research developments to the forefront of change at a local and global scale.


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In 2015, Timon Oefelein, Account Development and Strategic Partnerships Manager at Springer Nature, was part of the team helping to implement the first national open access “Publish & Read” deal in Europe, between Springer Nature, The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and its sister organization The Consortium of University Libraries and the National Library (UKB). This partnership has evolved, and last year, accumulated in a new collaborative impact working group aimed at providing new insights into the Dutch research assessment community, and beyond, by mapping research in SDG areas and identifying gaps in funding.  


As this project enters its second phase, we spoke to Timon about the partnership, his role in facilitating it, and his hopes for future partnerships like this in helping institutions and researchers accelerate impact and meaningful change.  You can also find out more about the results of the partnership itself in an interview featuring Jürgen Wastl, Director of Academic Relations and Consultancy, Digital Science, on our sister blog, The Source. 


Tell us about the relationship with VSNU/UKB, and your role in supporting their ongoing agreements with us since 2015.


Tell us more about what the first impact analysis demonstrated, and how the results led to the new working group?


This project required coordination across technical, editorial and commercial teams from across Springer Nature, VSNU/UKB, and Digital Science. What was the most exciting part of this, and why is it such a unique initiative?


The project has been made up of three workstreams, set out here. Can you give us some insights into the developments of these and what we hope to achieve with and for our customers?


Give us a little insight into how this integrated into your role within Account Development work?


How are you seeing the research evaluation landscape evolve, and how does this new collaboration contribute to moving it forward?



We will publish a series of interviews and insights around Sustainable Development Goals, our partnerships that support research with societal relevance, and the impact for researchers and organizations globally. Keep up to date by signing up for The Link Alerts, or visiting our Springer Nature SDG Programme hub. 

Laura Graham-Clare

Author: Laura Graham-Clare

Laura Graham-Clare is Head of Community Content, based in London. Working between our publishing, sales and marketing teams, she is focused on thought leadership trends, content creation, and developing insights and information resources for staff, librarians, researchers and information professionals.