Making Impact Visible: Storytelling with Open Science Impact Indicators
Telling the Story of Open Science Impact: From Indicators to Action
As Open Science policies gain traction, so does the need to show what impact they truly have. This hands-on workshop introduces the Open Science Indicator Handbook from the PathOS Horizon Europe project, your guide to designing meaningful, evidence-based indicators. Join peers in crafting real-world narratives around indicators that matter. Explore how tracking open practices can shape behavior, influence policy, and advance equity and societal benefit. From numbers to stories, help turn impact into insight.
As Open Science moves from aspiration to policy, the demand for actionable indicators to monitor its impact is growing. Policy initiatives like Horizon Europe Interim Evaluation, ERA Dashboard, EOSC monitoring activities, and national monitoring efforts call for reliable, interoperable data to support evidence-based decisions. Meanwhile, global frameworks such as UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation and the upcoming OSMI principles highlight the need to assess Open Science’s contribution to equity and societal benefit.
The Open Science Indicator Handbook, developed in the PathOS project, provides practical guidance for this complex task. It supports the community in identifying, refining, and operationalizing indicators that capture the effect of Open Science, not just outcomes, but the causal impact of open practices across scientific, societal and economic dimensions. This workshop is intended for Open Science practitioners, research managers, policy officers, funders, interested in monitoring, assessing, and advancing the impact of Open Science practices.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will engage in small group exercises centered on indicator storytelling. Each group will choose one indicator from the Handbook and build a narrative around it, guided by questions such as:
- How would this indicator change behavior if tracked and rewarded?
- What ripple effects could it create, positive or negative?
- How does it connect to real-world Open Science practices and values?
Through creative yet critical reflection, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how Open Science indicators can influence research behaviors and policy and will develop practical skills in interpreting and applying indicators through narrative-driven, real-world scenarios.
As Open Science moves from aspiration to policy, the demand for actionable indicators to monitor its impact is growing. Policy initiatives like Horizon Europe Interim Evaluation, ERA Dashboard, EOSC monitoring activities, and national monitoring efforts call for reliable, interoperable data to support evidence-based decisions. Meanwhile, global frameworks such as UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation and the upcoming OSMI principles highlight the need to assess Open Science’s contribution to equity and societal benefit.
The Open Science Indicator Handbook, developed in the PathOS project, provides practical guidance for this complex task. It supports the community in identifying, refining, and operationalizing indicators that capture the effect of Open Science, not just outcomes, but the causal impact of open practices across scientific, societal and economic dimensions. This workshop is intended for Open Science practitioners, research managers, policy officers, funders, interested in monitoring, assessing, and advancing the impact of Open Science practices.
In this hands-on workshop, participants will engage in small group exercises centered on indicator storytelling. Each group will choose one indicator from the Handbook and build a narrative around it, guided by questions such as:
- How would this indicator change behavior if tracked and rewarded?
- What ripple effects could it create, positive or negative?
- How does it connect to real-world Open Science practices and values?
Through creative yet critical reflection, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how Open Science indicators can influence research behaviors and policy and will develop practical skills in interpreting and applying indicators through narrative-driven, real-world scenarios.
Details
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DATE:17 September 2025
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ROOM:82/1-001 Science Gateway Lab A