The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Department of Knowledge and Information Stewardship (DKIS) successfully hosted a pivotal conference within the 2nd Global Summit on Diamond Open Access. This event, held on December 8-9, 2024, centered on "Advancing Social Justice Through Curriculum Realignment: Centering Scholarly Communication in LIS Curricula."

Opening the Dialogue  
The conference commenced with a warm welcome from Prof. Shose Kessi, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, who highlighted the urgent need for inclusive and equitable academic systems. Prof. Kessi’s address set a hopeful and determined tone for the event.

Setting the context – DKIS Leadership
Dr. Andiswa Mfengu, a senior lecturer at DKIS, and convenor of the conference highlighted the  core goal of the Global Summit which is to develop capacity through centering scholarly communication in Library and Information Science (LIS) education curricula. Hence, the conference theme is Advancing Social Justice Through Curriculum Realignment: Centering Scholarly Communication in LIS Curricula. 
The conference spoke to the following two complementary objectives of the Global Summit:

• 1. Towards growing the next generation of scholarly communication leadership, the centering of scholarly communication in LIS curricula is critical;
• 2. To accelerate engagement in research assessment and quality assurance for the sustainability of the diamond open access model.

A key aspect of a social justice/philanthropic-driven open access movement is the pedagogy associated with and/or required for the growth of open access. The primary purpose of the scholarly event was to advance the growth of open access by paying explicit attention to scholarly communication in LIS curricula.

Prof. Jaya Raju in her welcome address noted that

“approximately 18 papers that will be presented over the next two days have been through a double-blind peer review process and are currently in the latter production phase for publication of an edited volume to be published early in 2025”.

She added that

“two-day meeting had in-person registration for attendance by delegates from nearly 25 countries in the following regions/continents: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, United Kingdon & Europe, and Asia & Oceania”. 

Keynote addresses
Prof. Kgomotso Hildegard Moahi, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the Open University of Botswana,  in her keynote address highlighted the opportunities for LIS curricula to disrupt the status quo by addressing power imbalances, issues of dominance by centrering social justice in scholarly communication and decolonising LIS education.

Prof. Jaya Raju gave the second keynote address highlighted

“transformative potential of lived experiences for decolonisation of LIS research and knowledge production”.

She added that it is crucial to centre African and diverse ways of knowing and being and not privilege written knowledge over other forms of knowing.

In-Depth Discussions and Future Actions  
The conference involved two days of thought-provoking paper presentations, vigorous discussions, a panel discussion on day one, and critical reflection on the final day which culminated inactionable recommendations for curriculum realignment.  The discussion highlighted the need for intentional centrering of scholarly communication, decolonisation and social justice in the currilum. 

Continuing Engagement  
Although the Global Summit on Diamond Open Access sessions concluded on December 13, UCT remains committed to ongoing engagement to transform knowledge production  and assessment systems so they are equitable and context-sensitive. 

The leadership shown by UCT through this event highlights its commitment to fostering a future where knowledge systems are more equitable, inclusive, and accessible especially for marginalized groups.