Image – Getty iStockphoto: Peter Spiro
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘A Vibrant Flourishing Publishing Ecosystem in Ukraine’
In scholarly publishing, the De Gruyter eBound initiative is inteneded “to provide support for nonprofit open-access and mission-driven scholarly monograph publishing.”
A program called the Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery initiative, associated with the Central European University Press, is “meant to galvanize assistance for Ukrainian publishing now and after the war.” The De Gruyter foundation has made a US$10,000 grant to the resilience and recovery initiative to help with the goal of “building a strong transnational community of publishers working together to match needs with resources.”
The resilience and recovery initiative, De Gruyter points out in its media messaging, has made a first report, which amounts to a short overview covering book publishing, scientific, and scholarly journals in Ukraine.
De Gruyter’s media messaging says that the program is also “developing bespoke training programs for Ukrainian publishers wanting “to modernize in line with European Union accession requirements.”
Frances Pinter
In a prepared comment, Frances Pinter, executive chair at the Central Eureopean University Press, is quoted, saying, “This funding will allow us to continue our work in forging links with publishing organizations that are supporting the goal of ensuring that a strong, modern, and vibrant publishing ecosystem will flourish in Ukraine.”
Additional early backers of the Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery initiative include:
- Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
- OAPEN Foundation,
- OASPA
- Publishers Licensing Services
- The Ukrainian Book Institute
- Ukraining Publishers and Booksellers Association
Steve Fallon
Steve Fallon, executive director of De Gruyter eBound, says, “We want to offer our sincerest congratulations on this well-deserved recognition.
“We’re confident that this grant will provide significant support toward achieving the goals of the SUPRR Initiative.”
Both Fallon and Pinter are on the De Gruyter eBound advisory board.
De Gruyter eBound is a nonprofit foundation that supports mission-driven scholarly publishers around the world with the goal to make their publications accessible international audiences.
Support is given through various means, including granting publication subsidies and help getting projects off the ground, according to the company’s announcement.
The Association of University Presses, familiar to many Publishing Perspectives readers, is also backing the work of the Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery initiative.
Here is all our coverage of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine and its impact on the country’s publishing industry, as well as international reactions.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the work of De Gruyter is here, more on academic and scholarly publishing is here, more on open access is here.