Who owns our knowledge?
20 - 26 October 2025
Open Access Week 2025
“Who Owns Our Knowledge?” is the theme for this year’s International Open Access Week (20 - 26 October 2025). The 2025 theme asks a pointed question about the present moment and how, in a time of disruption, communities can reassert control over the knowledge they produce. It also challenges us to reflect on not only who has access to education and research but on how knowledge is created and shared, where it has come from, and whose voices are recognized and valued.
More institutions are abandoning proprietary database products and metrics, and some are reforming review, promotion, and tenure policies to more directly reward sharing. Increasingly we see researchers developing an understanding that data and outputs do not always belong to them but are shared with or even controlled by participants in their research.
Despite this progress, emerging risks threaten to prioritise commercialisation over community interests. The rush to scrape academic knowledge to train artificial intelligence models and to integrate AI into academic processes—often without proper consultation or author consent—threatens to undermine our knowledge systems. Surveillance that would be unthinkable in a physical library setting now happens routinely through some publisher platforms. Nevertheless, the community-owned, community-led, and non-commercial approaches to knowledge sharing offer pathways away from these risks toward a future where individuals and communities own and benefit from their own knowledge.
UniSQ Open Access Week events schedule
| Session Title and Event Registration link | Date and time | Presenters | Session format |
| Nurturing a Skills Tree for the open ecology (Outputs will be shared post - OA Week) |
Monday 20 October 2025 11.00 am - 12.30 pm (AEST) |
Steph Piper Samanthi Suraweera Adrian Stagg |
Workshop |
| Attracting opportunity: Perspectives of returning and new authors to open educational resources |
Tuesday 21 October 2025 10.30 am - 12.00 pm (AEST) |
Samanthi Suraweera |
Round Table |
| Open to AI: Oversharing in a data hungry time |
Wednesday 22 October 2025 10.00 am - 11.00 am (AEST) |
Charlie Nelson |
Presentation & Discussion |
Presenter bios and session abstracts
Abstract
The University of Southern Queensland is extending an invitation to you as part of Open Access Week 2025 to attend a skills-mapping workshop. The session 'Nurturing a Skills Tree for the open ecology' builds upon Stephanie Piper's successful Skills Trees concept. During the 90-minute workshop, participants will be guided through iterative development of a skills tree for open educational practices (OEP), with opportunities to share, seek feedback, and refine the work.
Note: this is an invitation-only event, but the outputs will be shared openly after OA Week.
Abstract
This event will delve into the experiences of returning and new authors. The session will explore the the authors' journey through the book creation process, and the benefits, including the extension of their academic and professional reach.
Returning authors, Drs Anna Chruscik and Louisa Windus initially adapted an Open Stax textbook to create 'Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology'. They have embarked on a new project; a six volume set entitled 'Biosciences for the Health Professionals', the first of which has already been published.
New author Dr Chris Kossen was inspired to create his book 'Microlearning - Engaging Learning Experiences Made Easy' based on research and practice leading to a national teaching award. Since publication, Dr Kossen has attracted international collaboration, and research dissemination opportunities.
Dr Govind Krishnamoorthy has just finished a third volume dealing with Trauma Informed Practice, titled ‘Recovery and Resilience at School’ written with Dr Kay Ayre (University of Western Australia) and Dr Dayna Schimke University of Southern Queensland). This text provides interest as it converted an existing podcast series into a textbook, and provides diverse, authentic, and international practitioner perspectives.
The authors will share practical insights on open publishing and provide reflections on how this has enhanced their academic and research profiles.
Presenter Biographies
Dr Anna Chruscik
Dr Anna Chruscik is an early-career researcher and lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ), specialising in Biomedical Sciences and health education. She is passionate about advancing health literacy and education through Open Educational Resources (OER), developing accessible, high-quality learning materials for students and the broader community. Dr Chruscik integrates OER into her teaching practice to foster inclusive, engaging, and evidence-based learning experiences, while also promoting collaboration between universities, health services, and community partners. Her research explores innovative approaches to education and resource sharing, aiming to reduce barriers to knowledge and improve health outcomes, particularly in rural and regional Australia.
Dr Govind Krishnamoorthy
Dr Govind Krishnamoorthy is a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland. His teaching and research advance equity in health and education through open education. He has authored open textbooks and digital toolkits accessed globally, including Trauma-Informed Behaviour Support, which has reached 140,000+ users. He co-hosts the Trauma-Informed Education podcast (480,000+ streams), extending professional learning beyond the classroom. His scholarship integrates digital innovation, culturally responsive frameworks, and open educational practices to make knowledge accessible for diverse learners worldwide.
Dr Chris Kossen:
Dr. Chris Kossen is an academic teaching specialist at the university of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia, School of Arts and Humanities known for his pioneering work and research in online learning with microlearning design.
His contributions have been recognized with awards that include USQ Excellence in Faculty Teaching 2020, Public Relations Educator of the Year 2022, and publications with academics from Wawasan Open University (WOU) Malaysia on developing and implementing microlearning initiatives. He has a successful podcast, Communicating for Success www.chriskossen.me
Dr Louisa Windus
Dr Louisa Windus is a biomedical scientist, educator, and Associate Head of School for Learning, Teaching and Student Success at the University of Southern Queensland. Her teaching philosophy is grounded in inclusive, student-centred pedagogy and real-world application, particularly for students entering health programs without a strong science background.
Louisa has led and contributed to multiple Open Educational Resource (OER) initiatives. Her work in this space has not only enhanced student engagement and retention but has also provided meaningful mentorship opportunities for junior academics and neurodiverse students, including those involved in illustration and content development. Her leadership in open publishing has been recognised through UniSQ Learning and Teaching grants, national conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications.
Samanthi Suraweera (Facilitator)
Samanthi Suraweera is a former academic librarian turned open educational practitioner. She currently works for the University of Southern Queensland as the open education content librarian. She’s a strong believer in free and/or equitable access to learning materials and is proud to help steer the University’s journey with open pedagogies and resources under Dr Adrian Stagg’s stewardship (Manager – Open Education Practice). Prior to becoming a librarian, she was a research assistant focussing on cancer research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre.
Abstract
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) present researchers with the opportunity to enhance their capacity to conduct research. They also present new ways in which researchers might unintentionally breach accepted research ethics and integrity standards, as well as challenges to the notions of knowledge ownership and attribution. This webinar will present a basic introduction to some of the more common AI technologies that have become so prevalent in the modern world, then cover the rigour, ethics, integrity, and data ownership pitfalls to be wary of before discussing the potential open access implications at a time when the demand for knowledge as a resource is so indiscriminate.
Present Biography
Charlie Nelson
Charlie Nelson is a Senior Graduate Research Officer with UniSQ’s Graduate Research School. After initially training as an ICT professional in the late 1990’s, he spent a couple of decades working in wildly different roles in agriculture, logistics, entertainment lighting/theatre production, business consultancy, health and, for the last 7 years, as a Research Administrator at UniSQ. As the impacts of advances in artificial intelligence on research continue to be felt he has developed a keen interest in enabling the researchers he supports to use those technologies ethically and with integrity.