The Human Face of Open Science: The Case of PianetaLab

Thursday 12 March 2026, 14:30-15:30, Open Science Café with Sabina Leonelli, Stefano Rimini and Elena Giglia

Agenda

14:30 – 14:40 Connection opens and welcome remarks by Elena Giglia
14:40 - 15:00 Presentation by Sabina Leonelli and Stefano Rimini
15:00 – 15:30 Q&A and discussion

Summary

Both as a grassroots movement and an institutional policy, open science is facing major economic, scientific, geopolitical, and social challenges today. At the same time, it is increasingly important to view the research world as open and connected to society and democratic processes. In this webinar, we discuss some of these challenges and suggest a way to address them. This approach starts with a philosophical view of openness in research focused on social action, leading to the transdisciplinary mobilization of communities and institutions. We will illustrate our approach through the story of PianetaLab ([https://www.pianeta.org/pianetalab/](https://www.pianeta.org/pianetalab/)), an initiative we launched over the past year to promote the ideal of open science in direct collaboration with civil society and institutions.

Speakers

Elena Giglia (moderator): Head of the Open Access Project Unit at the University of Turin. She plays an active role in national and international working groups on Open Science and is a partner in several Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects. She was part of the Ministry of University and Research committee that drafted the National Plan for Open Science, which is soon to be published. She was also a member of the "Open Access and New Indicators" working group at ANVUR (2013-2014). She regularly participates in national and international conferences on various aspects of Open Science, including evaluation, and is highly active in training, raising awareness, and promoting these topics.

Sabina Leonelli (speaker): Full Professor of Philosophy and History of Science and Technology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Bavaria, where she directs the Ethical Data Initiative ([https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/](https://ethicaldatainitiative.org/)), the Public Science Lab ([https://publicsciencelab.wordpress.com/](https://publicsciencelab.wordpress.com/)), and the project "A Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments" (www.opensciencestudies.eu). Her research on big data, artificial intelligence, and open science has led her to work as an expert in science and technology governance for the European Commission, as well as an advisor for governments and international agencies.

Stefano Rimini: An international public policy expert with over 15 years of experience in the fields of inequality, social policies, and policy-oriented research. He has worked for many years as a social policy expert for UNICEF and the European Parliament, while also providing advisory support to the Italian Government and the European Committee of the Regions. He is the president and founder of Pianeta.org, a non-profit organisation built on the values of social and environmental justice, and serves as an Ambassador for the European Climate Pact.

Target audience

This webinar is created for the Italian community and is aimed at researchers, research support staff, technicians, and technologists interested in learning more about Open Science and FAIR principles.

Video