Making the Mission Possible - Connecting Collaborative and Mission-Driven Research and Publishing with a Wider Audience in the Face of Global Social Challenges

Abstract

The social world is rapidly changing with the development of new technologies, challenges to expertise and evidence-based knowledge, the effects of climate change, continued poverty and inequality, and the recent need for COVID-19 recovery. Tackling social challenges has been at the heart of Bristol University Press (BUP) from the 1996 inception of Policy Press, its imprint, to becoming the first university press to sign on to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Publishers Compact in 2021. Additionally, a forthcoming strategy refresh at the University of Bristol will emphasize civic engagement and social responsibility using the SDGs to monitor impact across their education, research, and civic missions. This session presented the story of BUP’s strategy for cross-collaboration with the University of Bristol to address global social challenges and make meaningful and impactful contributions to real-world problems. A key initiative is the development of BUP’s new Open Access Global Social Challenges Journal, which seeks to decolonize participation in and access to truly global research in the social sciences while maintaining an ongoing commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and social justice.Copyright © 2022 Simon Bell, Julia Mortimer, and Suzanne Kozaitis. CC-BY-NC 4.0