The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) has announced its support for Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery (SUPRR) to create closer ties between the Ukrainian academic and scholarly publishing sector and the global publishing community.
The focus will be on translation into and from the Ukrainian language, assisting in developing digital infrastructure, supporting the use of international metadata standards, and streamlining distribution. In addition, the initiative is developing bespoke training programs for Ukrainian publishers wishing to modernize in line with EU accession requirements. The goal is to restore a healthy publishing ecosystem in Ukraine.
SUPRR is associated with the Central European University Press. Funding for the project has come from the De Gruyter eBound Foundation in Berlin, which today announced a $10,000 grant to support the program. The SUPRR initiative has already produced a 21-page overview of the Ukrainian book publishing industry, which covers trade, scientific, and scholarly journals in Ukraine. It is available as a free download.
In a resolution adopted during its spring meeting last month, the AUPresses Board of Directors wrote: “We particularly applaud the goal of greater integration of Ukrainian scholarly publishers into the global scholarly communications ecosystem. We commit to expanded outreach to our Ukrainian university press colleagues through targeted participation in AUPresses programs and resources.” To begin, AUPresses will offer complimentary registrations to its 2023 Virtual Annual Meeting in June.
Other early backers of SUPRR include the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, Central European University Press, the De Gruyter eBound Foundation, the OAPEN Foundation, Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association, Publishers Licensing Services, the Ukrainian Book Institute, and the Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association.
Additionally, AUPresses has compiled a list of selected books, journal articles, booklists, and commentary from AUPresses members’ expert authors that offer essential reading to all who seek to understand the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
“Our overall goal is to see a healthy publishing industry restored to the people of Ukraine,” said Frances Pinter, one of the initiative’s organizers and executive chair of Central European University Press, an AUPresses member since 2014. “We are thrilled to receive [a] grant from the De Gruyter eBound Foundation. 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.”
Steve Fallon, executive director of De Gruyter eBound, added: “We want to offer our sincerest congratulations on this well-deserved recognition. We are confident that this grant will provide significant support toward achieving the goals of the SUPRR Initiative.”
For his part, Oleksandr Afonin, president of the Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association, said, “We are pleased to be working with SUPRR, an initiative that will support us as we work to overcome the many challenges we face."
More information about SUPRR, including its first report on the current landscape of Ukrainian book publishing, is available on its website.
