Continuous Science Foundation is hosting a small gathering in May 2025 in Banff, Canada[1], to do something that often feels impossible in the rush of research, building scientific infrastructure, and large changes in the landscape of funding: slow down, take stock, and ask — where is scientific communication headed, and how can we make it better? more complete? more rapid? more iterative? more integrated? more reusable?
We believe now is also a moment of real opportunity. Open access has changed who can read science. Preprints have changed when science is shared. But to truly accelerate discovery, collaboration, and impact, we need to rethink what is actually shared and how science is reused. Not sharing only the story, but a more complete package with data, software, protocols, reviews. Not sharing just at the end, but rapidly and iteratively throughout the entire process.
From Access to Process¶
Open access has unlocked the door to the scientific record for millions around the world. Open access is essential, and must continue to expand. However, access alone does not solve the challenges researchers face today: fragmented systems, static outputs, missing links between data, software, methods, protocols, reviews, and narrative.
Science has evolved — toward computation, collaboration, and iteration — but the ways we communicate it have not kept up. We need to shift from simply making science accessible to making the process of science more visible, reusable, and integrated into how we create and share knowledge.
This is a shared vision — and we believe it’s time to give it a stronger voice.
Why We’re Convening — and Why Now¶
There are already many groups, projects, and individuals working toward a more preferable future for scientific communication. We are not starting from scratch. This gathering is about catalyzing a movement that is already emerging — giving it shared language, stronger narrative, and a clearer direction.
Supported by The Navigation Fund, this meeting in Banff is not a traditional workshop. The workshop will be facilitated by a strategic storyteller, Jason Thompson, and a marketing team, Wildly Open. We will spend time together shaping a shared vision, surfacing compelling stories about the change we seek, and beginning to outline actionable steps toward a more integrated, iterative, and complete model of research communication.
Through collaborative workshops, facilitated storytelling sessions, and structured discussions, we aim to align on where we are, where we want to go, and how we might get there — together.
Setting a Course Toward a Preferable Future¶
Our goal in Banff is not to solve everything at once. It is to set a course and give it voice. To align around a vision that celebrates the realities of modern science — data-rich, code-driven, team-based, iterative, fast-paced — and to begin shaping the infrastructure, practices, and compelling stories that reinforce our vision.
We are gathering to imagine a system where open sharing is built into the research process itself, not tacked on at the end — with data, software and protocols built-in, not bolted on. Where iteration is encouraged, reuse is easy, and researchers are empowered with tools that match the sophistication of the work they are doing.
This is the beginning of a broader effort — one that we hope many others will join.
We expect to leave Banff with a shared and more nuanced vision — one that reflects the needs of researchers and the realities of modern scientific work and prioritizes rapid, complete and reusable ways to share science. Alongside that vision, we will begin shaping communications materials with our storytelling and marketing teams as well as a practical roadmap to guide collaborative efforts over the coming years.
We will be sharing outcomes, materials, and opportunities to participate in the coming months. If you are interested in helping build a more rapid, complete, iterative, and resilient future for research — we would love to stay in touch.
Acknowledgments¶
Funding for the gathering in Banff is supported in part by The Navigation Fund.
The workshop will be set in Banff National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that spans 6,641 square kilometers (2,564 square miles) of wild and breathtaking mountainous terrain. With 97% of the park remaining wild and only 3% developed, the location will inspire us in charting new paths. We will plan an outdoor event before the meeting that enables participants to drop their guard around limiting beliefs, get a little uncomfortable, and be bold.
