20 August 2026
In 2027 UKSG celebrates its 50th anniversary, after half a century of connecting the knowledge community and supporting the exchange of ideas on scholarly communication. To mark the occasion, and to celebrate with members right across the country, we are launching a series of UKSG50 regional events under the theme “You usually come to us, now we come to you.”
We are inviting UKSG member organisations to express an interest in hosting a regional event during 2027. Hosting is a chance to bring the UKSG community to your part of the country, to give your team a development opportunity, and to help us celebrate the anniversary with UKSG covering the costs and providing support throughout.
What a regional event looks like
- A half- or full-day gathering of around 50-100 people.
- A mix of presentations, panel discussions, workshops and informal networking.
- Typically held in the middle of the day (for example, 10:30 to 2:30 or 3:00pm) to allow for off-peak travel.
- In person, with the option of an online or hybrid element at the host’s discretion.
What UKSG provides
- A budget of up to £3,000 per event towards venue hire, catering, and speaker and volunteer expenses.
- Support from the UKSG Executive team with logistics, promotion and bookings.
- Promotion across UKSG’s channels and networks.
- Candidate speakers, drawn from our pool of Annual Conference proposals, with speakers’ permission.
What we ask of hosts
- A suitable venue able to accommodate around 50-100 people.
- A senior sponsor within your organisation, plus a named operational contact to work with UKSG.
- Local input into the programme and speakers.
- Support with running the event on the day.
Themes
We are keeping themes deliberately light-touch. Hosts are free to choose a focus that resonates with their community, and themes may be similar across regions since audiences will differ. Possible directions include dealing with change, doing more with less, AI, and trust and integrity, alongside more specific topics such as OA monographs or library publishing. We are happy to help you shape this.
Which regions
We are seeking a maximum of 6 regional events and are especially keen to hear from organisations in Wales, the North of England, and Northern Ireland. However, we welcome expressions of interest from any location.
Sponsorship
If your organisation would prefer to support the programme as a sponsor, for example towards catering costs, rather than, or as well as, hosting, we would be glad to hear from you. Please indicate this on the form.
The small print
- Events will be concentrated in summer 2027 (roughly late May–July), avoiding the annual conference, the Forum and other seminars.
- UKSG covers costs up to the agreed budget per event; hosts are asked to provide the venue.
- To ensure each event is viable, UKSG will agree the programme two to three months ahead, confirm venue and catering arrangements in advance, and check registration numbers in the run-up. We will work with you throughout.
- We ask hosts to agree that UKSG may use written outputs, recordings and photographs from the event afterwards to promote UKSG and the anniversary.
Closing date and contact
Expressions of interest close on Friday 9 October 2026. We will review submissions and confirm hosts in October, before working with you to plan and schedule events across 2027.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss an idea before submitting, please contact bev@uksg.org (Executive Director) or rob.johnson@research-consulting.com (UKSG Chair).