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The NFDI4Earth FAIRness and Openness Commitment

📖 Read the NFDI4Earth Commitment: https://nfdi4earth.de/commitment

🖊️ Sign the NFDI4Earth Commitment: http://nfdi4earth.de/commit

Full citation:

NFDI4Earth Consortium. 2024. NFDI4Earth FAIRness and Openness Commitment (NFDI4EarthDeliverable D4.2.1). NFDI4Earth Community on Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10123880.

Why a Commitment for FAIRness and Openness?

The NFDI4Earth FAIRness and Openness Commitment (the NFDI4Earth Commitment) serves as a cornerstone for fostering cultural change towards more FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and Open data practices in Earth System Sciences.

Science advances when knowledge is openly shared. This requires a cultural and systemic change that evolves current practices and that promotes solutions for data sharing within and beyond the Earth System Sciences. Only by working together as a community can this happen. NFDI4Earth aims to become a central facilitator for research data management in the German Earth System Sciences community, enabling more open knowledge sharing. The mission of NFDI4Earth is to provide easy, efficient, open and, as far as possible, unrestricted and standardised access to all relevant Earth system data, scientific data management and data analysis services, and to ensure sustainable and quality-assured research data management infrastructures. The NFDI4Earth commitment will help to engage the NFDI4Earth community in shaping, promoting, and implementing the NFDI4Earth agenda. In the longer term, the results of this work will also help to drive the much needed change in the way research is evaluated, as expressed, for example, in the and DORA and CoARA declarations.

What is in the Commitment?

The NFDI4Earth Commitment consists of two main statements followed by twelve supporting statements that signatories pledge to uphold. The structure was carefully designed to balance brevity with comprehensiveness, resulting in a two-page document that addresses diverse stakeholder needs.

Main Statements

"We commit to advance FAIRness and Openness in Earth System Sciences."

"We value data infrastructures and data experts."

Supporting Statements (Summary)

The twelve numbered supporting statements (1-12) encompass key areas of research data management and Open Science practices. They include aspects such as legal awareness, citation & credit, repository selection, education and training, data management plans, licensing, governance alignment, infrastructure sustainability, curation, and standards.

Read all supporting statements at https://nfdi4earth.de/commitment.

Who can sign the Commitment?

NFDI4Earth invites all members of the Earth System Sciences community to sign the commitment and join the conversation on changing research data management practices towards FAIRness and Openness. This includes:

  • Institutions
  • Individual researchers
  • Laboratories
  • Infrastructure providers
  • Publishers
  • Academic societies
  • Government agencies
  • Administrations
  • Industry
  • Funders
  • Research organisations

Signatories become ambassadors for change towards more FAIR and Open data practices in Earth System Sciences. See the current list of signatories.

How to Sign the Commitment?

Signing the NFDI4Earth Commitment involves a structured process to ensure data protection.

  1. Visit the signing portal: http://nfdi4earth.de/commit
  2. Complete the form: Provide details as an individual researcher, institution, or organisation in a secure REDCap form
  3. Email confirmation: Receive and confirm your signature via email
  4. Public listing: Join the list of public signatories on the NFDI4Earth website, in the NFDI4Earth Knowledge Hub, and the NFDI4Earth OneStop4All.

You can contact the NFDI4Earth Help Desk for any issues or data corrections and provide anonymous feedback through a the dedicated survey at https://redcap.zih.tu-dresden.de/redcap/surveys/?s=YKTL79MPMEHDTMAK.

How did the Commitment come to be?

The NFDI4Earth Commitment emerged from a systematic, community-driven development process that spanned from mid-2023 to late 2024. The genesis reflects NFDI4Earth's recognition that cultural change towards sustainable research data sharing requires broad consensus and active participation from all stakeholder groups.

Development Timeline and Process

The development began with an initial internal draft in mid-2023, followed by a carefully structured consultation process:

August 2023 - Internal Workshop (FU Berlin): The team of NFDI4Earth Measure 4.2 - Cultural Change conducted a foundational workshop where participants identified and prioritised key topics and stakeholders. Using a collaborative approach with physical cards, the team identified eleven crucial topics that should be included: metadata, data quality, data citation, data acts, Data Management Plans (DMPs), software citation, expert curation, career advancement, academic societies, rights & licenses, and the role of tenured professors. This workshop established that the commitment should function as both a petition-style document for individuals and a strategic framework for institutions.

November 2023 - Expert Consultations: Five experts from diverse backgrounds participated in two consultation calls, providing critical feedback on authority, mandate, and implementation. Key insights included:

  • The importance of establishing NFDI4Earth's mandate and role clearly in the preamble
  • The need for emotional messaging to build a community of practice ("create a buzz")
  • Recognition that the commitment should serve as a teaching tool and conversation starter
  • Recommendation to develop an ambassador network for implementation
  • The challenge to distinguish between language for individuals versus institutions

November 2023 - Co-applicant Consultation: A comprehensive consultation with NFDI4Earth co-applicant institutions was conducted through:

  • Public document for asynchronous feedback
  • Eight scheduled drop-in calls (though participation was limited)
  • Direct engagement resulting in 164 documented changes to the text
  • Contributions from 11 reviewers focusing on clarity, inclusiveness, and practical implementation

March-May 2024 - Community Refinement:

  • Discussion session at an NFDI4Earth project meeting (March 2024)
  • Workshop "Towards a Cultural Change in ESS RDM" at the 3rd NFDI4Earth Plenary in Dresden (May 2024)
  • Multiple internal editing iterations

July-September 2024 - Finalisation:

  • Full editorial overhaul (July 2024)
  • Unanimous positive decision by NFDI4Earth Steering Group (September 2024)
  • Official publication as NFDI4Earth Deliverable D4.2.1 (September 2024)

Key Development Principles

Throughout the development, several principles guided the process:

Inclusivity: Ensuring representation from academia, government agencies, infrastructure providers, and industry

Balance: Addressing both aspirational goals and practical implementation

Authority through consensus: Building legitimacy through broad community involvement rather than top-down mandate

Emotional engagement: Creating not just a policy document but a rallying point for community action

How to Implement the Commitment in My Daily Work?

As an individual researcher or data practitioner, implementing the NFDI4Earth Commitment involves integrating FAIR and Open practices into regular workflows. The NFDI4Earth Commitment website provides a list of "National and international statements and guidelines for Open Science practices", which can serve as a starting point for individuals.

How to Implement the Commitment as an Institution or Organisation

Institutions and organisations can implement the NFDI4Earth Commitment through systematic changes in policy, infrastructure, and culture. Several signatories have already outlined concrete implementation plans primarily based on existing activities. The NFDI4Earth team facilitates and exchange between signatories to share best practices and experiences and to develop guidelines in the future. The following are examples of activities that institutions can undertake to support the implementation of the Commitment.

Policy Development:

  • Establish institutional research data policies aligned with FAIR principles
  • Integrate Open Science principles into institutional strategies
  • Create reward systems recognising data management activities
  • Mandate data publication for doctoral theses and funded projects
  • Publish proceedings as Open Access
  • Encourage publication in domain repositories through author guidelines

Infrastructure Investment:

  • Support and sustain Earth System Sciences domain repositories
  • Invest in robust data management infrastructure
  • Ensure interoperability with national and international data infrastructures
  • Develop novel approaches for data publication from HPC environments
  • Provide quality-assured open geodata with improved metadata frameworks

Capacity Building:

  • Organise information events and colloquia during semesters
  • Develop compulsory courses on FAIR and Open Data for doctoral candidates
  • Support PhD schools focused on data management
  • Create educational materials promoting transparency and accessibility
  • Provide consultation services for researchers and students

Governance and Compliance:

  • Ensure compliance with national and European data laws
  • Align institutional practices with international standards (OGC, ISO/TC 211)
  • Support governing bodies advancing FAIR and Open Science
  • Implement the GDI-DE standards for spatial data infrastructure
  • Join NFDI4Earth as institutional members

Support Services:

  • Establish research data management support services
  • Provide expert curation and guidance for Data Management Plans
  • Offer consultation on appropriate repositories and licensing
  • Create DMPs for working groups and student projects
  • Promote data published by members on organisation websites

Community Engagement:

  • Participate actively in NFDI4Earth initiatives and working groups
  • Share best practices through the NFDI4Earth Living Handbook
  • Contribute to the development of standards and guidelines

Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Track progress in implementing FAIR principles across the institution
  • Regularly assess and improve data management practices
  • Report on institutional contributions to Open Science
  • Use the NFDI4Earth Label

Partnerships:

  • Collaborate with other institutions to share resources and expertise
  • Support cross-institutional infrastructure development
  • Engage with funding agencies to ensure sustainable support
  • Connect with academic societies as multipliers for change

The NFDI4Earth Commitment is embedded in a broader ecosystem of cultural change initiatives and related activities:

FAIRagro Commitment

In March 2025, the FAIRagro consortium, with more than 30 partners building a FAIR research data management system for agrosystems research, published their adapted version of the NFDI4Earth Commitment. This version includes minor adjustments to address the agricultural research community by name while maintaining alignment with the core principles and statements. The FAIRagro commitment demonstrates the transferability and adaptability of the framework to related disciplines.

More information: https://fairagro.net/en/commitment

CC-BY-US Initiative

The CC-BY-US initiative emerged in 2023 when members of several NFDI consortia came together to discuss challenges and opportunities of sharing research data through the NFDI and the associated changes needed in practice to increase and improve sharing. Through online workshops and publications, they investigate how cultural change can promote use of infrastructures, and how infrastructures can promote cultural change. Their work philosophy "data shall grow - and we with it" complements the NFDI4Earth Commitment by providing cross-consortia perspectives and feedback.

More information: https://cc-by-us.gitlab.io/

NFDI4Earth Technology and Services

The Commitment is one pillar of NFDI4Earth's three-pronged approach to cultural change, alongside:

  • NFDI4Earth Synthesis Architecture & Services: Including the Knowledge Hub, Living Handbook, User Support Network, EduTrain Portal, and OneStop4All platform - see [NFDI4Earth System Architecture])(N4E_System_Architecture.md).
  • NFDI4Earth Label: A quality assurance mechanism for documenting and advancing interoperability across data repositories - see NFDI4Earth Label Introduction.

International Connections

The Commitment aligns with and references multiple international initiatives: