The OPEN Cost Action Annual Conference is a pan-European event that brings together scholars, policymakers, and higher education leaders from across more than 40 countries to explore the evolving challenges and opportunities surrounding academic freedom and the openness of research in Europe. Held each year in a different host country, the conference provides a vital interdisciplinary forum to explore how the rise of new nationalisms and geopolitical tensions exert a growing pressure on the openness of European higher education and research.