Springer Nature and UNESCO have announced the signing of a framework agreement encompassing the publication of open access books focusing on UNESCO’s main pillars, notably education, the natural and social human sciences, culture, and communication and information areas.

Written by experts affiliated to UNESCO, these books will publish under two of Springer Nature’s key imprints, namely Palgrave Macmillan and Springer, and will offer up-to-date and qualified research on a range of critical issues pertaining to UNESCO’s areas of expertise. Open access publication will enable readers around the world to access the books free of charge on Springer Nature’s content platform SpringerLink as well as on UNESCO’s open access repository (UNESDOC); readers will be able to share and re-use the works, further increasing their impact and reach.

The first book to be published under this agreement, The Future of the Buddha Bamiyan Statues: Heritage Reconstruction in Theory and Practice, will address the destruction of the Buddha statues located in the Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan, and the subsequent mobilization of the international community to safeguard the remains of this outstanding feature of Afghan Cultural Heritage.