On 25 September 2025, the SSH Open Cluster held its 5th Assembly, led by Darja Fišer (CLARIN ERIC), and Vice Chair Sally Chambers (DARIAH ERIC). The meeting reviewed governance updates, strategic initiatives, and adopted a forward-looking work plan.

The meeting began with a review of the year’s developments, with two new ERICs joining the team, namely EHRI and E-RIHS who formally transitioned to ERIC status. Also, a new Cluster member, MEDem, joined the roster of participants. The Cluster’s Rules of Procedure (RoP) underwent a revision with changes that allow greater flexibility, and follow the more mature status of the Cluster after the first three years of work.

The meeting also reviewed ongoing strategic engagement at European and national levels. At the European level, SSHOC continues to work closely with the ERIC Forum, the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), and the OSCARS project.

National updates illustrated the Cluster’s influence on local levels he Swiss nationwide initiative SSHOC-CH, presented by Georg Lutz from FORS, was founded as a legal entity in 2024, and is building broad membership with ambitions to deepen policy engagement, stakeholder outreach, and service coordination. In the Netherlands, SSHOC-NL is consolidating a network of SSH institutions, libraries, and archives, positioning itself for stronger alignment with cluster objectives. The initiative was presented by Richard Zijdeman from the International Institute of Social History. From Italy, Emiliano Degl'Innocenti from The National Research Council (Cnr) presented the H2IOSC project and reported progress in federating resources across infrastructures, building registries of tools, establishing secure analysis environments, and advancing collaboration around language and media datasets.

The meeting also presented the 2026 Work Plan, anchored around three strategic pillars: sharing data, tools & workflows; training & education; and advocacy & outreach. On the first pillar, led by Sally Chambers (DARIAH ERIC) Cluster members pledged to operate, maintain, and further develop the SSH Open Marketplace, exploring further connections to EOSC. 

Under training and education, led by Susan Schreibman (DARIAH ERIC) the Cluster aims to refine its vision for a Competence Centre, work on SSHOC web presence, and consolidate educational resources across infrastructures. 

On advocacy and outreach, led by Bonnie Wolff-Boenisch (CESSDA ERIC) the Cluster affirmed its intent to maintain a strong presence in relevant stakeholder bodies. The Cluster also plans to boost its visibility through participation in major conferences, coordination with national initiatives, and support for emerging efforts, especially for Ukrainian SSH researchers.

As SSHOC moves forward from this 5th Assembly, its focus is set on actionable steps, deeper cross-infrastructure collaboration, and stronger presence in Europe’s research infrastructure ecosystem.