This paper reports the pedagogical approach and outcomes of a series of academic development programmes organised between 2016 and 2022 in different countries, which are grounded in the ethos of open educational practices, critical thinking, citizenship and pedagogy as well as ideas around social justice, data justice and data ethics using Open Data as open educational resources, to enable critical reflections and practical exercises with academics from different regions. Our recommendations and conclusionsprovide practical advice promoting a dialogue between different stakeholders to facilitate the development of curricula, workshops and resources using an open model for academic development.