“Open Knowledge Ecosystems for the Advancement of Citizen Science” (ȬPEN) No. ZDA-LIP 2025/2
University of Latvia Development Programme with High Impact
Implementation period: 2026–2028 (36 months). Funding: EUR 300,000. The project is led by the Centre for Digital Humanities of the UL Faculty of Humanities; the UL Livonian Institute takes part as a project partner.
The project develops open knowledge ecosystems and digital solutions that make Latvia’s languages and cultural heritage more accessible, support their use in research and encourage public participation in creating knowledge. It follows a citizen science approach, bringing together researchers, technology developers, cultural heritage institutions and the public.
Main activities:
- developing open artificial intelligence solutions, including handwritten text recognition (HTR) and speech recognition models for Latvian, Latgalian and Livonian;
- strengthening community involvement in the digitisation and governance of cultural heritage;
- promoting interdisciplinary cooperation between digital humanities, linguistics, cultural heritage and information technology, and building the University of Latvia’s capacity in citizen science.
Expected results:
- open HTR models for Latvian and Livonian;
- an improved speech recognition model for Latvian and Latgalian;
- new open text and speech datasets;
- recommendations for community involvement in cultural heritage governance;
- scientific publications and international cooperation;
- public engagement activities – community digitisation sessions, seminars and hackathons.
Partners:
Within the University of Latvia: the Centre for Digital Humanities of the Faculty of Humanities, the University of Latvia Library, and the Livonian Institute of the Faculty of Humanities in cooperation with the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, the Institute of Biology and the Institute of Latvian History. External partners: the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the UL Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, the Latvian Open Technology Association, the National Archives of Latvia and the UL Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art.
Project team: Sanita Reinsone (project leader), Ilze Ļaksa-Timinska (coordinator), Luīze Frančeska Dakša (UL Centre for Digital Humanities); Valts Ernštreits, Gunta Kļava (UL Livonian Institute); Uldis Zariņš, Annija Grīsle (UL Library).
More about the project here. Contact: dhc@lu.lv
