Building a Human Network for Sustainable Digital Humanities in Croatia

Description of the Impact

Human-Centred Infrastructure

DARIAH-HR has consistently prioritised people over platforms, building not just infrastructure but a space for negotiation, learning, and transformation. From the outset, it connected diverse stakeholders – from universities to artists – around shared goals, mutual support, and inclusivity. Instead of institutional hierarchies, the consortium focused on shared ownership and tools that address real research needs.

This approach enabled smaller and under-resourced institutions to participate in shaping digital infrastructure and access tools they would otherwise lack the capacity to develop. Crucially, the model rests on a commitment to knowledge-sharing and accessibility: DARIAH-HR regularly organises workshops on digital humanities, heritage, and the arts, with recordings freely available on its YouTube channel. Furthermore, DARIAH Info Days are held across Croatia and the region, often upon request, to ensure direct support and engagement. Beyond access to tools and knowledge, the DARIAH-HR has opened pathways to international collaboration: many researchers and institutions joined European projects and thematic networks for the first time, significantly expanding their visibility, mobility, and research relevance at the European level.

With DARIAH-HR’s support, the Centre for Research in Glagolitism launched Croatia’s first crowdsourcing campaigns for Glagolitic manuscript transliteration, enabling citizen participation and supporting related doctoral research.

Through collaboration with DARIAH-HR, the University of Rijeka co-organised the CLARC 2023 conference, developed tools for analysing cultural memory, and expanded its international research network.

DARIAH-HR supported a cross-border project dedicated to the digital processing of rare manuscript materials, enabling regional collaboration and leading to the organisation of the first international DH conference in Osijek.

Surveys conducted during DARIAH-HR’s community events show that its inclusive model encourages professional connections, supports knowledge sharing, and provides practical guidance. Users particularly appreciate personal support, training opportunities, and reliable communication channels. Instead of focusing on new tools, they highlight the value of regular contact, peer exchange, and events that build confidence in addressing digital challenges. Trust, collaboration, and continuity emerge as key elements of sustained engagement.

DARIAH-HR also maintains four larger annual events, each supporting a distinct but complementary aspect of community-building:

• Digital Humanities & Heritage Conference – international, interdisciplinary exchange; includes peer-reviewed proceedings;

• DARIAH Day – annual partner gathering; showcases work, strengthens collaboration;

• DARIAH Picnic – informal networking; shared insights, creative exchange, community building;

• Baladria Summer School – intensive training; practical skills in digital methods; co-organised with DARIAH-EU.

DARIAH-HR also contributed to addressing structural gaps in the European digital humanities landscape by co-founding two DARIAH working groups:

• ELDAH (Ethics and Legality in the Digital Arts and Humanities) – supporting researchers facing ethical and legal challenges in data handling;

• Theatralia – promoting the documentation and research of performing arts and integrating artistic practices into digital humanities frameworks.

DARIAH-HR Tools

• DH Register – a national platform for creating and hosting registers relevant to humanities research and cultural institutions;

• Tezaurus.hr – a tool for creating and managing thesauri and controlled vocabularies;

• Consent Form Wizard – a GDPR-compliant multilingual tool conceptualised by DARIAH-HR and developed by CLARIAH-AT and ELDAH;

• Mapping App – for mapping and displaying data across sectors;

• DARIAH Assistant – lightweight, open-access mobile app for field research.

Looking Ahead: DARIAH-HR in the Next Decade

As DARIAH-HR moves forward, the consortium fosters essential dialogue on integrating artificial intelligence into digital humanities in ethically grounded, human-centred ways. This aligns with its long-standing ethos: building infrastructure not as an end in itself, but as a means of empowering researchers, supporting communities, and encouraging critical engagement with the digital realm.

One outcome of this dialogue is the DARIAH Assistant app, developed with community input to simplify field data collection and sharing. By easing access to open science, it embodies DARIAH’s mission of inclusive, sustainable digital research. Successfully piloted in Croatia, the app has drawn interest for further use across the DARIAH network.

More broadly, over the past decade, DARIAH-HR has demonstrated that shaping sustainable digital research environments depends not only on technological vision, but on trust, meaningful partnerships, and shared responsibility. Its experience illustrates how the future of digital humanities in Europe may be built – collaboratively.