What is a DARIAH Regional Hub?
In the past years, there were attempts to formalize Regional Hub associations within DARIAH, however they were never officially defined and announced.
As of June 2023, and following a long internal consideration period and consultation with partners, we are pleased to announce the Regional Hubs as a new organization form within DARIAH. Institutions from member and non-member countries, whether co-operating partners or not, are invited to apply for a Hub.
A DARIAH Regional Hub (DRH) is a representative consortium of institutions from geographically close countries that serves the aims of DΑRΙΑΗ at a regional level and is officially recognized by DARIAH-EU.
The main criterion for establishing a DRH is geographic proximity because cultural, social, historical and/or linguistic similarities that can be found in geographically close countries constitute an excellent basis for fruitful collaboration on joint projects.
Members of a DRΗ can be institutions from DARIAH Member Countries, DARIAH Observer Countries and non-member countries. Both DARIAH Cooperating Partners and non-affiliated institutions from non-member countries are allowed to join as long as the overall goals of the regional association are in line with DARIAH’s mission to “empower research communities with digital methods to create, connect and share knowledge about culture and society.”
While regional hubs are primarily geographic associations, a DRH can choose to focus on particular topics to meet the interests of its members and/or specific funding opportunities.
Goals and activities of a DARIAH Regional Hub
DARIAH Regional Hubs serve the goals of DARIAH at a regional level. More specifically, they are aimed at:
- promoting closer regional collaboration with institutions across multiple countries that share common cultural traditions and/or similar operational challenges;
- contributing to the expansion of DARIAH through meaningful engagement with non-affiliated institutions in non-member countries that could potentially become DARIAH Cooperating Partners and/or lead the effort for their countries to join DARIAH as a Member or Observer.
These goals will be implemented by a set of activities that include but are not limited to:
- Participating in and/or jointly organizing regional events such as conferences, seminars, workshops, lecture series, internship programs etc.
- Serving as a direct point of contact for information and knowledge exchange regarding DARIAH, especially to non-affiliated or newly-affiliated institutions in a given region
- Exploring joint opportunities for specific projects from national and/or regional funding authorities.
Membership
- A DRH is a consortium which can be established by at least five institutions from three geographically close countries that are Member States of the Council of Europe, Associated Countries or Third Countries other than Associated Countries.
- While five institutions from three different countries is the minimum criterion for establishing, DARIAH-EU expects the DRH to be representative of their regions and to include a more significant number of relevant institutions.
- The status of a DRH is awarded to applicant consortia by DARIAH-EU (see section “Status” below) and communicated via DARIAH-EU’s website.
Institutional eligibility
- Membership in a DRH consortium is open to any institution from the research, academic/educational, GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) or IT sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and industrial partners, which can and are willing to contribute to the goals of the DRH.
- Institutions from DARIAH Member Countries that are not part of funded national consortia can become members of the DRH.
- Institutions from DARIAH Member Countries that are not part of national consortia must inform DARIAH National Coordinators of their willingness to join the DRH and of their activities, once they join. This is to ensure that National Coordinators remain informed about all DARIAH-related activities in their respective countries.
Coordination
- A DRH must be coordinated by a DARIAH Partner Institution from a DARIAH Member Country.
- The task of coordinating a DRH can be optionally shared by two institutions, in which case the two institutions must be from different countries, one of which has to be a DARIAH Partner Institution from a DARIAH Member Country.
- The Coordinating Institution(s) are chosen by members of the DRH consortium for a period of three years renewable.
Are you interested in establishing a DARIAH Regional Hub? If so, please get in touch with us at info@dariah.eu.
