Our project CLARIAH-VL+: Paving the Way for an SSH Open Science Cloud for Flanders has been funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) as an International Research Infrastructure (IRI) for an additional 4 years. A grant of €4,286,252 will support the continued collaboration between the universities of Ghent, Antwerp, Leuven, and Brussels and their partners. Building on the achievements of the CLARIAH-VL Open Humanities Service Infrastructure (2018–2020) and CLARIAH-VL Advancing Open Humanities Service Infrastructure (2021–2024), this new phase will consolidate previous efforts.

Tackling pressing societal challenges
To advance digitally-enabled research in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), CLARIAH-VL+ encompasses disciplines such as literature, linguistics, history, sociology, political science, and economics. The initiative establishes a robust technical, knowledge, and social infrastructure to connect Flemish SSH scholars with to data-driven research communities in Europe and beyond. We will address unique infrastructural needs, such as the management of heritage and historical sources.
We want to bridge the Humanities and Social Sciences to tackle pressing societal challenges, including environmental change, social inequalities, and cultural diversity with CLARIAH-VL+. The project will promote interdisciplinary collaboration by integrating SSH with fields like ecology, climatology, and geography. The transformation of archival and historical materials, including maps, meteorological data, and censuses, into digital formats is of key importance to address critical societal questions.
High-quality user-friendly tools
Leveraging advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), Linked Open Data (LOD), and semantic web technologies, CLARIAH-VL+ will develop modular Service Infrastructure Components (SICs) to support researchers in analysing, sharing, and enriching diverse multilingual Humanities data. These SICs include high-quality, user-friendly tools and resources for analysing, sharing, connecting and enriching dense SSH research data such as the Belgian Historical Gazetteer, a crowdsourcing and annotation platform, and AI-driven automation for as many aspects of the workflows of researchers working with Humanities data as possible.
Public engagement
CLARIAH-VL+ will also foster public engagement by adhering to Open Science principles by operating as an Open Humanities Service infrastructure, and making research accessible and participatory. We will continue our collaboration with established entities such as CLARIN-ERIC and DARIAH-EU, and align with European Science Cluster developments, ensuring compatibility with existing resources and standards. The CLARIAH-VL+ Academy will serve as a central hub for training and educational resources, providing an entry point for DH researchers and practitioners by integrating with internal and external platforms such DARIAH-Campus, the CLARIN Learning Hub, the Digital Humanities Course Registry, and many more.

Within the CLARIAH-VL+ framework, we will also extend our partnerships with EU research infrastructures, including DARIAH and CLARIN, while reaching out to established ERICs with Flemish coordinators such as LifeWatch (coordinated by VLIZ) and DiSSCo (coordinated by Meise Botanic Garden). Furthermore, we will engage with emerging ESFRI research infrastructures, such as RESILIENCE, EHRI (the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure) via Kazerne Dossin, and CESSDA.
We would like to thank the FWO for the continued support and look forward to strengthening the SSH research infrastructure in Flanders and advancing our collaboration with existing and new partners over the next four years!
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Tom Gheldof (December 19, 2024). CLARIAH-VL+ receives funding: 4 more years! CLARIAH-VL. Retrieved February 17, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/12ysj