PHAIDRAcon’25, the annual PHAIDRA community event, will be hosted by the University of Padua (Italy) on October 31, 2025, at the Botanical Garden of Padua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The conference theme will be “Connecting Scholar and Citizen: The Emerging Social and Cultural Role of the Repository.”
The event aims to explore the broader social and cultural aspects of digital repositories, which are often seen solely as tools for academic communication. The conference will focus on how digital repositories facilitate knowledge transfer and the “Third Mission” of universities, making data accessible to the public. This accessibility fosters engagement and collaboration between institutions and citizens.
Knowledge transfer can occur in two ways: from the “center to the periphery,” where digitized cultural heritage benefits the community, and from the “periphery to the center,” as seen in citizen science initiatives. PHAIDRAcon’25 seeks to showcase examples of these interactions, highlighting how digital repositories bridge the gap between scholars and the public.
Key focus areas include: Cultural Heritage and Community Engagement, Citizen Science and Digital Repositories, Social and Health Impact of Digital Repositories, Memory and Preservation of Third Mission Activities, Expansion of Digital Repository Content, Repositories and Environmental Conservation, Intangible Cultural Heritage and Repositories, Reuse of Digital Collections in Educational Contexts, Projects to Give a Voice to Marginalised Communities, and Digital Repositories as Accessibility Tools.
Participants with projects demonstrating a digital repository and an open dialogue between cultural institutions and citizens are encouraged to share their experiences at PHAIDRAcon’25.
More details are available here: PHAIDRAcon’25 - Call-for-Speakers (ENG).pdf (542.1 KB).
Further information or responses to this call may be submitted by replying to this post or by contacting events.phaidra@univie.ac.at.
