Blog Post: ATRIUM Summer School 2026
ATRIUM SUMMER SCHOOL 2026
From Maps to Data and Data to Maps: Exploring Spatial Histories
29 June - 2 July 2026 | Athens, Greece
By Anna Aslanoglou
From 29 June to 2 July 2026, the UNESCO Chair on Digital Methods for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Athens University of Economics and Business welcomed an international group of researchers, students and cultural heritage professionals to Athens for the ATRIUM Summer School, From Maps to Data and Data to Maps: Exploring Spatial Histories.
Fourteen participants representing ten countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America took part in the four-day programme. The cohort included participants from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds, with international representation from Brazil, Kenya and Turkey, as well as several European countries. This geographical and disciplinary diversity created a dynamic environment for collaborative learning, knowledge exchange and discussion.
The Summer School attracted strong interest from applicants around the world. The selection process was highly competitive, reflecting the exceptional quality and diversity of the candidates' academic and professional profiles. The selected participants brought together different levels of experience and expertise, including undergraduate and postgraduate students, doctoral researchers, academics, librarians and cultural heritage professionals.
Participants and instructors at the Ancient Agora during the ATRIUM Summer School 2026.
Organised by the UNESCO Chair as part of the Horizon Europe project ATRIUM, and held in cooperation with the Center for Digital Humanities at Princeton University and the ATHENA Research Center, the Summer School reflected the Chair's commitment to fostering international collaboration, interdisciplinary research and the responsible use of digital methods in the study of culture, history and society.
Exploring spatial histories through digital methods
The programme invited participants to consider how historical maps, photographs, texts and other cultural heritage sources can be transformed into structured spatial data and used to investigate places, landscapes and stories from the past. Rather than treating digital mapping as a purely technical process, the Summer School placed particular emphasis on interpretation, documentation and critical decision making.
Lectures, practical workshops and collaborative activities introduced participants to georeferencing, geocoding, spatial data organisation, map annotation, controlled vocabularies and digital storytelling. Together, these methods formed a complete research journey: from examining and interpreting historical sources to preparing data, creating annotations and communicating research through maps and spatial narratives.
Two case studies provided a shared point of reference throughout the programme. The first focused on Vrysaki, an Athenian neighbourhood demolished in the 1930s during the expansion of the excavations of the Ancient Agora. Working with historical photographs and maps preserved in Princeton University's Visual Resources Collection, participants explored how archival material can help reconstruct and understand a transformed urban landscape.
The second case study centred on Rigas Velestinlis' late eighteenth century Charta of Greece. Rich in place names, symbols, illustrations, historical references and textual commentary, the Charta offered an ideal example of both the possibilities and the challenges involved in the digital study of complex historical maps. Through collaborative annotation, participants examined how its different layers of information could be identified, described and connected with geographical and semantic resources.
Connecting the classroom with the city
Athens itself became an important part of the learning experience. A visit to the Ancient Agora allowed participants to connect the archival photographs, historical maps and spatial data examined in the classroom with the physical landscape of the former Vrysaki neighbourhood. The visit encouraged reflection on the different historical layers of the city: those that remain visible, those that survive only in fragments and those that have disappeared.
At the Library of the Hellenic Parliament, participants also had the opportunity to view an original copy of the Charta of Greece. Encountering the physical object after working with its digital representation offered a deeper understanding of its scale, material qualities and remarkable density of information. These visits highlighted the importance of bringing physical and digital cultural heritage into dialogue.
Participants viewing an original copy of Rigas Velestinlis' Charta of Greece at the Library of the Hellenic Parliament.
From research workflows to reusable knowledge
A central part of the Summer School was dedicated to research methods and resources developed within ATRIUM. Participants explored workflows for collaborative map annotation and the creation of controlled vocabularies for historical maps. Working in small groups, they tested these methods on the Charta and on selected historical maps.
The collaborative activities demonstrated that digital research workflows are not fixed sets of instructions. They are living resources that can be tested, questioned and refined when applied to different collections, research questions and interpretative challenges. Participants were encouraged not only to apply the proposed methods, but also to identify ambiguous cases, discuss alternative interpretations and document uncertainty.
The programme subsequently moved from the preparation and annotation of spatial data to its interpretation and communication. Sessions on digital mapping and spatial storytelling introduced different ways of combining maps, images, data and narrative, ranging from accessible storytelling platforms to customised interactive maps.
The Summer School concluded with a keynote by ATRIUM Project Director Toma Tasovac, titled Digital Humanities in the Age of Algorithmic Confidence. The keynote placed the week's activities within a wider discussion about knowledge, technology and interpretation, underlining the continuing importance of transparency, critical thinking and human judgement in digital humanities research.
An international community of learning and exchange
Beyond the formal programme, the Summer School created opportunities for meaningful exchange among participants and instructors from different countries, disciplines and professional contexts. Conversations continued during visits, workshops and informal gatherings in the university's atrium, extending the collaborative spirit of the programme beyond the classroom.
By hosting this international community in Athens, the UNESCO Chair on Digital Methods for the Humanities and Social Sciences strengthened its role as a meeting point for digital research, cultural heritage and interdisciplinary dialogue. The Summer School demonstrated how international training initiatives can connect people, collections, methods and research infrastructures while creating new opportunities for collaboration.
The journey from maps to data and from data back to maps, continues through the knowledge, resources and professional connections developed during these four days in Athens.
