Indigenous Digital Heritage (VIDA)

Call for Applications

Study visit to Bogotá (Colombia)

“DIGITAL PATHS, LIVING MEMORIES: A TRILATERAL EDUCATION NETWORK FOR INDIGENOUS DIGITAL HERITAGE (VIDA)”

Universidad de los Andes, Faculty of Law (UANDES), Bogota (Colombia)
24– 28 November 2025

This five-day study visit, organised at the Faculty of Law at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, aims to train students to examine the socio-legal, ethical, political and cultural challenges of digitising Indigenous Cultural Heritage (ICH) in contexts of conflict, transitional justice and historical dispossession. The course provides key insights into the central concepts of Indigenous peoples’ rights and offers a framework for understanding the interplay between Indigenous peoples’ ICH, intellectual property rights, data governance issues and related ethical considerations in research and education. The study visit provides an opportunity to gain hands-on experience of Colombian approaches to ICH governance in transitional settings, with a focus on participatory archiving, ethical metadata and Indigenous-led heritage management within Colombia’s transitional governance. Activities include visits to peace building and transitional governance institutions, as well as workshops with civil society leaders and archivists on ethical metadata and consent frameworks.

This study visit is organised by the project “Digital Paths, Living Memories: A Trilateral Education Network for Indigenous Digital Heritage (VIDA)”. VIDA is coordinated by the University of Lapland (Faculty of Law), Finland, with partners from the Universidad de los Andes (Faculty of Law), Colombia and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Master’s Program in International Economic Law, Department of Law), Peru. The project aims to promote education, teaching and learning on the legal and ethical issues at the crossroads of the regulation and governance of Indigenous peoples’ rights to their culture, with particular
focus on the digitisation of Indigenous people’s cultural heritage. VIDA is funded by the Team Finland Knowledge programme. More information

Who can participate?
BA, MSc, and LLM students from the University of Lapland (Rovaniemi, Finland), the Universidad de los Andes (Bogota, Colombia) and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru (Lima, Peru), from the field of law or Indigenous studies. Indigenous representatives are especially welcome to apply to this study visit.

How to apply?
Please apply via this dedicated online application system. Please submit:

1. Application form
2. Mandatory attachments:
   • Motivation letter (maximum one page)
   • Certificates of studies (including grades)
   • CV (1 page)
   • Proof of English skills (e.g. language certificates, or certificate to have passed a course in English, or certificate of a diploma course taken in English).

When to apply?
Application period is from 1.9.2025 to 22.9.2025 at 23.59 hours EET (UTC +3).

Number of accepted students and Scholarships
A maximum of 20 students will have the opportunity to attend the international school. Five (5) places are reserved for Indigenous representatives.

The course is free of charge for all accepted applicants.

Through the VIDA project, we are offering three students from the University of Lapland the opportunity to obtain a scholarship to cover their travel and accommodation costs. Preference will be given to students enrolled in the Faculty of Law. One scholarship place is reserved for an Indigenous representative. The scholarship can only be awarded to people currently enrolled in the University of Lapland. Students will be granted a total lump sum of €2190 per person, which can be used to cover travel, accommodation or living expenses. Students should keep the original receipts for their own records in case they are needed.

Selection criteria
The following criteria will be followed in selecting students to the international school:

• Studies, experience and interest in the topic;
• Number of credits and grades;
• Be currently enrolled in a BA, Msc or LLM programme or hold a BA, Msc or LLM degree.

Indigenous representatives can be accepted also if they are not currently enrolled in a BA, Msc or LLM programme or do not hold a BA, Msc or LLM degree.

When will you be informed?
Selected students will be contacted individually by email by 30.9.2025. Selected students will have to accept the scholarship by 3.10.2025.

Travel requirements
International students need to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements. Support for travel and accommodation arrangements will be provided by the project lead at Universidad de los Andes. All international students need insurance that is valid throughout their stay in Bogota and have valid travel documents. International students need to make their own arrangements in this respect.

Transcript of credits and certificate
Upon successful completion of the international school, students will be granted 5 ECTS. The Universidad de los Andes will issue a certificate to all students that have successfully passed the course. The University of Lapland will recognize the Study visit via the existing module “OTMEVAL0065V24-3002 International course on Indigenous Rights, Responsibilities and Ethics”. The Universidad de los Andes will grant diplomas of participation to the students who successfully complete the study visit, which will be incorporated into existing courses international law and governance at the Faculty of Law. PUCP students may request the
recognition of the VIDA studies as part of optional courses in the Master Program in International Economic Law. 1 ECTS amount to 1.5 credits in the PUCP system. Other students must ensure that their university allows transfer of these credits.

More information:
Rosa Ballardini, Professor, University of Lapland (Rosa.ballardini[@]ulapland.fi)
Rene Urueña, Professor, Universidad de los Andes (Rf.uruena21[@]uniandes.edu.co)
Yovana Reyes-Tagle, Professor, Pontificial Universidad Catolica del Peru (yreyes[@]pucp.edu.pe)