CoLab "Beyond Words"
Ventspils University of Applied Sciences
Inženieru iela 101, Ventspils, LV-3601, Latvija
October 9-10, 2025
DAY 1
The COLOURS CoLab will bring together students, industry experts, labour market representatives, decision-makers, regional partners, and academics from the humanities to collaborate and exchange knowledge. Participants will include representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science, Ventspils City Council, Jan Dlugosz University, the European Commission, employers, and other key stakeholders.
This COLOURS CoLab, envisioned as a "Quadruple Helix Dialogue," will bring together students, academics, policymakers, and stakeholders to explore challenges in interpreting, multilingualism, and intercultural communication. It will foster collaboration across sectors to enhance inclusive knowledge exchange and strengthen regional innovation through language and culture.
Programme
DAY 1 | Thursday, October 9
9.45 – 10.45
COLOURS CoLab workshop for students |C104 & online
Kulturelle Aspekte von Übersetzung und Autoübersetzung (DE) | Agnieszka Reszka (JDU)
10.30 – 11.00
Registration, coffee | D101+ lobby of section D
11.00
Opening of the CoLab | D104 & online
Dr. Andris Vaivads, Rector (LV, VUAS)
Dr. Jānis Veckrācis, Dean of the FoTS (LV, VUAS)
Dr. Małgorzata Kurek, University Professor at the Institute of Linguistics at JDU, co-lead of Collaboration Without Barriers (PL, JDU)
Dr. Dace Štefenberga, COLOURS (LV, VUAS)
Moderated by: Dr. Rafael Martin Calvo (LV, VUAS) Interpreter: Elēna Šatrovska (lv-en-lv; VUAS)
11.30 – 12.00
Plenary speaker | D104 & online
From Linguists to Language Architects: The Translator’s Future in an AI-Driven World (EN) | Ramunė Kasperė (LT)
12.10 – 13.30
Conference sessions | lecture halls & online
See detailed programme and links to sessions HERE
12.10 – 13.30
COLOURS CoLab workshop for students |C104 & online
Translating for Europe: Digital and Practical Reality (EN) | Jānis Līmežs (European Commission)
13.30 – 14.00
Coffee break | D101 & lobby of section D
14.00 – 15.00
Conference sessions | lecture halls & online
See detailed programme and links to sessions HERE
14.00 – 15.00
COLOURS CoLab workshop for students |C104 & online
Bridging Cultures: Mastering Intercultural Communication (EN) | Małgorzata Kurek (JDU)
15.30 – 19.00
Field Study | Ventspils Seaside Open-Air Museum, Riņķa Street 2, Ventspils
National Cultural Heritage of Latvia – Livonian Language on the Baltic Sea Coast
19.30
Dinner
For Conference presenters, invited participants of the panel discussion, lecturers of the workshops and Conference organisers
DAY 2 | FRIDAY, October 10
9.00 – 10.00
COLOURS CoLab workshop for students |C104 & online
Collaborative Translation and Intercultural Competence in Professional Settings (EN) | Karolina Siwek (JDU)
10.00 – 10.30
Plenary speaker | D104 & online
Censorship of Latvian Fiction Translations: Ideological Past and Marketing Present (EN) | Andrejs Veisbergs (LV)
10.30 – 11.00
Plenary speaker | D104 & online
Instrumental Case Copular Constructions in Polish and Their English Equivalents: A Cognitive Grammar Approach (EN) | Olga Słabońska (PL)
11.00 – 11.30
Coffee break | D101 & lobby of section D
11.20 – 12.05
COLOURS CoLab workshop for students |C104 & online
Translating for Europe: Multilingual Reality (EN) | Anna Liniņa (European Commission)
11.30 – 12.30
Conference sessions | lecture halls & online
See detailed programme and links to sessions HERE
11.30 – 12.30
Discussion on the future of interpreting
Uldis Sproģis, European Commission. SCIC. Head of Latvian Interpretation Unit
Jānis Veckrācis, Dean of the FoTS
Silga Sviķe, Head of the Master’s programme Translation and Terminology
Aiga Bādere, Head of the Bachelor’s programme Translation and Language Technology
Egita Proveja, Head of the Doctoral Programme
Zane France, lecturer of interpreting classes
12.10 – 13.30
COLOURS CoLab workshop for students |C104 & online
Aktive Methoden im Fremdsprachenunterricht – Deutsch – Sprechfertigkeit (DE) | Beata Rusek (JDU)
13.10 – 13.40
Coffee break | D101 & lobby of section D
13.40 – 14.40
Panel discussion | D104 & online
Humanities: New Trends, Changes, Future (EN)
Discussion by Experts: Current Situation and Challenges
Participants: Dr. Andrejs Veisbergs, Professor, Academician of LAS, Chairman of the Council of Professors in Linguistics, University of Latvia (LV)
Dr. Karolina Siwek, Institute of Literature of the Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa; translator trainer; translator, translation project manager (PL)
Raitis Roze, Head of the Marketing and Tourism Division, Ventspils City Council
Guna Zariņa, Senior Expert, Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovations, Ministry of Education and Science
Lelde Calmane, Head of Quality Department, translation office and language training centre Skrivanek Baltic (LV); [to be indicated later]
Moderated by: Jānis Vckrācis (LV, VUAS)
14.40 – 15.40
Workshop for students | D104 & online
Ideas and solutions to address the challenges
Participants: students of the Faculty of Translation Studies (VUAS) Students work in groups and brainstorm ideas and solutions for the challenges discussed; they develop a joint presentation which is later made available to all the stakeholders.
About the Conference
The Faculty of Translation Studies of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences invites you to participate in the
international conference
Beyond Words: (Inter)Lingual Reflections in Practice, to be held in Ventspils (Latvia) on October 9–10, 2025. The conference will cover a wide range of topics in translation studies and applied linguistics. The conference is expected to be organized on a biennial basis in partnership with the Institute of Linguistics and the Faculty of Humanities of the Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa (Poland).
Thematic sections
● Translatology and translation, LSP texts and literary texts in particular
● Applied linguistics, terminology, lexicography and terminography in particular
● Text linguistics – intra- and interlingual aspects
● Grammar – intra- and interlingual aspects
● Linguistic implications in cultural studies
● Cultural implications in linguistic studies
● Sociolinguistics
● Diachronic linguistics
● Modern technologies and linguistic/translatological implications
● Editing and post-editing
● Plain/easy language
● Language acquisition
Length of the registration summary: 2000-2500 characters.
Length of presentations:
15 min + 5 min for Q&A.
Selected papers will be published in a volume indexed in Scopus following a peer-review procedure.
Working languages
Latvian, English, German
Conference format
hybrid (on-site, remote)
Venue
Ventspils University of Applied Sciences
Inženieru 101, Ventspils, Latvia
For more information: beyondwords@venta.lv
IMPORTANT DATES
Conference dates: October 9–10, 2025.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts: August 22th, 2025.
Notification of acceptance: August 29th, 2025.
Deadline for the Conference/paper publication fee: September 12th, 2025.
CONFERENCE FEES
For each participant
50 EUR
Additional fee for each Open Access paper (to be paid separately)
50 EUR
Additional fee for each Scopus paper (to be paid separately)
200 EUR.
For listeners
free-of-charge
(prior registration required)
Banking details:
Ventspils Augstskola
Re. No. 90000362426
LV03HABA0551002144730
SWIFT code-HABALV22
AS Swedbank
Special note: title of the conference, name and surname of the participant, and EKK 21399
PAPER SUBMISSIONS
Submitted papers will be reviewed and sent to our cooperation partner for publication in a volume of papers after the peer-review process. The volume of papers of the cooperation partner is indexed in Scopus.
Papers should be submitted in English or German.
Submission Paper Guidelines will be sent to the participants after the Conference.
Deadline: February 2, 2026.
Maximum length for a Scopus paper: 6,500 words.
The event will proudly also include Colab panel discussions and workshops organised in the framework of COLOURS Alliance. These discussions and workshops will bring together academia, researchers, labour market representatives and decision-makers in the humanities. More detailed information will be announced at a later date.
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
- Dr. philol. Jānis Veckrācis (Latvia) – Chair
- Dr. habil. philol. Andrejs Veisbergs (Latvia)
- Dr. habil. Elżbieta Pawlikowska-Asendrych (Poland)
- Dr. habil. Helena Gonczar (Poland)
- Dr. habil. philol. Ina Druviete (Latvia)
- Dr. habil. med. Māris Baltiņš (Latvia)
- Dr. philol. Anna Stafecka (Latvia)
- Dr. philol. Silga Sviķe (Latvia)
- Dr. philol. Rafaels Martins Kalvo (Latvia)
- PhD Vilelmini Sosoni (Greece)
- PhD Andrius Utka (Lithuania)
- PhD Jurgita Vaičenonienė (Lithuania)
- PhD Sara Cotelli Kureth (Switzerland)
- PhD Terje Loogus (Estonia)
- PhD Klaus Schubert (Germany)
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
- Dr. philol. Jānis Veckrācis – Chair
- Dr. philol. Egita Proveja
- Dr. philol. Silga Sviķe
- Dr. philol. Rafael Martín Calvo
- PhD Olga Binczyk
- Dr. sc. administr. Liene Resele-Dūšele
- PhD Dace Štefenberga
- Mg. translat. Aiga Bādere
- MBA Aiga Veckalne
- Santa Kalvāne
