In Digital Humanities, we have a tradition of reflecting on what it means to be part of the field. Equally, it can be useful to consider what it means to push the field’s boundaries. Thinking about types of research more generally, the following terms provide a useful starting-point. To characterise academic work that is limited to a mere description of societal change there is the concept of <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rend="bold">transformation research</hi> <?biblio ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"s4igdSvj","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kollmorgen, Merkel, and Wagener 2015, 24)","plainCitation":"(Kollmorgen, Merkel, and Wagener 2015, 24)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":6191,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1975399/items/TU9LLQ2H"],"itemData":{"id":6191,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Handbuch Transformationsforschung","language":"ger","note":"publisher: Springer","page":"11–27","title":"Transformation und Transformationsforschung: Zur Einführung","author":[{"family":"Kollmorgen","given":"Raj"},{"family":"Merkel","given":"Wolfgang"},{"family":"Wagener","given":"Hans-Jürgen"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}},"locator":"24","label":"page"}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}?>(Kollmorgen et al., 2015, 24). In Digital Humanities, this is the kind of work that seeks to understand the changes brought about by digital innovation in humanities and the impact they have: in art history, for example, works discuss how AI technologies change our understanding and production of art <?biblio ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"8te5dpBr","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Paul 2023)","plainCitation":"(Paul 2023)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":6258,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1975399/items/983NZMHQ"],"itemData":{"id":6258,"type":"book","collection-title":"World of art","edition":"Fourth edition","event-place":"London","ISBN":"978-0-500-20480-1","language":"eng","number-of-pages":"358","publisher":"Thames and Hudson","publisher-place":"London","source":"K10plus ISBN","title":"Digital art","author":[{"family":"Paul","given":"Christiane"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2023"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}?>(Paul, 2023). Then there is <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rend="bold">transformative research</hi>; which is characterized by community involvement. Transformative research shares its findings with the public and so provides opportunities for adjustment and change <?biblio ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"LdVH0ftO","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Mertens 2008)","plainCitation":"(Mertens 2008)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":6190,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1975399/items/KLWYKS2A"],"itemData":{"id":6190,"type":"book","publisher":"Guilford press","title":"Transformative research and evaluation","author":[{"family":"Mertens","given":"Donna M"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2008"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}?>(Mertens, 2008) <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rend="annotation_reference">. F</hi>inally, <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rend="bold">activist research</hi> is conducted by academic institutions in close collaboration with activist groups and NGOs and typically is committed "to long-haul struggles for change" <?biblio ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"2dS4zZE3","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Choudry 2013, 146)","plainCitation":"(Choudry 2013, 146)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":6194,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/1975399/items/AK9C8XTC"],"itemData":{"id":6194,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Socialist Studies/Études Socialistes","title":"Activist research practice: Exploring research and knowledge production for social action","author":[{"family":"Choudry","given":"Aziz"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}},"locator":"146","label":"page"}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}?>(Choudry, 2013, 146). Our initial example of the SUCHO initiative might not have the hallmark of long-haul struggles at this point in time, but certainly illustrates activism. What we propose as <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rend="bold">Applied Digital Humanities</hi> is Digital Humanities research that emphasizes its applied humanities perspective. It is research with a humanities purpose. It aims to tackle real-world challenges by drawing on innovative digital methods and approaches. In the following, we will look at examples of data and representation that already indicate close relationships between societal issues and Digital Humanities research, then we will move on to propose concrete steps for a more Applied Digital Humanities.