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Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

AI Flash Lab & AI Tinkery — Latvia National AI in Education Initiative

Between Stanford Accelerator for Learning (Content Provider) and the Republic of Latvia’s National AI in Education Initiative (Delivery & Host Partner)

Content Provider: Stanford Accelerator for Learning and the AI Tinkery (“Stanford”).

Delivery & Host Partner: The Republic of Latvia’s National AI in Education Initiative, led by the Ministry of Science and Education and the State Education Development Agency (SEDA), in partnership with Riga Technical University and the University of Latvia (LU SIIC, research) (“the Initiative”). [Confirm the legal entity/entities that will sign.]

Purpose

This collaboration aims to expand access to experiential, human-centered AI learning for Latvian educators and the schools they lead through the delivery of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning’s AI Flash Lab and AI Tinkery programs as part of the Initiative’s national, three-year effort to implement AI safely and effectively in schools. The offerings will be positioned as hands-on, decision-making-focused experiences that anchor the launch (Phase 1) of the Initiative and build local facilitation capacity for nationwide scale.

The shared philosophy is informed decision-making about AI — helping educators and students understand AI’s capabilities and limitations so they can choose when, whether, and how to use it — rather than uncritical adoption.

1. Scope of Collaboration

The parties will collaborate to deliver, adapt, and help scale the AI Flash Lab and AI Tinkery within the Initiative’s Phase 1 (“AI Leadership Schools”) program for an initial cohort of approximately 20 expert teachers drawn from Latvia’s 20 AI Leadership Schools, together with SEDA methodologists and AI-champions within the schools.

Stanford’s programs will be delivered as part of the Initiative’s Phase 1 calendar (Aug 2026 – Jun 2027) and positioned as the opening and prototyping anchors of that calendar. The two on-site engagements are:

  • August 17, 2026 — Riga · AI Tinkery opening session (afternoon, ~2:00–6:00 PM; 3–4 hrs, flexible). Led by Gregory Wilson. An energizing, design-thinking opener for the Aug 17–21 launch week: foundational AI literacy, hands-on tool exploration, and collaborative formulation of each school’s AI design problem. Framed as an ongoing, school-based change-management practice — not a one-time hackathon.
  • October 2026 — Riga · AI Flash Lab (on/around October 19, tied to the Initiative’s introductory conference for school teams). Led by Josh Weiss and Reuben Thiessen. A hypothesis-testing / build phase where participants prototype and evaluate whether their AI solution addresses the school problem identified in August. Preferred two-day format: Day 1 — Flash Lab for the ~20 experts; Day 2 — train-the-trainer for selected “champions.”

Between August and October, participating teachers refine their design problems in their own schools.

The programs will be presented as: “AI Flash Lab and AI Tinkery — developed by the Stanford Accelerator for Learning.”

2. Responsibilities of the Initiative (Delivery & Host Partner)

The Initiative will be responsible for:

A. Participants, Recruitment, and Program Integration

  • Selecting and convening participants (the ~20 AI Leadership Schools / expert teachers and SEDA methodologists) and managing registration, scheduling, and participant communications.
  • Integrating the Stanford sessions into the Initiative’s Phase 1 calendar (Aug 17–21 launch week; Oct 19 conference) and into its participatory action research (PAR, conducted by LU SIIC).

B. Venue, Equipment, and Local Logistics

  • Providing the venue, participant devices/laptops, reliable internet, and A/V for both engagements in Riga.
  • Arranging local logistics, ground transportation, and any Latvian-language translation support needed.

C. Travel and Accommodation

  • Funding travel and accommodation for the Stanford delegation: Gregory Wilson for the August engagement, and Josh Weiss and Reuben Thiessen for the October engagement.

D. Administrative Coordination

  • Confirming the signing entity, coordinating contracting/invoicing on the Latvian side, and finalizing program name and branding jointly with Stanford.

3. Responsibilities of Stanford (Content Provider & Facilitator)

Stanford will be responsible for:

A. Content Development & Delivery

  • Designing and delivering the AI Tinkery opening session (August) and the AI Flash Lab (October), including curriculum, facilitator guides, and participant-facing materials.
  • Providing supporting tools: a design-problem statement template, inter-session reflection/refinement guide (Aug→Oct), and an October hypothesis-testing rubric.

B. Train-the-Trainer Preparation

  • Delivering the train-the-trainer component (October, Day 2) to prepare selected Latvian “champions” to facilitate the Flash Lab / Tinkery approach in their own schools — building local capacity for the Initiative’s scale-up (toward 550 school teams and ~225,000 educators over three years).
  • Providing guidance on implementation fidelity and facilitation approach.

C. Strategic & Methodological Guidance

  • Advising on positioning, pedagogical framing, and quality assurance.
  • Contributing expertise on research-to-practice translation and research-output formats (written summaries, artifacts, practice examples, community-translation materials) to help the Initiative’s findings reach school leaders, practitioners, and policymakers.

4. Compensation Structure

A. Preparation & Facilitation Fee

The Initiative will compensate Stanford for designing and delivering the August and October sessions and the train-the-trainer preparation. Specific fees, timelines, and scope will be mutually agreed in writing (in addition to the travel and accommodation costs covered under Section 2.C). [Fee per delivery day / per engagement: TBD.]

B. Scale-Up Within the Initiative

The Initiative may extend the AI Flash Lab / AI Tinkery model to additional schools beyond the initial cohort using champions and methodologists trained by Stanford, under the limited, non-exclusive license in Section 5. Any additional Stanford preparation or support requested for the scale-up will be scoped and priced separately in writing.

5. Intellectual Property

  • Stanford retains ownership of all AI Flash Lab and AI Tinkery curriculum, methodologies, facilitator frameworks, branding, and related intellectual property.
  • The Initiative receives a limited, non-exclusive license to use the materials solely to deliver the agreed sessions and, via trained champions, to support AI implementation within the Initiative’s participating schools.
  • The Initiative may not sublicense, modify, rebrand, or independently commercialize these materials without Stanford’s prior written approval.
  • AI prompt libraries, practice examples, and research instruments developed by the Latvian partners (e.g., the statewide TAM-model questionnaire, PAR outputs) remain the property of the Initiative.

6. Term and Review

  • Initial Term: through June 30, 2027 (covering Initiative Phase 1, which concludes with the June 14, 2027 conference), unless extended in writing.
  • The parties will review periodically to assess delivery quality and participant impact, demand and readiness to scale, financial arrangements, and opportunities for expansion (e.g., Phase 2 student-facing work).

7. Future Opportunities

The parties may explore additional collaboration, including but not limited to:

  • Co-designed train-the-trainer certification for Latvian champions.
  • Support for Phase 2 (student AI literacy) and the broader school network.
  • Joint research, instrument co-design, or analysis support for the Initiative’s participatory action research (potentially with Riga Technical University’s design factory / innovation labs and LU SIIC).
  • International exchanges and co-authored recommendations for AI-in-education policy and curriculum reform.

8. Nature of this MOU & Signatures

This MOU records the parties’ shared intent and framework for collaboration. Binding commitments — including fees, licensing, travel funding, data sharing, and use of either party’s name or marks — take effect only through separate written agreement(s) signed by each party’s authorized representatives. On the Stanford side, this document and any related agreement are subject to Stanford OTL / Office of the General Counsel review and signature by an authorized Stanford signatory (not the individual facilitators).

Stanford University Republic of Latvia — National AI in Education Initiative
Name: ________ Name: ________
Title: ___________ Title: ___________
Date: ___________ Date: ___________

Points of Contact

Stanford:

Latvia:

  • Elina Lidere
  • Edite Sarva, State Education Development Agency (SEDA) — [email]
  • Elīna Miķelsone, Riga Technical University — [email]
  • Karlis Andersons
Source: prep/2026-06-17-latvia-mou-draft.md