CEE/Newsletter/November 2024
Editorial
Welcome to the newest edition of the CEE Newsletter! In this issue, we're excited to share a record-breaking number of updates from communities across Central and Eastern Europe. The diversity of activities, collaborations, and achievements in the region continues to grow, and we're thrilled to highlight some of their contributions.
In this edition, you'll find updates from our International Corner, where we feature announcements for several upcoming conferences in 2025. These include the first-ever regional Central Asia conference, Wikimania 2025 in Kenya, and the Wikimedia Hackathon 2025, which will once again be hosted in our region.
As always, we bring you a selection of articles and updates from newsletters and blogs from across the region, including details on ongoing open calls and consultations. This edition is particularly special, with 23 updates from affiliates and communities in the CEE region — a record high for this newsletter!
Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Milestones Achieved: Big congratulations to the Albanian, Romanian, and Czech Wikipedias for reaching significant milestones! These achievements reflect the dedication of their communities, and we commend all the editors involved in helping to bring these projects to new heights.
- Wiki Loves Monuments: The global photographic contest continues to be held and promoted in the region. Moldova has set new records this year and continues to host its unique bike quest as part of the contest. We also highlight the efforts in Albania and Kosovo, where the communities made impressive contributions. A special mention goes to Cyprus, the newest community from our region to join Wiki Loves Monuments, with an organized photowalk in Nicosia. And you can find also about Czechoslovakia contest, similar photographic contest held in Czechia.
- Wikidata: We're proud to see Wikidata celebrated across the region, with special articles from Albania and Romania highlighting the growth and importance of this Wikimedia project.
- Strategic Planning: In this edition, we also explore the strategic plans of two affiliates — Wikimedia Czech Republic and Wikimedia Ukraine — who are shaping their future goals and initiatives.
And you can find even more announcements, reports from the communities and affiliates and cool stories from the region and from our communities.
Happy reading!
-- The CEE Newsletter team
What will be going on in the international Wikimedia Space for the rest of the year? Let's have a look at the news and events that will happen in 2024 and in 2025!
- Current contests
- SheSaid (1 September-31 December 2024) - an initiative by Wiki Loves Women to add more quotes by notable women to Wikiquote projects in all languages.
- Upcoming meetings & conferences in 2025
- Central Asian WikiCon 2025 – first regional conference focused on Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia and other related projects) in Central Asian countries. The 2025 conference will take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 19-20 April 2025, organized by Wikimedians of the Uzbek Language User Group. If you're interested in contributing to the development of the conference, please apply through the form. The application deadline is November 30, 2024.
- Wikimania 2025 – 20th Wikimedia conference, which will be both an in-person and virtual event on 06–09 August 2025, will also celebrate Wikimania's 20th anniversary. The form to apply for a Wikimania Travel Scholarship for Wikimania 2025 will be open through December 8, 2024.
- Wikimedia Hackathon 2025 – an annual event that brings the global technical community together to connect and have technical discussions, hack on existing projects and explore new ideas for others. The 2025 Wikimedia Hackathon will take place in person, onsite at the Renaissance Polat Istanbul Hotel. The 2025 event is being organized by the Wikimedia Foundation in collaboration with local Wikimedia affiliate, Wikimedia User Group Turkey (WMTR).
- Past meetings & conferences in 2024 (from the latest issue of the CEE Newsletter)
- WikiConference North America – a yearly meeting held in Indianapolis, USA from October 3–6. You can find photos, presentations and recordings from the conference on Commons.
- WikiIndaba Conference 2024 – a regional conference for Africans both within and in the diaspora held in Johannesburg, South Africa from October 4–6. You can find photos, presentations and recordings from the conference on Commons.
- WikiConvention francophone 2024 – a regional conference for French-speaking contributors to the various Wikimedia projects held in Quebec, Canada from November 2–3. You can find photos, presentations and recordings from the conference on Commons.
- Wikimedia Technology Summit (WTS 2024) – a yearly meeting held in Hyderabad, India from October 4–5. You can find photos, presentations and recordings from the conference on Commons.
- Big Fat Brussels Meeting 9 – a yearly meeting held in Brussels, Belgium from September 29–30 dedicated on what's to be expected from the European Union institutions and the Council of Europe over the next years.
What do they write about us? A summary of the articles from This month in Education and This month in GLAM.
- 7th Senior WikiTown took place in Becov nad Teplou, Czech Republic, October 2024, Wikimedia Czech Republic
- Edit-a-thon about Modern Architecture in Kosovo, October 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- Many new articles and contributions in September and October for Wikimedia MKD, October 2024, Wikimedia MKD
- New Record: 5 Events in Municipal Library within a Month, October 2024, Wikimedia Czech Republic
- Wikimedian in Residence at Elbasan’s Ethnographic Museum in Albania, September 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- What's up in GLAM-Wiki in Poland, September 2024, Wikimedia Polska
- Wiki Loves Monuments in Albania and Kosovo, 2024, October 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- Edit-a-thon at the City Museum of Mitrovica, October 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- WIKIMEDIA MKD's successful GLAM programme!, October 2024, Wikimedia MKD
- What's up in GLAM-Wiki in Poland, October 2024, Wikimedia Polska
What's going on around the globe? Check out those Diff articles to stay in the loop!
Seniors belong on Wikipedia! This has been confirmed for many years by the successful Seniors Write Wikipedia programme in Czech Republic. We welcomed new active seniors to Wikipedia, introduced several new features and had many successes.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
This year the CEE Meeting regional conference was larger than ever. Among 195 participants, there were many representatives of the Central Asian communities, including Kazakh, Karakalpak, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek language projects. We asked some of them what they took home from the conference and what their personal highlights were from this event.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
In the last quarter, we expanded our existing partnerships with publishers, with extended terms and new collections.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
Using the ISA Tool, you can easily add 2 types of structured data to Wikimedia Commons images. These are captions and depicts.
ISA is a fun, multilingual, mobile-first microcontributions tool, that makes it easy for (groups of inexperienced) people to add structured data to images on Wikimedia Commons.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
Every year, the Wikimedia Foundation shares our audited financial statements along with an explanation of what the numbers mean. Our goal is to make our finances understandable, so that community members, donors, readers and more have clear insight into how we use our funds to further Wikimedia’s mission.
This post explains the audit reports for both the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia Endowment for fiscal year 2023-2024, providing key highlights and additional information for those who want to dive deeper.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
The Wikimedia Foundation is rolling out temporary accounts for unregistered (logged-out) editors on multiple wikis. Their communities have the chance to test and share comments to improve the feature before it is deployed on all wikis in mid-2025.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
Voice your opinion! These topics are open to discussion. Also, please take a look at the open calls and apply!
- [until 30th of November, 2024] Ongoing open call for CEE Hub Microgrant Programme. Apply!
- [until 30th of November, 2024] Apply to join the Program & Scholarship Committee for Central Asian WikiCon 2025 through this form
- By: Rita Maliqi
The Albanian Wikipedia has reached 100,000 articles, marking a significant milestone in its development. This achievement reflects the dedication and effort of passionate editors, skilled contributors, and enthusiastic volunteers within the community. This makes the Albanian language Wikipedia the 73rd Wikipedia to reach this milestone.
The journey to 100,000 articles has been characterized by the collaborative work of countless individuals who have devoted nearly 20 years to expanding and enriching the Free Encyclopedia. From historical figures and cultural topics to scientific advancements and contemporary events, the diverse array of knowledge presented in the Albanian language continues to grow, mirroring the interests of the Albanian language speakers, with populations in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and a sizable diaspora. Notably, the 100,000th article highlights the film In the Mood for Love, a celebrated Hong Kong-France production, which illustrates the project’s expanding reach.
The Albanian Wikipedia community has engaged in various initiatives aimed at improving content quality and fostering participation. Through edit-a-thons, outreach programs, and workshops, experienced editors have guided newcomers and shared best practices, creating an inclusive environment for all contributors. In addition to Wikipedia, the Albanian community has been active in expanding contributions to Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata.
Recent campaigns have focused on underrepresented topics, leading to significant growth in areas such as women's history, regional heritage, Roma identity, and LGBT issues. These efforts have enriched the content and deepened the understanding of these subjects within the project.
Looking Forward: Celebrations and growth
- To commemorate this milestone, the community is eager to celebrate alongside the project’s 23rd anniversary. Upcoming activities will feature in-person gatherings, designed to recognize the contributions of editors and inspire further growth. This achievement underscores the commitment of a community dedicated to preserving and sharing knowledge for future generations, ensuring that information remains accessible in the Albanian language.
Contact us
- We have a public Telegram channel (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on X formerly Twitter or Instagram.
- By: MagdaBarascu
Imagine a world where the vibrant landscape of Romanian culture, history, and knowledge is ever-expanding and becoming more accessible to everyone. The tireless work of the Romanian Wikipedia community brings this vision closer to reality each day, yet there remains an endless wealth of information to uncover and share. Reaching the milestone of 500.000 articles in Romanian is a significant achievement for Romanian Wikipedia.
The half-a-million article is called Ulug Beg and was published on October 27, 2024, at 23:11 by the user Gdaniel111. The subject of the article is a 15th-century Timurid sultan, reflecting the community's ongoing commitment to diverse topics and interests.
Since the first articles were published, the Romanian Wikipedia has evolved significantly, adapting to the demands of an increasingly informed and connected audience. The publication of this anniversary article is proof of the continuous progress and the sustained efforts of volunteers to provide quality, relevant and objective content.
"We are extremely proud to celebrate this impressive achievement," said user Strainu. "This moment is a testament to the hard work and passion of our team, as well as the trust our readers have in us. We will continue to dedicate ourselves to our mission of giving every person in the world free access to human knowledge."
Current efforts to edit articles on Wikipedia in Romanian have expanded coverage of important but underrepresented areas, including women’s history, women writers and artists, local heritage, and LGBTQIA+ issues. These efforts have enriched the project and reflect the diversity of Romanian interests and voices.
The first articles in Romanian on Wikipedia were written in July 2003, with the first version of the main page being drafted on 12 July. The user interface, initially in English, started being translated into Romanian by Bogdan Stăncescu (registered with the username Gutza) as soon as he was given sysop rights. The same user subsequently contacted several Romanian universities that were available on the internet along with the Romanian Academy to attract new contributors. These efforts were soon noticed by the Romanian media, who invited him on several occasions to introduce the project to the public. By the end of 2003, the Romanian Wikipedia had exceeded 3,000 articles, ranking 16th among all Wikipedias. As of 20 November 2024, the Romanian Wikipedia has 500,683 articles and is the 31st largest Wikipedia edition.
- By: Hynek Kaplan
Since its inception, Wikipedia has grown into a global project featuring articles across various fields and scientific disciplines. In August 2024, the Czech version of Wikipedia was even ranked as the eleventh most visited website in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Wikipedia was founded in May 2002 and reached 100,000 articles within its first six years. Since then, it has grown steadily—adding approximately 60 new articles daily. Wikipedia exists in 334 language versions, with the Czech version ranking 28th, between the Finnish and Hungarian versions. The largest English version contains nearly seven million entries.
If you would like to support the further development of the Czech Wikipedia, you can do so at darujme.wikimedia.cz.
- By: MagdaBarascu
Wiki Loves Monuments Moldova 2024 broke the record of 4,022 images uploaded in 2023: 4,389 images were uploaded in total during the 2024 contest. 981 images were uploaded on the last day, another record. The contest had 24 participants, of which 6 participated for the first time. At least 615 images were used on Wikipedia and 215 monuments were illustrated for the first time. Cyclists participating in the bike quest illustrated another 500 images of significant monuments in Moldova. 2024 is the year of records and it is the merit of the participants, who mobilized until the last second.
Wiki Loves Monuments Moldova is an annual free photography contest, organised in September by Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova (WMROMD). Participants are invited to add photos of state-protected monuments in the Republic of Moldova. Since 2021, since the first edition of the contest, the virtual encyclopedia Wikipedia has been developed with 14,886 photos totalling 1,437 monuments from the Republic of Moldova, of which 943 are illustrated for the first time.
The Municipal Library "B.P. Hasdeu" in Chișinău hosted the photo exhibition "4 years of Wiki Loves Monuments in Moldova" between November 9 and 15. The exhibition featured the best images uploaded to the international cultural heritage photography contest organised by Wikipedia: Wiki Loves Monuments Moldova. This is the second time that the Municipal Library of Chișinău has hosted such an exhibition with freely licensed images uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, being yet another of the cultural activities that this library carries out to support open access to knowledge.
Wiki Loves Monuments Moldova campaign and 2024 most representative images.
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Locul 11: Edificiul Casei Naționale (în prezent, sediul Casei de cultură), Nisporeni.
Fotograf: Oleg Artene -
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- By: User:AProdromou & Basak
Nicosia is widely known as the last divided capital in Europe; however, the division does not stop Wikimedians from both sides from working together to improve content about the island.
In the Wiki Loves Monuments Photowalk organized by Wikimedia User Group Cyprus, two groups from both sites of the checkpoints toured the historic sites of Nicosia.
Two amazing groups were formed, bringing together Wikimedians and aspiring contributors from all over the island, along with experienced Wikimedians, university students, and METU NCC Wikipedia Society members. The two groups came together at a venue in the buffer zone to upload the photos they had captured during the walk.
Toprak, the leader of the METU NCC Wikipedia Society, explained that they started their club last year and they have been collaborating with other Wikimedians to develop higher-quality content for Wikimedia projects about the island. "Our members are students coming to Cyprus for higher education from different parts of Turkey," says Toprak. "We spend most of our time on campus, but events like this help us go out of the campus, and connect with the island’s people. We are especially glad when these events allow us to bridge the division through collaboration.'"
The Wikimedia User Group Cyprus, recently recognized by the Wikimedia Foundation, reflects this spirit of collaboration. Anna Prodromou, the group’s leader, shared her vision: “Ever since I came across Wikimedia projects and began actively forming this group, I had only one thought: I want this group to reflect what Cyprus is—a multicultural community. We edit in English, Turkish, and Greek, and of course, any other language our members speak.”
This is the first time that Wiki Loves Monuments is being run in Cyprus, marking an exciting milestone for the Wikimedia Community and Cyprus. Find below some photos uploaded.
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- By: Hynek Kaplan
The fifth annual competition on Czech Wikipedia, focused on documenting the history, notable figures, and everyday life of Czechoslovakia, started on October 28, 2024.
Organized by Wikimedia Czech Republic, the contest invites participants to expand articles, create new entries, or contribute photos. The contest period runs until December 10, with accompanying events including an editathon at the Military History Institute in Prague on November 6 and a discussion with the creators of the “Přepište dějiny podcast on November 14 at SVĚT-HUB in Prague. The first hundred participants will receive socks from the Klub pánu z Ponožkovic, and top contributors will be awarded books by the Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences.
The Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group organized Wiki Loves Monuments in Albania and Kosovo, which took place from October 1 to October 31, 2024.
Photographers and members of the Wikimedia community came together to document and preserve the architectural and historical monuments of Albania and Kosovo.
Participants uploaded 308 photos, enhancing the preservation and visibility of important heritage sites across Albania and Kosovo. These images are now freely accessible on Wikimedia Commons.
We are currently finalizing the logistics of selecting the jury members to evaluate the images. We wish the best of luck to all participants!
Below are some of the images shared during this year’s campaign:
Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
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In celebration of Wikidata's birthday, the Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group organized a special Wikidata editathon in Elbasan, Albania. In this event, 17 students from different schools joined us for 6 hours to celebrate and enrich Wikidata in Albanian for a At the end editathon, all the participants made 1130 total revisions by adding data about people, villages, cities, Albania, Kosovo, and more.
Once again, this editathon showed the importance of how much a community can contribute to open data and free knowledge.
It was a meaningful experience to see everyone working together, building something useful that others can learn from and add to in the future.
Below are some pictures from the editathon.
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Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
- By: MagdaBarascu
Open Access Week 2024 took place in Romania between 21 and 27 of October. It was marked by various events and activities related to this year's subject Community Over Commercialization organised by academic institutions and non-governmental organisations. The topic for this year comes to stimulate an open dialogue on prioritizing the interests of the general public and the academic community regarding approaches to academic education and open research, identifying priority issues.
At Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (UBB), events included Wikipedia page editing training sessions for students, open sessions of the scientific council and workshops for PhD students on open access practices. There was also a Science Café on the subject of radon.
The Association for Technology and Internet (ApTI) organised a workshop on editing articles on Wikipedia, in partnership with Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova. The participants were invited to contribute to completing articles about open access in Romanian.
These events were an opportunity to promote the benefits of open access and encourage wider participation in the Romanian academic and research community.
Open Access Week is an annual scholarly communication event dedicated to open access and related topics, coordinated by SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). It is held globally in the last week of October, both online and in physical format. Typical activities include discussions, seminars, symposia, but also the establishment of open access policies.
Universities, colleges, research institutions, funding agencies, libraries and think tanks use International Open Access Week as a platform to persuade community members to accept OA policies, to present the social and economic benefits of OA and to attract new financial sources in support of Open Access publishing.
- By: Klára Joklová
The year 2023 was a period of significant growth and success for us, especially in collaboration and community engagement. We reached a record number of activities and new partnerships, allowing us to expand our activities and strengthen engagement from both the community and institutions. The strategic plan for 2025–2027 builds on these foundations, focusing on even more intensive collaboration with the community and partners while reflecting our international connections and trends within the Wikimedia movement. We look forward to further growth in the coming years as we continue to strengthen openness, equal opportunity, and efficiency in our activities.
- By: Anton Protsiuk
November 19th marked 1000 days of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Over the past few months Wikimedia Ukraine has engaged in a comprehensive strategy process with the community. Our goal has been to determine the organization’s role during the war. We’ve also looked at how we can continue to be useful in supporting the community and developing free knowledge in Ukrainian and about Ukraine.
As a result of the process, Wikimedia Ukraine’s board recently approved Wikimedia Ukraine’s strategic plan for 2025-2026, as well as a more detailed annual plan for 2025.
Conversations with the community reaffirmed that Wikimedia Ukraine is on the right track and gave approval to continue the work we’re doing. We believe right now there’s particular value in:
- supporting initiatives to combat disinformation;
- communicating about Ukraine at the international level, improving coverage of Ukraine in other languages;
- promoting protection of Ukrainian cultural and natural heritage, particularly through major photo contests Wiki Loves Monuments & Wiki Loves Earth;
- facilitating support to Ukrainian community members in crisis situations;
- continuing to develop free knowledge in Ukraine more broadly.
The strategy process also helped define a few areas that deserve more focus in 2025-2026 compared to now:
- developing and implementing a comprehensive GLAM strategy;
- doing more systematic work to attract underrepresented groups of editors (women, senior citizens, neurodiverse people etc.);
- building on our initial success advancing Crimean Tatar Wikipedia, a smaller language edition of an indigenous people of Ukraine, to make its development sustainable;
- developing and implementing a system of support for experienced volunteers of Ukrainian Wikipedia (administrators and patrollers);
- catching up with communication trends by investing more resources in video creation;
- investing more resources in advocating for the use of free licenses in Ukraine;
- improving training, onboarding and offboarding practices of key volunteers, improving the process of transferring institutional memory.
- Full plans
For more insights into our current work, here’s a selection of five Diff stories from this and past year:
- Wikimedia Ukraine’s work in 2023, in 10 projects
- War destroys monuments: the toll of Russian invasion of Ukraine in a Wiki Loves Monuments special category
- Wikipedia as a shelter for minority languages and culture, or why we organized marathons on Crimean Tatar Wikipedia
- 700 Ukrainian educators passed a course about Wikipedia, more to come
- What we learned holding a series of webinars on disinformation for the Ukrainian community
- By: Rita Maliqi
In 2024, the Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group embarked on an inspiring mission to bring lesser-known places in Albania into the global spotlight on Wikimedia Commons.
With the Wiki Photowalk project, participants ventured through remote and picturesque areas, capturing unique images to enrich the visual content across Wikimedia projects.
We proudly provided financial support to enable two dedicated participants to reach these distant areas, helping to ensure even the most hidden gems of Albania are represented on Commons.
From stunning natural landscapes to snapshots of daily life, historical sites, and vibrant cities, our contributors uploaded 302 photos, each telling a story of Albania's rich cultural and natural heritage.
This initiative is a powerful step toward preserving and sharing Albania’s beauty with the world—one photograph at a time!
Below are some of the images shared during the Wiki Photowalk:
Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
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- By: Екатерина Борисова, Lvova and Красный with help of other user group activists
At October 7, 2024 North-West Russia Wiki-Historians user group turned 5 years old. This point in UG history gives us a good opportunity to line up some countable and uncountable results.
User group actually gathered in the spring of 2019, and was approved in October; its further development took place during a difficult period period in history. in 2020―2021 the COVID-19 pandemics crippled all offline events and photowalks, and, afterwards, February 2022 brought even more hard times. Among other things, some participants of the user group was forced to leave Russia, opportunity to make some activities, such as drone photographing, was lost, and we faced a lot of other risks linked with content creation (mostly photographing) and participation in the Wikimedia movement. Despite all of that, UG remained its activity and now it is the most active Wikimedia group in Russia.
Now there are 35 participants in the user group members list, about 15 of them are the most active user group core. User group members note that it differs for the better from the others affiliates they know. For instance, they have no "just meetups" — all of UG offline events are aimed to a content creation and photographing of landmarks, of which our region is extremely rich. The user group is the "rare place in the Wikimedia projects where one can have a calm discussion on any topic and get a constructive answer; as a result, there's a reason to do something for the group" (do you know that Saint Petersburg is called a cultural capital of Russia?). Speaking of the discussion style common in the user group, its participants uses words as "polite kitties", "nice company" and "glad I'm not the only one in the whole world, but can do all that in a good team". At the same time we participate not only in activities related to North-West, but also try to contribute to the wide circle of Wikimedia events (for instance, "CEE Spring", "Wikipedia Asian Month", "Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos"). As we can, we do educational work both inside the user group (group members have different skills and backgrounds — we've even made a poster on that) and outside, participaing in conferences and seminars, visiting tours and traveling, explaining nuances at forums and other platforms (photographic fixation and writing about the cultural heritage is a way to protect it, because informetion leads to protection).
Despite the all circumstances, in a five years of existence user group have shown the ability to self-govern in its own interests according to a Universal Code of Conduct (in particular, two active members were expelled from the user group by communal decision though one of them still has a chance to return).
We are proud to tell you about our achivements:
Поздравляем юзер-группу Вики-краеведов Северо-Запада РФ с пятилетним юбилеем, пусть не таким большим, но очень значимым. Желаем дальнейшего процветания сообщества, много новых проектов, как своих, так и совместных.
- The total number of photos uploaded by UG participants to Wikimedia Commons cannot be counted accurately, so we will only say how many pictures we uploaded to the "Wiki Loves Monuments" photo contest: 4775 (2020), 4681 (2021), 3837 (2022), 5108 (2023), 5488 (2024). On average, in the Russian part of WLM, user group members usually upload about 15% of the total number of images (given that 400 to 600 users participate in the Russian WLM annually, and about 10 of them are the UG members). More than a thousand of out uploaded pictures got the status of Quality Images and 13 got the status of Featured Pictures. Behind the numbers is the fact that we have always paid special attention to photographing and describing little-known and insufficiently documented objects and locations such as buildings, streets, urban and rural infrastructure, monuments, natural objects, and have created several in-group projects dedicated to this.
- Over 5 years, the members of the user group have written 940 articles in Russian, one way or another dedicated to the North-West of Russia (and also wrote articles in other languages, including English and Erzya). Several dozen articles received the status of Good and Recommended ones; one article (Moscow Triumphal Gate), which was carefully worked on by Красный, received the status of Featured and became one of the best articles of 2023 in Russian Wikipedia, winning in the nomination «Architecture and Urban Planning». Our special thanks to Lvova for the impressive number of articles written about architectural monuments of Saint Petersburg and its suburbs.
- Since we create new content almost daily, we don’t really need to hold any edit-a-thons. However, we do organize them from time to time. For example, at the end of 2020, we held the "Novgorod Lands" edit-a-thon campaign, in which everyone was invited to participate. As a result, 30 participants from different countries created, translated, or significantly improved 855 articles in Wikipedia and 91 in Wikivoyage on topics related to the North-West of Russia. In February 2023 and 2024, as a kind of team building, we held our own "Winter Edit-a-thons" for the members of the user group on collectively selected narrow topics (Art Nouveau architecture, small architectural form, district capitals). During each edit-a-thon, more than fifty articles were created or significantly improved; at the same time, these edit-a-thons reveal unexpected and interesting talents of some members, so we plan to do it again.
- Every year we not only participate in the Russian part of WLM, but also make our own special nomination there: "Unknown North-West" (2020), "Industrial Heritage of the North-West" (2021), "Wooden Architecture of the North-West" (2022), "Estates of the North-West" (2023), "Architectural Elements of the North-West" (2024). The winners are chosen by the members of the user group (who, of course, do not claim prizes in this special nomination themselves). We consider these special nominations to be an important contribution to the cause of photographic recording of cultural heritage sites which our region is very rich in — but we can't physically visit all of them.
- The attached map shows our collective regional studies trips of the to the regions of our coverage, made after October 7, 2019. At the same time, we did not mark individual trips and trips outside of "our" regions, so as not to overload the map — otherwise, we would have to put dots on half of the territory of Russia and a number of countries outside of it. Of course, following each trip, photos were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, articles in Wikipedia and Wikivoyage were written and improved, lists of cultural heritage sites were supplemented, and other contributions were made to Wiki projects (for example, following the collective trip to the Vologda Oblast in January 2022 — the only one, by the way, that was not carried out with our own funds, but with a grant from the Foundation — participants uploaded more than 1,100 photos and made more than 2,000 edits to Wikimedia projects; on average, after each event with the participation of two or more UG members, from 100 to 500 pictures are uploaded to Wikimedia Commons).
Dear colleagues and friends of the North-West Russia Wiki-Historians User Group,
On behalf of the Iranian Wikimedians User Group, we extend our heartfelt congratulations on your remarkable milestone of 5 years of dedicated contributions to the Wikimedia movement.
Your work has been instrumental in preserving and showcasing the diverse and rich history of North-West Russia on a global scale. Collaborations like the Russia-Iran Wiki Collaboration have shown the power of cultural exchange, bridging nations, and strengthening our shared mission to provide free knowledge to everyone.
The way you connect with communities in Central Asia and your commitment to documenting history inspires all of us in the Wikimedia movement. We are proud to count you as partners and look forward to seeing your continued success in the years to come.
- Although our main passion is the North-West, we are also interested in other countries and cultures (out of the anniversary 2 million Russian Wikipedia articles, members of our group wrote 1.79%!), so we develop international cooperation whenever possible. In particular, we have established connections with the CEE Hub (hello!), Kazakh, Uzbek and Iranian Wikimedians. With the active assistance of the members of our user group, several "Wiki Loves Earth" and "Wiki Loves Monuments" contests were launched and successfully held in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan; in 2024, competitions in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were added to them. In April 2024, UG members held their first organized event outside of Russia, giving educational lectures on photography (including on the specifics of photographing for Wiki projects) in Tashkent. In addition, the four lecturers traveled to 4 cities in Uzbekistan, which resulted in the uploading of about 1,000 photographs to Wikimedia Commons and serious work on categorizing and describing the cultural and natural heritage sites of this country.
In general, we think we're doing great :) We have wishes — from ourselves and from our friends. We wish ouselves still find a time and opportunities to contribute to Wikimedia and to have good sources on hand (because there's still a lot to tell and write about). And, of course, all of us want Russia and the whole world to have a calm and peaceful life.
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- By: Basak
The latest edit-a-thon in Istanbul brought newbie editors and experienced Wikipedians at an unusual venue. We met at a 16th-century hammam: Zeyrek Çinili Hamam. Our small group came together on a closed day of the Hamam and worked on articles related to hammam architecture and culture. Smelling the soap, feeling the warmth and sitting next to 500 hundred years old "kurna"s while editing provided a memorable experience for the participants.
The Zeyrek Çinili Hamam is a historical building openned last year following a very long restoration project and was accompanied by a museum structure. The event was held at the suggestion of the museum director. As we talked on the phone, “There is a lot of knowledge hidden in this historical building and hammams in general offer for those who are curious to learn. Why not discover them and share them on Wikipedia” was the idea.
We prepared a list of articles that needed to be improved and added, as well as a list of suggested resources in advance. The books from the library are carried to “warm room” of the hamam where edit-a-thon was made. Participants toured the hammam section at the beginning, and the museum section at the end of the event. Thanks to this event, we learned how the hammam was the second most frequently constructed building after the mosque in our land during history and played a very important life in social life. A little search let us find out how not only daily business and matchmaking for ordinary people but also secret political discussions were made behind the walls of hammams. We found tons of articles that need to be worked on and created.
It’s not always easy to work on intangible cultural heritage such as hammam culture. However feeling the atmosphere of the building, and touring the venue under the guidance of the experts was very motivating and inspiring for our participants. I know that there are also many hammams in countries of CEE region, particularly in Balkan countries. Maybe the story of this event would be inspiring for other Wikimedia communities to organize a similar one.
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- By: IvanaMadzarevic
During September and October, Wikimedia Serbia intensified its work within the Education Program, thus establishing, expanding and continuing cooperation with several educational institutions. We participated in two conferences: the EPALE conference "Retraining and advanced training in the era of digital transformation" and "Information technology for e-education" held at the Pan-European University APEIRON in Banja Luka. The Wikipedian in Residence project in cooperation with the "Duško Radović Little Theater" has ended, and two are ongoing (the "Dobrilo Nenadić" National Library in Arilje and the "Bora Stanković" Public Library in Vranje). Wikimedia Serbia, in cooperation with Wikimedia Macedonia, applied for a European project for the first time. Several edit-a-thons and competitions were also held. Wiki Loves Sport stands out as the most successful project, during which 388 articles were written and improved.
- Education Program
- Wikimedia Serbia participated in the national EPALE conference "Retraining and advanced training in the era of digital transformation" organized by the Tempus office in Serbia. WMRS' representative participated in the panel discussion "Digital transition and inclusion of adults in education and training: possibilities and limitations".
- In September and October, several collaborations within the Wikipedia in schools project were established, renewed and expanded:
- Cooperation with Šabac Gymnasium continued and editing workshops were held for students of third, second and fourth grade. They will contribute to Wikibooks.
- Workshops were held for students of the Faculty of Geography at the University of Belgrade. Participants will write articles on Wikipedia.
- Cooperation with Alfa BK University in Belgrade has been expanded, within which students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages, the Faculty of Finance, Banking and Auditing and the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science participated in the workshop this year.
- It was agreed to continue cooperation with the Faculty of Economics and Philology of the University of Belgrade, so students will participate in a Wikipedia editing workshop this year as well.
- Cooperation with the Faculty of Contemporary Arts of the University of Economics Academy from Novi Sad was established. For the first time, students of this faculty will have the opportunity to participate in Wikipedia editing workshops.
- Dragana Dudić and Ivana Firaunović, professors who collaborate with Wikimedia Serbia as part of the Education Program, participated in the 16th Conference on Information Technology for e-Education held at the APEIRON Pan-European University in Banja Luka. They presented a paper on the topic of Improving trust in information sources: Serbian Wikipedia use case.
- GLAM Program
- Over two months, one WiR project ended, while two were in progress:
- Wikipedia in Residence project in cooperation with the Small Theater "Duško Radović" has ended. During this time, the largest number of photos and other multimedia content were released and uploaded - 1,755 multimedia files, 61 new articles were written, 44 were improved, and 96 were illustrated.
- During the WiR project in cooperation with the "Dobrilo Nenadić" National Library in Arilje, 24 new articles were written, 11 were improved, and 463 files were uploaded to the Wikimedia Commons. Among those files are posters, issues of local newspapers, books on the history of the library and the city and numerous other interesting things.
- A memorandum of cooperation was signed with the Public Library "Bora Stanković" in Vranje. After that, the WiR was prepared, during which a detailed training on editing Wiki projects and copyrights was held and an activity plan was created.
- A memorandum of cooperation was signed with the City Library "Vladislav Petković Dis" in Čačak and an activity plan is being prepared.
- Global coordination of the #1Lib1Ref campaign is being planned.
- Wikimedia Serbia, in cooperation with Wikimedia Macedonia, applied for a European project for the first time. This is done within the Cross-Border Cooperation Program of Serbia and North Macedonia of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia and with the support of the European Union. The partners in the project would be the Public Library "Bora Stanković" and the State School Center for Education and Rehabilitation "Partenija Zografski".
- During the Belgrade Fair, at the stand of the Library Association of Serbia, a round table and promotion of the Wiki librarians project was held, led by Oja Krinulović.
- Diversity Program
- In September, the Wiki Loves Pride project was held. During the edit-a-thon, editors were able to write and improve articles on Wikipedia about famous queer people, films, series, books, events, history and other topics related to the LGBTIQ+ population. In addition, the participants contributed to Wikimedia Commons with photos from Europride and other LGBT+ events. 7 editors participated in this campaign, 36 articles were written and 83 photos were uploaded.
- Wikimedia of Serbia, in cooperation with the Paralympic Committee of Serbia, joined the global campaign Wiki Loves Sport for the first time. The edit-a-thon was organized from July 17 to September 22 and it was focused on writing or improving articles related to various sports topics such as athletes and sports events. During this campaign, 377 articles were written and 11 articles were improved, which makes this edit-a-thon the most successful on Wikipedia in the Serbian language.
- The Asian Continent Wikipedia competition, which lasted from September 10 to October 10, has ended. The topics were diverse - history and geography of Asia, economy, technology, notable people, sports, cultures and religions. During the competition, over 36 million bytes were uploaded on Serbian Wikipedia, 11 editors participated, 123 new articles were written and 20 were improved.
- The global results of the Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos competition have been published. The Serbian Wikipedia community achieved the best results, with editors illustrating 13,086 articles. Editor Nikolina Šepić is the winner of this competition at the global level with her 12,885 contributions!
- Organizational
- In September, a call for WMRS’s volunteer projects in 2025 was announced. It was open to all representatives of organizations, individuals, cultural and educational institutions. Anyone interested could send a form for projects in the field of education, cooperation with cultural institutions and volunteering. We received 16 proposals and granted 9 of them.
- By: Darafsh
Announcing the Central Asian WikiCon 2025 which will take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
We are happy to announce that the Wikimedia communities in Central Asia will gather for the first time at the Central Asian WikiCon 2025! The conference will take place in the largest city of Central Asia – Tashkent, and hosted by the Wikimedians of the Uzbek Language User Group. The conference is scheduled for April 19-20, 2025, at the Diplomat International School.
This landmark event, supported by the Wikimedia Foundation's Conference Fund, will bring together over 50 Wikimedians from Central Asia, and nearby regions to share knowledge, collaborate, and grow the Wikimedia movement.
The first-ever regional conference in Central Asia aims to strengthen connections among Wikimedia communities from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and surrounding areas. The event's main goals are to foster collaboration, enhance regional engagement, and raise awareness about the Wikimedia movement.
Through interactive workshops, participants will develop editing, project management, and technical skills while discussing key regional challenges and future initiatives. Networking sessions will provide opportunities for building stronger partnerships across borders.
This conference is an exciting step towards a more unified and impactful future for Wikimedia in Central Asia. Please stay tuned for more updates in the near future!
As part of the project "Strengthening Education for Democratic Citizenship in Albania," students and teachers gathered for a two-day workshop in Durrës to discuss the topics of citizenship and Wikipedia within the school setting in Albania.
Organized by the Council of Europe Office in Tirana, this event aimed to empower participants with skills and knowledge on how contributing to free knowledge platforms like Wikipedia can enrich civic engagement and build a more informed society.
In this workshop, WoALUG connected teachers and students to the values of citizenship and leadership by emphasizing that Wikipedia is another way to contribute to society and the community and introducing Wikipedia as a tool for learning, teaching, engaging them in free knowledge, and community-driven volunteer work.
Such activities do not end here. Upcoming sessions will bring more interactive activities, with participants taking part in translating and editing articles on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata.
This event highlighted the 21st Wikipedia SQ birthday and an important milestone of +100.000 articles in Albanian.
Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
To strengthen the Wikimedia community in Albania from August to November 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group recently completed a mini-grant project that brought attention to Bulqiza in Albania. Through this grant, a community member contributed 100 photos showing the urban and rural life of Bulqiza and its surrounding areas to Wikimedia Commons.
This project aligns with our 2023–2025 strategic plan to support important initiatives that promote free knowledge and community development in Albania. By adding these images, WoLAUG and the Wikimedia community in Albania contribute to enriching the online content and ensuring that the real life of less-documented areas is shared within the free knowledge pages.
Below are some of the images shared for this project.
- Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
In October 2024, Wikimedia Polska finished testing Scite AI (link), a tool to help search the scientific literature, find answers to questions based on citations and find research in a given field with the help of so-called “smart citations”. We wanted to see if this tool would be useful for the community to edit and source Wikipedia, and whether it was worth buying a paid subscription. See what we found out!
- Why Scite?
A member of our team used Scite at university and found it helpful, so the team and the board looked into it and agreed that it was something worth testing. The tool was then included in the recruitment process for the Open Science Manager post (so the post I now occupy), and as part of the process, all the candidates had to present the potential uses of Scite. We therefore knew that Scite could potentially be useful and relevant to our community, we just needed to test it in practice.
- Testing the tool
The six-week trial period ran from July to the end of August, and after feedback from people who were unable to use the platform over the holiday period, we extended the testing for an additional 10 days in October. In July, we also held an initial webinar with representatives from Scite who presented the tool's capabilities and answered questions (you can watch the recording on Wikimedia Polska Youtube channel: link). And in August, we extended the invite to test the tool to others in the CEE Hub.
We received 49 applications to test the tool, of which 15 people registered as active Scite users (including 6 applications and 2 users from outside Poland). Between July and October, users with a Wikimedia affiliation generated 126 usage sessions, 117 searches and 345 queries to the AI assistant.
- Community evaluation
Of all the registered users, 10 people completed an evaluation questionnaire to share feedback and insights about Scite, several people responded by email, and two people also agreed to an additional follow-up conversation. Here's what we found out:
- Some people had tried Scite, mainly for editing Wikipedia and academic tasks, and some had encountered technical barriers or time constraints.
- The impact of Scite on day-to-day tasks varied and largely depended on the field and category of editing: while some found it helpful, others saw limited use, especially for more niche topics, topics linked more to current affairs than research subjects, or lack of specific resources (e.g. books).
- Participants suggested that the usefulness of Scite depends on better access to comprehensive studies, such as meta-analyses or review papers, but also access to broader, more frequently cited scientific resources in the field.
In summary, recommendations and opinions on the usefulness of Scite were divided, and indicated a dependence on the cost of institutional subscription. Based on the feedback, we also identified lessons for conducting similar tests in the future, such as: avoiding holiday seasons, engaging the international community sooner if we are testing resources in English, and creating dedicated communication channels (e.g. Discord) to further activate and motivate users (the last one is because we had nearly 50 expressions of interest but 15 active users).
- Next steps
The results of this evaluation were presented and discussed at a meeting with the community on 10 October. We considered two options for access to Scite: institutional funding for up to 300 users or offering individual access with the help of Wikigrants. The topic was also considered by the Wikimedia Polska board.
Given the fairly limited scale of interest (almost 50 sign-ups and only 15 users), and the mixed feedback on the usability of the tool, we have decided not to buy institutional access for the time being. Instead, it will be possible for Wikimedia Polska community to apply for individual access through our mini grants. This information will also be added on the Polish Subscriptions page. We don’t rule out re-visiting this question in the future, or approaching other affiliates to join forces and consider a joint subscription. But in the meantime we decided to take it one step at a time, while at the same time scanning the AI horizon for other interesting developments - especially open source ones.
The testing has been a useful and interesting process for us, and has given us some ideas about how we can support the community when it comes to similar tools. We are very grateful to everyone in the community for their insightful contributions!
- By: Velkovski.b
This period, the autumn of 2024, was quite busy for Wikimedia MKD. Wikimedia MKD is expanding its network of partnerships and collaborations and sees that as one of the key factors for success. The organization aims to get in contact and achieve fruitful cooperation with a large number of institutions and organizational units that have the will and potential to help in the creation of free content and to make access to information free for the entire Macedonian reading and educational-scientific public.
- Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2024
Macedonia was represented by five members at Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2024 from 22 to 22 september 2024 , who proudly presented their achievements and ideas, Snezhana Shtrkovska, Bojan Velkovski, Nino Bogdanovski, Kiril Simeonovski and Toni Ristovski (as an employee of the CEE Hub). Kiril Simeonovski and Nino Bogdanovski shared their experience from the "Wikiexpeditions" project - an initiative that aims to document cultural and historical landmarks throughout Macedonia.
- Editing Competition "Stars"
The Editing Competition "Stars" was designed to give a contribution to the improvement and creation of new stars-related content. The competition ran from 23 August 2024 to 22 September. All registered users of Wikipedia in the Macedonian language could participate in the competition, except for the members of the evaluation board. A total of 325 articles were written. ptember 2024. The main topic of the competition was the stars and all the articles related to them.
- Wiki Camp Struga
The sixth Wiki Camp in organization of Wikimedia MKD took place in one of the most picturesque location on the shores of Ohrid Lake - Kalishta, Struga. Hotel Biser was the exact location where 40 participants spent three wonderful days productively and effectively. The camp started on 11 October and ended on 13 October 2024. Like almost all camps in the past, this Wiki Camp was thematic and the editing topic of the Wiki Camp participants was 'Climate Changes'. By the end of the camp the participants created 215 new articles on the Macedonian Wikipedia on the given topic.
- Training new students and editors
On 24 October 2024, at SOU "Kole Nekhtenin" in Shtip, a training was held for the students of this school, in order to encourage them and get involved in the editing of Wikipedia. The event started at 10:00 am and 17 students took part in. The first part of the training started with a lecture by the executive director of Wikimedia MKD, Snezhana Štrkovska and the manager for the educational program of Wikimedia MKD, Bosa Filipovikj. After the lectures, the practical part of the training occurred, where the students, guided by their mentors, started editing Wikipedia articles. A total of 19 new articles were written.
Conferences for teachers/ professors are one of the project activities of Wikimedia MKD through which the teaching staff receives training in using Wikipedia and guidance and instructions how to use it in the educational process. For the first time, such a conference is being held for professors from the highest level of education. Thus, on 14 November 2024, Wikimedia MKD held a conference for professors at "Goce Delchev" University in Shtip. The conference was opened by Snezhana Shtrkovska, executive director of Wikimedia MKD, who introduced the participants to the encyclopedia itself, how Wikipedia works, what are the benefits of using Wikipedia as a teaching tool. After the break, the second part of the conference began, where Tony Ristovski, lectured on Wikidata. The conference took place in a pleasant and working atmosphere.
- Editing competition
The three-week edition competition organized once in the year in this format is intended for high-school students. The competition's topic was 'Music' and it started on 21 October 2024 and ended on 10 November 2024. This contest was intended to help improve existing and create new articles on the topic of "music". 24 high school students participated in the competition and a total of 92 articles were published.
- By: Richard Sekerák
- By: Anton Protsiuk
Every year Wikimedia Ukraine brings the Ukrainian community for its annual Wikiconference. This year’s edition took place in October and early November, bringing a record 120 people across two cities and online.
Because of the ongoing Russia’s war against Ukraine, we decided to hold three smaller conferences in one to include as many participants as possible. Here’s a brief look at our biggest event of the year.
- The format – three conferences in one
Since 2021, Wikimedia Ukraine has a tradition of dividing our annual Wikiconference into several separate events, both online and offline. First it was caused by pandemic restrictions, now by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Because of Russia’s war against Ukraine millions of Ukrainians are abroad or unable to travel within Ukraine. Some are serving in the Armed Forces and can join online but cannot take a leave to participate in-person. However, we still want the conference to be inclusive of everyone.
Doing a truly hybrid event where online participants wouldn’t get an inferior experience is too difficult and expensive (note: live-streaming an offline event for people to tune in on YouTube is great, and we are also doing it, but it’s still an offline event). The solution for us is organizing a separate online-only event on a separate weekend, with its own program.
In 2024, our Wikiconference consisted of three events:
- Online conference on October 19th-20th
- The main offline conference in Kyiv on October 26th-27th
- A smaller conference in Kharkiv on November 3rd
Both the online event and the Kyiv conference attracted over 60 people each, and the Kharkiv meetup gathered 25 people. Some people attended two or three events, but we had at least 124 confirmed unique participants overall (likely an undercount as we cannot capture all online participants).
- Online conference – 60+ people, two days
The online edition took place on the weekend of October 19th and 20th. The conference featured 21 sessions, including our small “Wikimania at home”, as one organizing team member joked – 6 sessions from invited international speakers.
Participants rated the program highly, and the feedback form shows that the international program was particularly popular – especially two sessions about AI and Wikimedia from the Wikimedia Foundation’s Asaf Bartov and Wikimedia Polska’s Natalia Ćwik. Other notable sessions included a slate of sessions on the Ukrainian community during the war, interactive welcome sessions, and a review of Wikimedia Ukraine’s activities.
- See full program in English
- How to make an online conference engaging and tackle Zoom fatigue? It’s a big question for us, one that we’re hoping to tackle in an upcoming Diff post.
- Kyiv conference – 60+ people from across Ukraine
A week later we gathered 63 people in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city. It was the biggest offline event of the year with people coming from all over Ukraine and even abroad.
The two-day event included sessions on traditional topics like the Wikipedia Education Program, news and trends of the international wiki movement, practical workshops and project updates. We’ve also had one major innovation – an award ceremony for “Wikipedia 20”, a newly created award to distinguish people who’ve helped build Ukrainian Wikipedia over the 20 years of its existence.
Although this event was offline-first, we also had a high-quality online stream on YouTube, which helped more people tune in virtually.
- Kharkiv conference – a meetup in a bomb shelter for 25 people
Despite being located close to the Russian border and suffering from constant Russian attacks, Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv has a vibrant Wikimedia community. On the first Sunday of November it gathered in a bomb shelter for a day-long conference for Wikimedians from the city and the surrounding region.
Participants had a packed program, featuring everything from the experience of implementing a wikischool for high-school students held in Bohodukhiv last year to ideas for engaging young people in Wikipedia.
In the words of the Kharkiv event’s lead organizer, Wikiconference 2024 in Kharkiv showed the potential of community development in a frontline city and region, even under constant security threats.
- More about the Kharkiv event (in Ukrainian)
Silva Belegu served as the Wikimedian in Residence (WiR) at the Ethnographic Museum in Elbasan, Albania spanning from July to September 2024.
Over the course of the project, Silva worked for 3 months to bring the museum’s rich history, artifacts, people, traditional clothes, and ethnography of this area across Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata.
The outcomes were satisfactory by adding/improving 51 edited articles covering most of the Elbasan’s traditional crafts to local folklore. 33 photos of museum artifacts were uploaded on Wikimedia Commons giving people access to authentic pieces of history and 200 items were added to Wikidata ensuring detailed information about the museum’s collections.
The Wikimedian in Residence placed at the Ethnographic Museum highlights for the Wikimedians of Albanian Language UG a valuable partnership between the Culture Heritage Institutions and the Wikipedian community in Albania.
With this project wrapped up, we have already started a new project with another Wikimedian in Residence at the Qemal Baholli Public Library in Elbasan for the third year in a row.
Below are some pictures from the Ethnographic Museum of Elbasan.
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Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.