Wikimedia user groups/Reports/Wikimedians of Republic of Srpska/Annual 2018

DEAR READERS,

Annual 2018
Report


Welcome to the 2018 Annual Report of the Wikimedia Community of Republic of Srpska!

In front of you is the annual report of the Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska for 2018. This report contains a list of all the activities of the Wikimedia community of the Republic of Srpska realized in the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018.
For us, 2018 was very progressive and full of different activity challenges. In addition to the successful realization of the goals set by the strategic and annual work plan, our organization was trying this year to implement the global Wikimedia standards and to contribute to the expansion of the Wikimedia Mission in the Republic of Srpska through its activities.

In the end, it is important to emphasize that our work is possible only thanks to the support of our members who contribute to the construction of community and financiers through which our work and our ideas find the way to the final implementation and realization.

Thanks to everyone who was in one way or another with us 2018!

THANK YOU!

Retrospective edit

During 2018 our community has gone through numerous challenges. Beside the work on internal organization, we have tried to advance program area planed with development strategy, and we did it! Realized project from Edu and GLAM sphere has been improved by quality. We have established cooperation with 6 state faculties, implemented a project that included 50 libraries and launched the first Gender gap program in Republic of Srpska. Also, there has been a noticeable shift in the recognition of the organization in the country. Increasing the number of eminent institutions with whom we co-operates speaks to the fact that our organization is on the right way to become attractive and desirable partner.
Our organization also received funds from the budget for APG grants this year, thanks to which we managed to improve our programs and expand the circle of partners in the Republic of Srpska. Planning and development of project documentation has been done in accordance with the needs analysis of the community, as well as on the basis of previous experiences. We estimated for which type of project we have capacities in terms of experience, knowledge, and interested members on the one hand, and real needs in the external environment, on the other. In April, the Community applied for the second APG grant, which was approved. The realization of the planned projects started in August, while in the meantime, the organizational preparations for the implementation of the first project from the new plan and the submission of the final report for the previous APG grant.

Community activities edit

Wikipedia Day edit

 
Wikipedia Day in Republic of Srpska - Birthday cake.

In January, now traditionally, we celebrated the birthday of Wikipedia. For the third year in a row, Wkipedia's birthday is organized and symbolically celebrated by the Wikimedia community of the Republic of Srpska. This time, the celebration was also part of the pre-conference (Annual conference) activities and part of the guests participated in the activities that were organized both days. These were more experienced members of Wikipedia and Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska - and also more active members. The birthday party was attended by 25 people, counting community representatives and lecturers. In the evening, a program dedicated to Wikipedia was presented, within which the history, facts, statistics and the like were presented. Also, the process of creating an account and one article was demonstrated. After the lecture, everyone had the opportunity to create a user account in Wikipedia. After the lecture, a formal cocktail was held, during which participants, after the symbolic blowing of candles on a birthday cake, talked and exchanged ideas in a somewhat relaxed atmosphere. The participants were very motivated and interested in the discussions. In addition to the custom promotional material, our team's representatives were available to participants during the evening for answering questions related to Wikimedia, Wikimedia movements and Wikipedia.

Annual conference edit

 
About the GLAM program.
 
Wikimedia Start Republika Srpska - Active members.

After the celebration of the Wikipedian birthday, a one day conference was held on the second day. The conference was attended by 25 participants from various fields - from experienced Wikipedians to GLAM and Edu institution representatives who were for the first time introduced to Wiki subjects. Having in mind this possibility, we deliberately left room for registration of participants who did not have experience, but are attractive partners for us. In connection with this, when planning and preparing the conference and creating the program itself, we took care to adapt the lectures to such a heterogeneous group of participants. Also, two months before the conference, we publicly invited, in addition to members of our community, users of the neighborhood Wikipedias - Serbia, the Federation of BiH and Croatia. We've placed the invitations on the pumps of their native Wikipedia. Thanks to that, we had one representative from Serbia who, in addition to participating in conference activities in the guest status, was also a guest lecturer. Person in question is an experienced Wikipedian who independently realized several projects for Wikipedia in Serbian, under the auspices of the Wikimedia Serbia. In connection with this, during the conference day he presented some of the statistics related to Wikipedia and demonstrated the creation of a user account and the creation of a high-quality article on Wikipedia.
Bearing in mind the structure of the participants in the conference, we tried to adapt the program to the degree of their experience and the interests of individuals. We created the program accordingly - anyone could find an area of special interest. The program was structured to include all important segments of the WM movement's functioning - from basic introduction to the Wikimedia movement and organization to the CC license.
The set goals were achieved and the conference was realized in accordance with the plan. With the representatives of the GLAM and Edu institutions, the cooperation has been agreed, part of which was already realized within our Wiki Librarian project, which was realized in March. In addition to gaining new members and potential partners, thanks to this conference, the community itself has become stronger in terms of interactions and relationships among community members who have been working online for three years, mostly without a live contact, which is very important for building mutual trust and community capacity.

CEE Spring 2018 edit

 
CEE Spring Logo; Aktron; CC-BY-3.0.

Our community, in this year, in attempt to connect better with the CEE region, took part in the CEE Spring 2018 project. The CEE spring 2018 in Wikipedia in the Serbian language was conducted from March 21 to May 31, 2018 in a joint collaboration of the Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska and Wikimedia Serbia. The work on this project was very demanding and included the preparatory part, monitoring the course of the competition and the final part related with the evaluation and announcement of the winner. During the preparatory work, the organizational team of our community, an equivalent to the Management Board at the formal level of community functioning, divided the responsibilities and selected the project coordinator. After that, a series of activities such as creating a template, preparing articles for proposals, writing and sending press releases, reporting through our social network, site and blog followed.

During the competition, 617 articles were written, while 135 were expanded and improved.


Meet Srpska 2018 edit

 
Meet Srpska logo.

Meet Srpska is a project primarily aimed at strengthening ties with the Wikipedian community. It is a project that has become recognizable and very important to us because of the many goals that we can achieve through its implementation. This year, in the period from 1 October 2018 to 31 January 2019, the project "Meet Srpska 2018", which included the competition on Serbian Wikipedia in creating content about Republic of Srpska for a month, also encompassed one editing workshop and one photo-tour.

Competition
 
Meet Srpska 2018 - edit-a-thon
 
Meet Srpska 2018 - training of new editors.

The competition part of the project was certainly a point of reference for this project. The competition was held in Wikipedia in the Serbian language, and at that time all the Wikimedia standards were respected for organizing such competitions: work pages were created in Wikipedia, templates for competitors and the jury were created, so that everything was transparent and easy to navigate. In addition, a parallel promotional campaign was conducted on the site and our social networks, as well as through communication with the media. During the competition, a total of 210 articles were created, and participation was taken by 48 contestants.

Edit-a-thon
 
Photo-tour Meet Srpska 2018 in Višegrad.

One of the accompanying project activities was the Edit-a-thon in the high school Ivo Andrić in Višegrad. On that occasion, gymnasium students who had previously undergone training for working on Wikimedia projects while attending elementary school, competed in writing articles on the Republic of Srpska in Wikipedia in Serbian. In addition, at the request of the school, the training of students who did not have previous experience in working on Wikipedia was also realized in parallel. A total of 27 articles has been created. In the activities participated 15 students, of which 3 male and 12 female.

Photo-tour

In December, another accompanying project activity was realized - a photo-tour in Višegrad. The event was realized in cooperation with the Višegrad Photo Club and the Višegrad City Gallery. On this occasion, 6 less represented and inaccessible monument sites were photographed on the territory of the municipality of Višegrad. In addition to the members of our community, photo-tours were taken by professional photographers. A total of 385 photos was collected.

International cooperation

In order to enrich our project, we established cooperation with two user groups - Wikimedia Community User Group Greece and Wikimedia Levant. In connection with the above, the editing workshop was organized by Wikimedia Levant at the University of Hashemite, within which students created contents related to the Republic of Srpska in the Arabian Wikipedia. In return, during the realization of Edu workshops, our community will pay attention to a number of content that will be translated from the Arabic language and placed on Serbian Wikipedia in the next quarter. Number of articles created created in Arabic was 12. During this time the Greek Wikipedia, a competition was organized in writing articles about the Republic of Srpska, and 17 articles in the Greek language were created. Also, is created 40 new wiki data descriptions/labels. In the spirit of equal partnership, in the next quarter, during the implementation of the Edu activity, our organization will pay attention to contents in the Greek language that will be translated into Serbian and posted on Wikipedia in Serbian.

In addition to the aforementioned partners, the project was supported by the “Prosvjeta” Serbian Educational and Cultural Society and by the editors of one of the more popular portals in BiH - Serbs in BiH - through epochs and fates.

Educational program edit

 
Edu logo - Wikimedia Community of Republic of Srpska.
 
Edu banner Wikimedia Community of Republic of Srpska.

The educational program of our community is intended for all educational-scientific institutions in the country (schools, faculties, institutes) and aims to spread the free and all available knowledge, as well as to raise awareness of its significance. In addition, the basis of the educational program of the Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska is the idea of improving and modernizing the teaching process through Wikimedia projects. The program was launched at the end of 2015.

 
Editing workshop - Edu Wiki, Faculty of Production and Management Trebinje.
 
Editing Wikipedia workshop in Višegrad.
 
Editing Wikipedia workshop in Pale.
 
Edu Wiki, Faculty of Economics, University of East Sarajevo.
 
Editing Wikipedia workshop - work in progress.

The community has managed to achieve the set goals and in 2018 establish cooperation with 4 state faculties, one gymnasium and one elementary school. A total of 7 editing workshops were held, within which students and professors were introduced to Wikimedia projects, Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. A total of 65 students, 31 male and 34 female, took part in the activities. A total of 88 new and extended 2 articles were created.

During 2018, the remaining 7 editing workshops were realized within the planned activities of the Edu program. Activities were realized in cooperation with 6 educational institutions from different fields of functioning: Faculty of Production and Management Trebinje, Faculty of Economics Pale, Faculty of Political Sciences Banja Luka, Faculty of Law Pale, High School Center January 27 Rogatica and “Vuk Karadžić” Elementary School in Višegrad.

Editing workshop - Edu Wiki, Faculty of Production and Management Trebinje

On March 5, 2018, in Trebinje, an editing workshop was held at the Faculty of Production and Management of the University of East Sarajevo in which students met with Wikimedia and its projects, Wikipedia and work on Wikipedia. On that occasion, the majority of students created their first articles, who previously had no experience in editing. In addition to students, the workshop was attended by several faculty professors, as well as several professors from the Gymnasium in Trebinje. During the workshop, 10 new members created 12 new articles and one was added. The number of male and female participants was in equilibrium 5 - 5. The event has sparked a great deal of media attention in Herzegovina. In addition, a special satisfaction was brought by the faculty dean's proposal to sign a cooperation agreement with our community.

Editing Workshop - Edu Wiki, Faculty of Economics, University of East Sarajevo

An editing workshop was held on 19 March at the Faculty of Economics at the University of East Sarajevo. In accordance with the plan, students were introduced to the basics of editing Wikipedia, as well as other Wikimedia projects. The workshop was attended by 11 participants, 2 women and 9 men. Created 10 new and updated one article. Less general topics in the field of economics were processed, in accordance with the curriculum of the given faculty.

Editing workshop - Edu Wiki, Public Institution Elementary School "Vuk Karadžić", Višegrad

In accordance with the strategic plan of the community on maintaining cooperation with existing partners, for the fourth time since the start of the educational program in the Republic of Srpska, the community implemented the activity in cooperation with “Vuk Karadžić” Elementary School in Višegrad. This was the first editing workshop held in this institution which was of international character. In addition to the Elementary School “Vuk Karadžić”, the partner was the Wikimedia User Group from Macedonia - GLAM Macedonia.
The contents of both participants were in correlation with the curriculum that students attend in their own school and in their own country. Students of the Elementary school Vuk Karadžić created content on Wikipedia in Serbian language by translating from Wikipedia in Macedonian language. In addition to translating and applying the basics of editing Wikipedia, the students encountered somewhat more complicated templates - info boxes, tables, and so on. With professional help, they managed to get the job done while solving this task because it was an intellectual challenge for them. Also, cooperation with peers from other country had a very positive effect on them.
At the same time, a similar situation took place in Skopje, at the Museum of Macedonian struggle, students - members of the Wiki club GLAM Macedonia created Macedonian language content from the content taken from the Serbian Wikipedia. The themes were in line with the age and interests of the students.
During this workshop, 18 new articles were created on Wikipedia in Serbian language and 9 articles on Macedonian Wikipedia. 11 pupils from the Elementary School Vuk Karadžić took part in the workshop - 8 girls and 3 boys.

Editing workshop - Edu Wiki, Public Institution High School Center "27th January" Rogatica

On March 30, 2018, in Rogatica, in cooperation with the High School Center "27th January" held another editing workshop. Participants were students from different schools of this center, primarily from gymnasiums, and economic school. On that occasion, 14 new articles were created by 12 participants - 8 female and 4 male. In addition to getting to know the basics of Wikipedia work through the creation of articles, students were also introduced with Wikipedia's sister projects. In addition to the fact that at the time of the realization of the mentioned workshops, the students were practically already on the spring break (Friday, afternoon hours), the students showed interest in the work.

Editing workshop - Edu Wiki, Faculty of Political Science in Banja Luka, Banja Luka

On 12th April 2018, an editing workshop was held in Banja Luka, at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Banja Luka in which students from this faculty took part. On this occasion, the students were introduced to Wikimedia projects, Wikipedia and the basics of editing Wikipedia. The workshop was thematically focused and its subject was less represented content from the field of politics and political sciences. The workshop numbered 7 student participants and 6 new articles. Although the results of metrics this time were not fully met, this workshop was very significant for the community because of the importance and reputation this particular institution enjoys in the country. Cooperation with this faculty represents a good reference for further work of the community in the edu sphere.

Edu Wiki - Editing workshop at the Law Faculty of the University of East Sarajevo

In Pale, on 20th April, 2018, another editing workshop was held at the Law Faculty of the University of East Sarajevo within the Edu Program of the Wikimedia Community of Republic of Srpska. On this occasion, through the introduction to the basics of work on Wikipedia, content was created in Serbian Wikipedia by students of this faculty. A total of 9 new articles was created by 6 participants.

Editing workshop at the Law Faculty of the University of East Sarajevo II

In December, one editing workshop was held in cooperation with the Law Faculty of the University of East Sarajevo. On this occasion, students, through training for work, created the content on Wikipedia in Serbian language that is in correlation with their curriculum. Participation was taken by 8 students, and 10 articles were created.

Cooperation with 4 faculties was planned and agreed in early 2019, after the completion of exam periods. We are pleased with the progress in the Edu sphere due to the fact that we have managed to establish cooperation with serious educational institutions that have recognized us as serious partners who can contribute to the improvement of the teaching process.

GLAM program edit

Wiki Librarian edit

 
Wiki Librarian R.Srpska logo.

In the sphere of the GLAM program of the Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska, during the designated period, a large project called Wiki Librarian in Republic of Srpska was implemented, which included the training of librarians for work on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. The project covered 50 libraries from the territory of the Republic of Srpska, and project activities were implemented in 5 cities - regional centers of Republika Srpska. Working on this project was a real pleasure.

 
Editing Wikipedia workshop in Zvornik.
 
Wiki Librarian In RS - East Sarajevo.
 
Wiki Librarian In RS Editing Wikipedia workshop in Foča.

Project realization included three phases: preparatory, practical implementation of the project and evaluation of project activities. During the preparatory phase, the central libraries that are located in the regional centers were contacted and the cooperation was agreed. Central libraries then formed groups of librarians from employees of smaller libraries under their jurisdiction, who were interested in training. The response was satisfactory and in line with our plan and assessment. Libraries in question have met all of our needs. The dates and plan of workshop realization was agreed. The realization of project activities was carried out without problems and in accordance with the plan. There was great interest, and the librarians were very motivated to work. In a very pleasant atmosphere, 5 editing workshops were implemented in the premises of the central libraries within a time limit of one month! This was a particular challenge for us, and afterwards a special kind of satisfaction - it turned out that the community had made enough progress in acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills needed for the implementation of such projects in such a short time limit and with such a small budget.

Workshop within Wiki Librarian in Republic of Srpska project, Central Library of East Sarajevo

On March 1, 2018, East Sarajevo hosted the first editing workshop for librarians from the Republic of Srpska. The workshop was realized in cooperation with the Central Library of East Sarajevo, with which our community had previous and fruitful cooperation. On that occasion, 8 new and 3 expanded articles were created by 11 participants - librarians who were representatives of regional libraries. Through practical work, the participants were introduced to the basics of work on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. In addition, in the introductory part they are introduced with the Wikimedia Movement and its goals, as well as with other Wikimedia projects. In terms of gender structure, there were no major differences - the participation encompassed 6 female editors and 5 male editors.

Wiki Librarian in Republic of Srpska - Workshop in National Library of Trebinje

The second editing workshop was held on March 11, 2018 in Trebinje, regional and cultural center of Herzegovina region. On that occasion, cooperation with the National Library of Trebinje was established and a workshop was held in the premises of this library. In accordance with the plan, a group of 10 interested librarians were trained to work on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. On that occasion, 9 new articles were created and one article was added by 10 participants - 4 female and 6 male.

Wiki Librarian in Republic of Srpska - Workshop in National Library of Zvornik

In Zvornik, a larger town of the Sarajevo-Zvornik region, the third editing workshop was held on March 17, 2018. In the workshop, 9 librarians took part - representatives of regional libraries, who created 9 new articles during the training. The activity was realized in cooperation with the National Library of Zvornik.

Wiki Librarian in Republic of Srpska - Workshop in Serbian Central Library “Prosvjeta” Foča

In cooperation with the Serbian Central Library "Prosvjeta" in Foča, the fourth editing workshop was held on April 2nd, 2018. On that occasion, 9 librarians were trained and 9 new articles were created and the participants were introduced to the basics of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons. The introductory part of the lecture was attended by the representatives of the Museum of Old Herzegovina from Foča who were interested in more information and cooperation with us. After the workshop, a meeting was held with them and a future cooperation was agreed.

Wiki Librarian in Republic of Srpska - Workshop in National and University Library of the Republic Srpska

In the capital and regional center of the Banja Luka region - Banja Luka, on April 4th, the fifth and final in a series of planned workshops was held. The activity was realized in cooperation with the National and University Library of the Republic of Srpska. 11 librarians - representatives of regional libraries have participated in the training. During this workshop 8 new articles were created 2 articles were updated. Regarding the gender structure, 6 female and 5 male editors participated in the workshop.

The project has caused great interest of the media. 20 articles were published in the written media, 4 guest appearances were made in various TV shows of national and commercial television and 3 interviews for radio shows. Our organizing team regularly reported the public through the site, blogs and social networks.

Trace of Soul 2018 photo-contests edit

 
Trace of Soul - logo.

In the framework of the GLAM program, we, now traditionally, also implemented the 2018 Trace of Soul Project - a project that brings together WLM and WLE into one. This year the project was also well received by the participants and partners. Thanks to the previous good results and the campaign that has been running in the past three years, the Trace of the Soul project has almost become our trademark and project we are best recognized for in the local community. The realization of the project The Trace of Soul 2018 has run in three phases - preparatory part, realization, announcement of the results of the competition at the final ceremony - exhibitions of winning photographs.

Preparatory phase
 
Photo-tour Trebinje.

In the preparatory phase, we had to deal, in the first place, with the updating of the lists. We contacted the Republic Institute for the Protection of the Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage of the Republic of Srpska and received relevant information on the status of certain monuments, as well as the information of new monument entries to the list of protected goods. In addition, with the requested information, we received a certificate of partnership as well as the full support of the Institute in the realization of our project. Based on the information obtained, our lists were updated both on the site and in Wikipedia. In addition, the coordinates of the monuments were added. In addition to updating the lists, the preparatory phase involved sending letters and communicating with preferred partners, as well as with the media. In addition, within the community, jobs were divided and everything was pre-defined - the dates of the accompanying activities (photo-tour and editing workshops), monuments that were not represented were identified, areas were mapped and photo-tours were specified. Also, it was necessary to send letters and requests to the priests in charge of certain parishes for permission to photograph certain monasteries and churches.

Project realization
 
Photo-tour Novi Grad Participants

The realization of the project itself meant monitoring the flow of the competition and providing technical support to the competitors where needed and the implementation of the accompanying activities - photo-tour and editing workshops.

Competition
 
Prize-giving ceremony - opening.
 
Prize-giving ceremony - speech by the President of the Jury.

The competition was open to participants from August 1 to September 30, 2018. During the contest 67 participants sent 2.161 photographs of protected natural and immovable cultural and historical goods of Republika Srpska. Additionally, it's important to note that this year saw remarkable progress in the quality of uploaded photos. According to our research, 50% of competitors were professional photographers, which is a significant improvement compared to the previous year, when this number was insignificant. Also, it is important to note that the photographers from other countries - Serbia and Slovenia, as well as photographers from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - took photographs for the competition.

Photo-tour

In order to promote the project and the Wikimedia Mission, a total of three photo tours were organized. Areas and monuments that are not represented at Wikimedia's site nor on the Internet, at all, were chosen by plan! Photo tours were realized in Trebinje, Gacko and Novi Grad, territorially dislocated areas, in cooperation with local Tourist Organizations. This year we have partnered with local photo clubs to ensure the participation of professional photographers in photo-tours. The result was more than positive! The clubs responded to the call, and the professionals took part in the photo-tours, and we received quality and visually-admirable photos!

In photo-tours, a total of 23 photographers took part. A total of 405 photographs were collected, of which 167 photographs of the monuments whose photographs were not available to the public. In addition to photo clubs, we are particularly proud of establishing cooperation with the Tourist Organization of the Republic of Srpska and Tourist Organization Trebinje, which in our country are considered as the most successful and most eminent tourist organizations.

Editing workshop

In addition to the photo-tour, one editing workshop in Gacko was realized as part of the project, in cooperation with the high school center "Pero Slijepcevic" Gacko. On that occasion, students of gymnasiums underwent training for work on Wikipedia, creating content related to the natural and cultural heritage of this area. Additionally, the created articles are illustrated by the accompanying photographs of the given monuments. A total of 28 articles has been written. In the activities participated a total of 12 students, of which 4 were female and 8 were male.

Photography exhibition

Finally, a ceremony was held within which the winners of the competition were announced and victorious photographs were presented. The winners were presented with awards, and the participants who entered the top 20 were awarded with comfort awards - promotional t-shirts. The exhibition was held in Trebinje in the Gallery of the Cultural Center Trebinje. At the request of the Cultural Center, the exhibition remained in the gallery for two weeks. During that time, more than 2.000 visitors saw an exhibition.

Top 10: Cultural heritage


Top 10: Natural heritage

Gender gap - Wiki Women edit

 
Wiki Women Republic of Srpska logo.
 
Closing ceremony.
 
Photo Tour.

During the indicated period, at the beginning of March in the Republic of Srpska, within the Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska, the first Gender Gap program was launched for women, called Wiki Women in Republic of Srpska. The project included the implementation of 5 editing workshops, one editing marathon and one photo-tour with a permanent group of 15 participants. The realization of the project went in the best possible order and the results exceeded our expectations. The response was satisfactory, and the participants were very motivated to work. With great enthusiasm each activity was accepted. In addition, out of the planned 90 articles, 110 new articles were created during the duration of the project.

Workshops

In Višegrad, during March of the current year, 5 editing workshops were held in which the pre-formed group of women's editors of Wikipedia took part. Editors did not have previous experience in editing Wikipedia, so the first two workshops had the character of training. The first articles were created through familiarization with the basics, while on the other they were involved in advanced editing techniques - templates, info boxes, illustration articles, and the like. The participants showed great interest and quickly mastered the prepared content. After that, they independently created the contents in Serbian Wikipedia, with the assistance of our lecturers.
During the realization of the workshop, 82 articles were created. The subjects that were subjected to processing were from areas that are less represented on Wikipedia, such as biographies of well-known women, and the like.

Marathon

After the training and a series of editing workshops, a one-day editing marathon was organized in the framework of which participants competed with each other in the creation of articles on Wikipedia in Serbian. For the three best competitors chosen by the jury after the end of the marathon, symbolic prizes were provided. During the marathon, 28 articles were created in various less represented areas.

Photo-tour

The last in a series of activities was the photo-tour and training for photograph upload to Wikimedia Commons. 20 participants took part in the photo tours - a permanent group of participants was joined by the representatives of the local photo club. It was a one-day activity, and on that occasion, photographs of less known, and historically significant places from the territory of the municipality of Višegrad (Jewish cemetery, house of Ivo Andric and similar) were collected. A total of 244 photographs were uploaded to the Wikimedia Commons during the photo tours, while 392 photographs were placed on the Wikimedia Commons for the duration of the entire project.

The project has sparked a great deal of attention from the public and the media, both local and state-level. Partners on the project were two very important local women's organizations Association of women afflicted and treated for breast cancer "Aska" - Višegrad and Association of Business Women 16 - Višegrad. Also, the support to the project was provided by the City Gallery Višegrad through the participation of their photo-club Višegrad in the photo-tour.

Public activities edit

Presentation of the Wikimedia projects edit

 
Communication with photographers BiH.

In Višegrad, on 17th April 2018, the Wikimedia community took part in another public event - a presentation of the Wikimedia projects was held as part of the open meetings of the municipal committee of SPKD "Prosvjeta". On that occasion, about 40 participants had the opportunity to get to know more about the Wikimedia Movement and the Wikimedia goals through the lecture of our representative. Also, on this occasion, Edu and GLAM programs were presented, which aroused the special interest of the participants in accordance with the structure of the group, which was mainly composed from teachers, librarians and artists. The event was organized by SPKD Prosvjeta Višegrad, with which cooperation was established on that occasion. The participants showed great interest in future potential cooperation, which we plan to use in the implementation of future projects.

Days of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Photography edit

The Wikimedia community of the Republic of Srpska took part in the prestigious event - Days of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Photography held in Trebinje. On that occasion, all photographers from Bosnia and Herzegovina who attended the conference were introduced with the Wikimedia projects and the GLAM program with emphasis on photo projects. Also, a constructive meeting was held regarding a proposal for a joint initiative on changing the Law on Freedom of Panorama, currently still in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The conclusions were positive, and in this regard, in the following period, we plan to deal more seriously with the topic. Changing the said law would have a positive impact on the improvement of our GLAM program as well as the increase in the number of photo projects we could organize in this case.

Participation in international events edit

 
Group photo, CEE Meeting 2018, Lviv (cropped); Aminngo; CC-BY-SA-4.0.
 
Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2018 – WMRS; Visem; CC-BY-SA-4.0.
 
Wikimedians of Republic of Srpska in Trebinje.
 
Representatives of media.

The community strives to take part in international events in order to strengthen partnerships with the Wikimedia chapters and in order to acquire new knowledge and skills. During 2018, our organization took part in two international conferences - the Wikimedia Annual Conference in Berlin and the CEE meeting in Lviv. At the CEE Conference, we took a more active part in the lecture part of the conference. Our representative gave a lecture on Building an affiliate from scratch: Experiences of Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska.

Meetings edit

In order to maintain positive relationships in the community, in addition to regular online meetings held during micro-planning and project realization, 5 local live meetings were held.
Meetings were held in 5 cities in the Republic of Srpska with local Wikimedians and Wikipedians who are active members of the community. The topics of the meetings were focused on plans to improve community work, exchange ideas related to new projects and their implementation.

Media about us edit

During the designated period, during the project implementation, the community regularly notified the public about their activities through communication with the media through the site, the blog, mailing lists and social networks (Facebook, Twiter, Instagram, YouTube).

Within the specified time frame, community activities were promoted through 115 media posts (electronic and print media, radio and TV shows). Each activity has sparked public and media attention, which is a sign that the Community has succeeded in building a proper reputation in the country in three years of operation and secured its place on the media scene.

Local and International partners edit

 
Territorial coverage Wikimedia Community of Republic of Srpska - more important regional centers.

During 2018, our community managed to keep existing and gain new partners for cooperation. We are particularly proud of the fact that we managed to establish contact and agree on cooperation with several eminent institutions that are very difficult to reach. We were persistent and our persistence eventually paid off. It is very important for us to build attractive reputation in the local community, to have attractive partners in the Republic of Srpska. In this way we get positive references in the local area and it is easier for us to get new partners for future projects. During 2018, our community has established cooperation with 16 institutions, 14 organizations.

Local Partners
  • Republic Institute for protection of cultural-historical and natural heritage
  • Law Faculty of the University of East Sarajevo
  • Faculty of Production and Management Trebinje
  • Faculty of Economics, University of East Sarajevo
  • Faculty of Political Science in Banja Luka, Banja Luka
  • Public institution High school center “27th January”.
  • High school center "Pero Slijepcevic" Gacko
  • High school Ivo Andrić in Višegrad
  • Elementary school Vuk Karadžić from Višegrad
  • National and University Library of the Republic Srpska
  • Central Library of East Sarajevo
  • National Library of Trebinje
  • National Library of Zvornik
  • Serbian Central Library “Prosvjeta” Foča
  • Touristic organization of the Republic of Srpska
  • Touristic organization of Trebinje
  • Touristic organization of Novi Grad
  • Touristic organization of Gacko
  • Cultural Center Trebinje
  • Višegrad City Gallery
  • Višegrad Photo Club
  • Photo Cinema club Trebinje
  • SECS “Prosvjeta”
  • Association of women afflicted and treated for breast cancer "Aska" - Višegrad
  • Association of Business Women 16 - Višegrad
  • Portal “Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina - through epochs and destinies”


International partners

In addition to local associates, in 2018 we have established cooperation with several international partners:

  • Wikimedia User Group from Macedonia - GLAM Macedonia
  • Wikimedia Community User Group Greece
  • Wikimedia Levant
  • Wikimedia Serbia.