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Editorial: As fall comes...
With the equinox and cooler weather, we are in those days when we truly feel fall has officially begun, and we are gradually returning from our summer homes and beaches to our computers. We are also still feeling the excitement from the Wikimedia CEE Meeting Cluj-Napoca in recent weeks. I believe that the most important common theme in this issue is the effort to create, protect, and share open knowledge with as many people as possible.
From Armenia to Uzbekistan, from Estonia to Slovenia, and from Iran to Macedonia and Serbia, we have a range of news stories for you, our valued readers, from this large region. In this issue, we also see notable activities from Serbia, Ukraine, Albania, Macedonia, Czech Republic, and Poland that have been featured in other international newsletters on topics such as Education and GLAM.
Armenia organized events on a variety of topics, ranging from an event on Wikipedia for freedom of elections attended by 119 people and resulting in the drafting of 246 articles, to a wiki camp that included a volunteer from Slovenia as part of a Wiki peer learning exchange carried out in partnership with the CEE Hub. In Estonia, the 125th anniversary of Estonian encyclopedias was celebrated, and a 150-volume mockup showing what the Estonian Wikipedia would look like if it were published in print is on display in a library. It was reported that at the "Wiki Loves Iran 2026" event held in Iran, 21 participants created a total of 1,087 articles in 12 different languages. This is a wonderful example of different languages collaborating toward a common goal.
Among the numerous events held in Macedonia, GLAM, education, fieldwork, and photography-related activities, collaborations with cultural institutions: 2352 images added to articles by 8 editors stand out and collaboration with Museum of the Macedonian Struggle. It looks like they had a very productive summer. In addition, here’s a three-month summary from Serbia. Aside from the start of preparations for partnerships and activities planned for the new academic term, the community has actively contributed to the movement through various events such as the World Refugee Day edit-a-thon, the article illustration contest, and “Wiki Loves Sports.” Uzbekistan has placed a strong emphasis on interlanguage links in Wikidata, creating 1,373 such interlanguage links and entering more than 5,000 Uzbek Wikidata descriptions. While on the topic of languages, attention is drawn to the importance of Wikipedia editions in lesser-known languages, such as Western Armenian, in the age of artificial intelligence.
In addition to all of this, two new proposals regarding Wikimedia organizations and grants were presented; the draft Grantmaking Strategy 2026 and the proposal for Recognition and Funding were published. In our Learning Corner, a starter kit for small and new Wikipedia language editions has been made available. It has been noted that the kit could be quite useful for some of the Wikipedia editions in the 38 minority languages identified by the CEE Hub. Also, a user from Peer Learning Exchange is sharing their experiences with us.
Please excuse any shortcomings on my part, as I am still excited that this is my first issue as editor-in-chief. I would like to thank Jan Beránek, the previous Editor-in-chief who served in this role for three years, for his efforts in compiling and sharing updates from the CEE region with our readers. As the CEE Newsletter team, we look forward to receiving your suggestions in the coming term as well.
I hope you enjoy reading it.
Y. Caner Özyayıkçı (User:Kurmanbek)
Editor-in-chief, CEE Newsletter.
- The first CEE Hub Steering Committee elections are complete
This summer was a big moment for the Wikimedia CEE Hub: we held our first Steering Committee elections. Forty votes were cast by eligible community members and affiliates, and all 10 seats were filled.
The new Steering Committee started its term on 2 September. Two members are new compared with last year's committee, and one of the first things the group will do is set up its working groups. The Committee also met in person for the first time ahead of the CEE Meeting in Romania.
A big thank you to everyone who took part in the elections and helped shape this next chapter for the Hub!
We shared a separate article describing the development of the SC elections process – you can read it here.
- CEE Meeting 2026 brings us together
CEE Meeting 2026 brought Wikimedians from across the region and beyond together in Cluj-Napoca. The CEE Hub hosted several sessions and helped run the Buddy System, giving participants a chance to meet, share experiences, and feel more at home during the event.
The meeting was also a lovely chance for many of the Hub’s programmes and working groups to meet communities face to face and pick up conversations that had started online earlier in the year.
- Planning for Year 5 of the CEE Hub
With the current year coming to an end, we’ve been working on the CEE Hub’s Year 5 annual plan.
The Wikimedia Foundation confirmed that the CEE Hub’s bridge funding for 2027 will stay at the current level. This will help us continue supporting communities while the Foundation works on a new funding framework for regional hubs.
We’re building on what we’ve learned from our existing programmes and thinking about what will be most useful for communities across the region in the coming year. Several programmes will continue, and we’re also looking for new ways to make regional cooperation and support even stronger. Thank you for sharing your ideas and feedback during our workshop at the CEE Meeting!
- CEE Wiki Peer Learning Exchange continues
The CEE Wiki Peer Learning Exchange stayed busy over the summer. In August, we completed the second exchange, with Nal Mencin from Slovenia travelling to Armenia to join the summer Youth Wiki Camp and learn more about youth outreach and engagement. To learn more about Nal's experience, check out his article summarising the trip.
The final exchange of this year’s programme will take place in October. Nursultan from the Kazakh Language User Group will travel to Poland to learn from Wikimedia Poland about organising events during the Open Research Conference in Katowice.
We’re happy that the programme is also part of the Hub’s Year 5 annual plan. We’re planning to open the next call for mentees and mentors in the first quarter of 2027.
- News from the CEE Youth Group
The CEE Youth Group had a busy summer!
During the CEE Meeting, Youth Group representatives met with the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, led several sessions, and joined a dedicated Youth Group lunch. The Group also received its first merchandise: T-shirts and stickers coordinated by Nal and Nikos, with support from Wikimedia Armenia.
Preparations for Belgrade are moving along, including finalizing scholarship recipients and seeing whether we can make room for more youth participants.
The Social Media Working Group was especially active during the CEE Meeting. The team collected content and published a couple of highlights from Cluj-Napoca. More content is on the way.
- Connecting communications communities through EuroComms
In September, communications volunteers and professionals from Wikimedia projects and groups across Europe met online for a EuroComms peer learning session about how to reach new contributors.
Participants shared questions, ideas, examples, and lessons learned about attracting new contributors. The session continued the work of EuroComms, a space for people working on public relations, social media, campaigns, storytelling, media relations, and other kinds of external communications.
- Funding programmes continue supporting communities
The Microgrants Programme continued helping local initiatives throughout the summer. By the end of August, we had received 23 proposals, funded 16 projects, declined six applications, and had one proposal under review. Around 2,000 EUR was still available in the programme budget.
Rapid Funds also continued to take shape as a new regional funding opportunity. In August, we met with four potential grantees and received four applications. Two proposals were funded, one was under review, and one was still at the eligibility stage.
This summer we also worked with Wikimedia Europe to find and share grant opportunities and other funding sources that could be useful to communities and organizations across the CEE region.
- Following developments in the Wikimedia movement organizations ecosystem
The CEE Hub shared feedback on the Wikimedia Foundation’s proposal about the future of the Wikimedia movement organizations ecosystem.
Together with Wikimedia Europe, we also organized an online meeting for affiliates in the region. The meeting gave people a chance to hear more about the proposal, ask questions, and discuss what it could mean for their communities.
After hearing feedback from Wikimania, the Wikimedia Foundation extended the consultation period on the first version of the proposal until 30 September. The discussion with the Board of Trustees, originally planned for September, was moved to December to give communities more time to share their thoughts and talk things through, including at upcoming regional events.
- CEE Hub at Wikimania
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Wikimania 2026 was another important opportunity for the CEE Hub and communities from across the region to meet, share experiences, and connect with Wikimedians from around the world.
Together with Wikimedia Europe, we organized WikiMixer, a networking workshop bringing Wikimedians together to exchange experiences, make new connections, and explore opportunities for cooperation.
The CEE Hub team and community members also took part in sessions and conversations throughout the event, including discussions around youth engagement, communications, regional cooperation, and the future of the Wikimedia movement organizations ecosystem.
We also celebrated Mari receiving the Wikimedian of the Year 2026 – Honorary Mention award and prepared a Diff interview with her to mark the occasion.
- Technical collaboration across the region
The CEE Technical Village Pump continued growing as a regional place where contributors can ask technical questions, submit requests, and find people to work with.
The Village Pump received the first requests in September. We also worked on making it easier to find by adding links to regular community forum pages across the region.
At the same time, the Technical Advancement Group continued working on Makammatik, an incubator project focused on Turkish Makam music. You can try the project at makammatik.toolforge.org and find documentation on Meta.
- CEE Executive Directors Group keeps the conversation going
The CEE Executive Directors Group met for the second time in August to share experiences and talk about current priorities for Wikimedia chapters in the region.
It’s a useful space for affiliate leaders to compare notes, discuss common challenges, and support one another as they work across Central and Eastern Europe.
- Engaging a new generation of Wikimedians
The September CEE Catch Up was all about ways to welcome and involve a new generation of Wikimedians.
Nal and Mari from the CEE Youth Group shared outreach ideas that have worked well in their affiliates, including WikiCamps and Student Clubs. Nal also talked about taking part in the WikiCamp in Armenia through the Peer Learning Exchange.
You can watch the recording on Commons.
- Cooperation and community connections
Throughout the summer, we continued inviting CEE communities to individual Community Check-in Meetings.
These conversations help us keep up with what communities are doing, what challenges they’re facing, and what they’re planning next. They also help us shape the Hub’s programmes and services around what communities actually need. Thank you to everyone who made time to talk with us!
- Looking ahead
There’s plenty more to look forward to in the coming months. The final CEE Wiki Peer Learning Exchange of the year will take place in Poland in October, and preparations will continue for the annual in person CEE Youth Group meeting in Belgrade in November.
Rapid Funds will reopen for applications on 1 October, and we’ll keep working on the Hub’s 5th year plan and the next round of programmes and activities.
As always, thank you to everyone who takes part in the Hub’s programmes, activities, working groups, and conversations. The Hub is made possible by the people who show up, share what they know, and help one another. We’re grateful to be learning and building together across CEE.
- Stay updated! You can follow CEE Hub announcements on
Curious to hear more about the CEE Hub staff updates? Follow our News & Updates page, where we share our monthly highlights!
- By: TRistovski-CEEhub (talk)
We’re excited to share with you the 11 reports we've received from the first 14 projects funded up until April 2026. Over this time, we've supported a wide range of activities throughout the entire CEE region and Central Asia.
In the first three months of our Microgrants program, we were excited to receive 14 proposals, and we decided to support 11 of them. These projects came from 9 different communities and countries, showcasing a wonderful range of perspectives and ideas.
Some of the applicants we already knew, while others were new Wikimedians eager to explore our program.
Here are a few highlights from some of the proposals and their outcomes:
- Our very first funded project this year was "Documenting Visual Memory of Denizli". The team faced several challenges along the way, but they persevered and produced some amazing photos of the Denizli region, which you can check out on Commons. (report)
- Rejeb, a returning grantee, once again demonstrated his ability to deliver fantastic work. This time, he captured stunning images from the Gobustan State Historical and Artistic Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site. (report)
- We're also thrilled to support a project related to the newest Wikipedia language edition in our region, Pannonian Rusyn. The project, titled "We Love Rusyn Cultural Heritage", is a wonderful way to celebrate and preserve this unique heritage. (report)
- Another exciting project from Azerbaijan offers a closer look at Polish cultural heritage in the area, with over 1,000 images uploaded to Commons. (report)
- A team from Uzbekistan worked to rescue and share the “invisible” cultural heritage of Central Asia, helping bring it into the global digital world. (report)
- Zolfeqar, a returning grantee, organized a photographic expedition for the Wiki Loves Earth 2026 campaign, resulting in more than 600 new photos on Commons. (report)
- The Uzbek Language User Group received support for their project to boost contributions to Wikidata, which still has room to grow in Central Asia. (report)
- We also backed another proposal from Vojvodina, a region in Serbia, called “Vojvodina Sweet Heritage”, focused on digitizing traditional recipes from minority communities. (report)
- The Ionian WikiSprint, part of the Ionian Wikithon 2026, celebrated its fifth anniversary, and we’re proud to support this event that’s so important for the Greek community on Corfu Island. (report)
- The CEE Youth Group submitted their first proposal for the Wiki Loves Eurovision contest, bringing together 31 participants who created over 1,000 articles in 17 different languages. (report)
- Lastly, we enabled a member of the North-West Russia Wiki-Historians User Group to attend the Wikimedia Northern Europe meeting, marking the first time this conference has been held during the usergroup's existence. (report)
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Mythological Landscapes: Documenting the Visual History of Central Asia and Turkic Myths -
Historical evidence of Polish heritage in Azerbaijan: monuments -
Photographic Expedition to the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve for Wiki Loves Earth 2026 -
NWR-Hist participation in Wikimedia Northern Europe Meeting 2026 -
Documenting Visual Memory of Denizli -
Documentation of the Gobustan Rock Carvings
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We’re so inspired by the passion and creativity of everyone involved!
But this election was also a first test of putting the CEE Hub’s governance model into practice. We had the rules; we still needed to build the process around them. That meant establishing an independent Electoral Commission, translating eligibility rules into practice, working with two different electorates, and building Fala, our own voting tool on Wikimedia Toolforge.
From rules to an election The election had two constituencies: individual CEE community members and CEE affiliates, each electing four members. That made eligibility one of the first practical challenges. Community voters had to meet both Wikimedia activity requirements and demonstrate a connection to the CEE community, while affiliates had to designate representatives to vote on their behalf.
To oversee the process, an independent three-member Electoral Commission was established: Antanana as Chair, Bencemac and Gdarin. The Commission verified candidates and voter eligibility, interpreted the rules when unclear cases appeared, supervised the election, and ultimately certified the results. Hub staff supported the process and its technical implementation, but decisions about eligibility and the application of election rules remained with the Commission.
Thirteen candidates entered the nomination process, and after the eligibility review, twelve were confirmed for the final ballots: six Community candidates and six Affiliate candidates.
Building Fala
One of the biggest practical questions was how to run the vote itself. The election had two different electorates, different eligibility rules, preferential voting, and the possibility that one person could be eligible to vote in both categories.
Instead of adapting the election to the limits of an existing tool, we built Fala on Wikimedia Toolforge. Voters logged in with their Wikimedia accounts, eligibility could be checked through the system, and Community and Affiliate voting were handled separately. Voters could also return and update their ballot before the deadline.
Privacy was part of the design as well. Fala recorded who had voted and when a ballot was submitted or updated, but it did not keep the voter’s candidate selections or rankings linked to their identity.
Building Fala also strengthened the Hub’s ability to run its own governance processes independently. We were not limited to whatever an existing election platform happened to support; we could build the voting process around the rules and needs defined by the CEE Hub itself.
Voting and results
Voting was open from 6 to 20 July 2026. On each ballot, voters could rank as many or as few candidates as they wanted. The candidate ranked first received six points, the second five, and so on, while unranked candidates received no points.
Fifty-two community members voted in the Community election, while 15 CEE affiliates participated through their designated representatives. The Electoral Commission then certified the results, including the rules used to decide the winner when two or more candidates received the same number of votes in the Affiliate election.
The elected members were Shahen Araboghlian, Magda Barascu, Wojciech Pędzich, Mārtiņš Bruņenieks, Gorana Gomirac, Toni Sant, Klára Joklová and Vera Pelhan. They later co-opted Iglika Ivanova and Armen Mirzoyan, completing the ten-member Steering Committee.
The first meeting of the new Steering Committee took place on 2 September 2026, which marked the official start of its term. That is also when they selected the Chair: Toni Sant and Vice-Chair: Vera Pelhan.
What we learned
The clearest lesson was how difficult it can be to turn governance rules into something a voting system can actually verify. Some criteria, such as account age, edit count and block history, could be checked directly from Wikimedia data. Others could not. For example, eligibility through membership in approved CEE mailing lists could not be verified by existing voting tools such as SecurePoll. That problem led directly to Fala: voters log in with their Wikimedia account, verify their email with a one-time code, and the address is checked against a whitelist built from the approved mailing lists. In other words, the election rules themselves shaped the architecture of the tool.
A different lesson came from affiliate participation. Some eligible affiliates never nominated a representative and therefore never voted. That showed us that simply giving affiliates a formal role in governance is not enough; they also need to see the election as part of their own responsibility and engage with the process early enough. After the election, the Electoral Commission followed up directly with non-participating affiliates to understand why they had dropped out. For future elections, earlier contact, clearer expectations and more active follow-up with affiliates will probably matter as much as the voting system itself.
What comes next
The election also made us think more broadly about how the CEE Hub puts its governance into practice. If the Hub is going to make more of its own decisions through formal community processes, it needs infrastructure that can support them. In some cases, the available tools were designed for different purposes; in others, there was simply no dedicated tool for the kind of internal decision-making the Hub needed.
For that reason, we decided to build Iskra, a voting tool for internal CEE Hub decision-making. The aim is to give the Hub greater independence in implementing its governance and a practical way to run its own votes when they are needed. Fala was our first experience of building such infrastructure around a real governance process; Iskra takes that experience further and applies it to the Hub’s internal decision-making more generally.
To learn more about the Steering Committee and internal governance of Wikimedia CEE Hub, check out the dedicated Meta page.
- October ― January contests and campaigns
- Wiki Loves Monuments 2026 ― The international heritage photography competition continues into October, with participating countries choosing their own contest period during September or October.
- Wiki Loves Peace 2026 ― This international photography campaign runs until October 30, inviting participants to document monuments, places, and symbols connected with peace, disarmament, and peaceful coexistence. Following the submission period, an international jury will review the entries in November.
- Wiki Loves Food 2026 ― A new international photography competition organised by the Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group with support from the CEE Hub. National rounds will take place from November 1 to 30, celebrating local cuisines, food traditions, ingredients, markets, and culinary culture. The strongest photographs from each participating country will advance to the international round.
- #1Lib1Ref ― Year by year the campaign returns in January 2027. Librarians, Wikimedians, and anyone interested in improving Wikipedia can take part by adding at least one reliable reference to a Wikipedia article. The campaign is a great opportunity for Wikimedia communities to work with libraries and information professionals while improving the quality and verifiability of Wikipedia's content.
- International meetings & conferences
- Open Knowledge: Wikimedia & Research in the CEE Region – The CEE region's first research-themed Wiki conference will take place in Katowice, Poland, from October 8 to 10. The event brings together researchers and Wikimedians to explore Wikimedia related research, exchange ideas, and develop connections between academia and the Wikimedia community. The main conference programme is scheduled for October 9–10 and will be largely hybrid.
- Queering Wiki 2026 – This international gathering for queer contributors and allies takes place in Montreal, Canada, from October 23 to 25. The event provides a space for community members to share experiences, discuss representation and inclusion, and strengthen connections across Wikimedia projects.
- Users with Extended Rights Conference 2026 – Wikimedia Portugal and the Wikimedia Foundation will host this three-day gathering in Portugal from December 11 to 13. The conference brings together administrators and other Wikimedians with extended rights to exchange experiences and discuss topics related to on-wiki governance, tools, and community support.
- Open Knowledge Conference 2027 ― The hybrid conference will take place on January 22, 2027, in Hyderabad, India, with virtual participation available. Organised by Open Knowledge Initiatives, the conference will bring together technologists, knowledge contributors, policy advocates, and community leaders to explore the sustainability, governance, and future of open knowledge communities. The 2027 theme is Who Builds the Commons? Capacity, Contribution, and Governance for Open Knowledge Communities.
- Past international & regional highlights
- Wikimania 2026 – The Wikimedia movement gathered in Paris, France, from July 21 to 25 for the 21st edition of Wikimania. The event brought around 1,200 participants together at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie for five days of talks, workshops, community discussions, and networking. The event also marked a major moment in the celebration of Wikipedia's 25th anniversary.
Media related to Wikimania 2026 at Wikimedia Commons - Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2026 – We met in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, from September 18 to 20 for the region's annual meeting. Hosted by the Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova User Group with support of the CEE Hub, the meeting brought together Wikimedians from across Central and Eastern Europe and beyond for three days of discussions, workshops, and networking. Media related to Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2026 at Wikimedia Commons
- Curiosity through academic inquiry: Learning by writing Wikipedia articles in Serbia, August 2026, Wikimedia Serbia
- Wikimedia Ukraine’s Education Community Conference 2026, August 2026, Wikimedia Ukraine
- Building EduWiki in Albania: From school outreach to student contributions, July 2026, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- Edu Wiki camp gathers Serbian youth around open knowledge, July 2026, Wikimedia Serbia
- Wikimedia Ukraine at the Teachers of the Future Festival, July 2026, Wikimedia Ukraine
- Translating on Wikipedia as an extra-credit assignment in University of Prishtina, June 2026, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- Wikimedia Serbia prepares for Edu Wiki camp 2026, June 2026, Wikimedia Serbia
- OpenGLAM Summer 2026 in Ukraine, August 2026, Wikimedia Ukraine
- August GLAM highlights from Serbia, August 2026, Wikimedia Serbia
- Macedonian GLAM activities report, August 2026, Wikimedia MKD
- GLAM updates from the Czech Republic, August 2026, Wikimedia Czech Republic
- What's up in GLAM in Poland, July 2026, Wikimedia Poland
- June GLAMorous activities in Serbia, June 2026, Wikimedia Serbia
- What's up in GLAM in Poland, June 2026, Wikimedia Poland
- GLAM news from the Czech Republic, June 2026, Wikimedia Czech Republic
- Meet the Wikimedians of the Year 2026
Celebrate the people making a difference across the Wikimedia movement! This article introduces the 2026 Wikimedians of the Year, highlighting community members whose contributions and dedication help advance free knowledge around the world. ↳Read more: Meet the Wikimedians of the Year 2026
- What I learned in Paris, the City of Light – My Wikimania 2026 experiences
What makes Wikimania such a memorable experience? This personal reflection takes readers to Paris for Wikimania 2026, sharing impressions, encounters, and lessons from connecting with Wikimedians and the wider movement. ↳Read more: What I learned in Paris, the City of Light: My Wikimania 2026 experiences
- Global Trends 2026
How is the world changing, and what could it mean for Wikimedia? This article explores global trends shaping the environment in which the movement operates, offering insights into broader developments relevant to the future of free knowledge. ↳Read more: Global Trends 2026
- Don't blink – Protecting the Wikimedia model, its people, and its values in May 2026
The Wikimedia movement continues to navigate a changing global landscape. This update focuses on efforts to protect the Wikimedia model, its communities, and the values that underpin free knowledge. ↳Read more: Don't blink: Protecting the Wikimedia model, its people, and its values in May 2026
- Total solar eclipse of 2026 – A unique experience that Spain will be able to enjoy and share
On 12 August 2026, we witnessed a spectacular total solar eclipse, bringing people together to experience a rare astronomical event. Wikimedia Spain encouraged participants to share their photographs on Wikimedia Commons, helping preserve this extraordinary moment and create a collective visual record for free knowledge. ↳Read more: Total solar eclipse of 2026: A unique experience that Spain will be able to enjoy and share
- Tech News – Issue 37 (2026)
Stay informed about the latest technical developments across Wikimedia projects. This edition of Tech News highlights software updates, technical changes, and improvements relevant to editors and readers. ↳Read more: Tech News 2026, Issue 37
- Wikimedia Ukraine's Education Community Conference 2026
More than 200 registrations, 22 speakers, and seven hours of shared experience brought the education community together in Ukraine. This recap highlights a gathering dedicated to exchanging ideas, sharing knowledge, and strengthening connections among educators and Wikimedians. ↳Read more: More than 200 registrations, 22 speakers, and seven hours of shared experience: Wikimedia Ukraine's Education Community Conference 2026
- The people made me stay – Meet Mari Avetisyan, the Wikimedian of the Year
Behind every Wikimedia contribution is a community of people who make free knowledge possible. In the recent interview Mari Avetisyan, the Wikimedian of the Year, shares how personal connections and community spirit have shaped her Wikimedia journey. ↳Read more: The people made me stay: Meet Mari Avetisyan, the Wikimedian of the Year
- How we organised the international Wiki Loves Eurovision contest at CEE Youth Group
Bringing Wikimedia communities together through music and collaboration! This article shares how the CEE Youth Group organised an international Wiki Loves Eurovision contest, offering insights into the planning and coordination behind a cross-community initiative. ↳Read more: How we organised international Wiki Loves Eurovision contest at CEE Youth Group
- A week to remember – Bridges across borders at Wikicamp 2026
Wikicamp 2026 brought Wikimedians together for a week of shared experiences, learning, and connection. This recap explores how the camp helped build bridges across borders and strengthen relationships within the Wikimedia community. ↳Read more: A week to remember: Bridges across borders at Wikicamp 2026
- [WIKIMANIA 2027] Apply for Wikimania 2027 scholarship
- The final deadline to submit your application is October 31. Successful applicants will be notified starting in January 2027.
- Scholarships cover travel and accommodation in Santiago, Chile, as well as registration and limited travel insurance fees. LEARN MORE & APPLY
- [GRANTS] CEE Hub Rapid Funds applications reopen on October 1
- Available for communities, affiliates, and individuals from the CEE region needing between 700 and 5000 USD.
- Learn more about the transfer rules and application tracking: LEARN MORE & APPLY
- [NETWORKING] Join the EuroComms group
- [ONLINE MEETING] CEE Hub Status Meeting
- Our monthly alignment session where the CEE Hub staff and Steering Committee share updates on ongoing projects, report on regional progress, and map out upcoming actions. Everyone looking to stay informed about the Hub's operations is welcome to join.
- Every third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 PM CET (UTC +1) in this virtual room
- Contact info@wmceehub.org to be added to the Google Calendar event for monthly reminders.
- [TRANSLATION SUPPORT] CEE Technical Village Pump
- Add your native language translation to the new regional village pump, that will serve as platform for peer to peer solutions exchange.
- [GRANTS] Microgrants Programme is open!
- Small, quick funding (50 - 700 EUR) to support short-term, low-cost Wikimedia projects proposed by individuals, groups, or affiliates in CEECA, enabling community-driven initiatives and local impact.
- We accept applications until the funds are exhausted: LEARN MORE & APPLY.
- [SUPPORT] Request a meeting with the CEE Hub staff
- Connect with the CEE Hub staff team via our contact form. You can ask for support, schedule a meeting, share requests, ideas, questions, or feedback, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
- [STAY TUNED] CEE Hub Office Hours
- Soon we will open registration for the last Office Hour in 2026 - an online meeting with the Hub staff team. They are a space to learn about the regional opportunities, ask questions, and get to know the CEE Hub better.
- Follow the regional communication channels to get an info about the date of the upcoming Office Hour.
- [STAY TUNED] CEE Catch Up
- Together with the WMF CEE Catch Up team we are working on the 4th (and the last in 2026!) online meeting within the CEE Catch Up series, where Wikimedians from CEE gather to discuss the most trending topics in the movement relevant for our region.
- Follow the regional communication channels to get an info about the date of the last CEE Catch Up this year and open registration.
Stay updated! You can follow the regional calls and announcements on:
Starter Kit may be particularly relevant to some of the 38 minority-language editions identified by the Wikimedia CEE Hub. It brings together guided tasks, tools, and resources to help new and small language Wikipedia communities get started, monitor their progress, and collaborate with the broader Wikimedia community. The tool is hosted on Wikimedia Toolforge and is designed for Wikipedias with fewer than 50,000 articles.
Some Starter Kit tasks can be completed by autoconfirmed contributors, while more advanced tasks require administrator, interface administrator, or translator rights.- Why Starter Kit?
Past community discussions and research have repeatedly identified challenges in establishing and growing new and small language Wikipedias.
The Languages Onboarding Experiment 2024 found that graduating wikis more quickly from the Incubator does not, by itself, guarantee that a new wiki will grow. The research recommended better onboarding resources and more automated ways of enabling essential tools.
Earlier work through the Small Wiki Toolkits project also developed resources and supported technical capacity-building for small wikis. Starter Kit builds on these learnings by exploring how parts of wiki setup can be automated and supported through guided workflows, reducing technical overhead while communities focus on developing content, policies, and local participation.
- What have we seen so far?
Over the past few months, 53 contributors from 46 wikis tried Starter Kit through a series of community office hours and meetups, with more than half of the participants holding administrator rights. Contributors completed 24 Starter Kit workflows, generating approximately 77 on-wiki contributions. These included importing infoboxes, customizing Main Pages, translating interface messages on Translatewiki.net, categorizing articles using the HotCat gadget, and adding Five Pillars policy pages.
Participating communities included Fon, Ganda, Tyap, Fula, Karekare, and Igala Wikipedias, among others. At the time of the pilot, most participating wikis had fewer than 5,000 articles.
- We would love to hear from CEE communities
If you contribute to or support a new or small language Wikipedia in the CEE region, we would love for you to try Starter Kit and tell us what would make it more useful for your community.
You can follow the guidance in the Starter Kit user manual and share your experience on the project talk page. Your feedback will help shape the next iteration of Starter Kit.
We are also interested in learning about tasks or workflows that are currently missing, as well as where communities in the CEE region would be most likely to discover and use a tool like Starter Kit.
If you would like us to host a remote demo for your user group or local community gathering, we would be happy to join. You can learn more about the background, how Starter Kit works, and how communities have been using it so far in this Diff blog post.
- By: KVaidla (WMF) (talk)
The current landscape of movement organizations was defined by the first Wikimedia movement strategy and Movement roles project in 2009-2011 - 15 years ago. Since then we’ve had many conversations about the topic, captured in this historic video overview. Unfortunately, these discussions have not led to any concrete changes in the definition of purpose and functions of affiliates, which is a missed opportunity considering significant changes that have taken place around us. It is now a great moment to turn this conversation into tangible outcomes supporting a better and stronger future for the Wikimedia movement. With the CEE perspective included.
- Current proposal
The proposal includes a high level overview and context, suggestion for redefined affiliate purpose, focus areas, and accountabilities. There is also a section on proposed future funding approaches, which is now merged with the work of the Global Resource Distribution Committee and their work on draft grantmaking strategy.
The affiliate landscape part of the proposal is looking to provide a redefined purpose for the affiliates, helping us to focus and prioritise our collective work and impact. The suggestion is to clarify the role around content generating activities, support to the Wikimedia communities, and giving context to Wikimedia work through advocacy and raising awareness. Part of this is about defining the expected impact of the work of affiliates, so that we can better work towards this in a collective way.
Part of the proposal is focused on mitigating the issues in the existing landscape, including friction and conflicts stemming in affiliate overlaps, and providing more clarity to groups and organizations for their growth paths. This is represented in the affiliate structure and accountabilities section.
There is a lot of experience on these topics in the CEE region and it would be great to hear more from the CEE organizations and communities to improve the proposal. Please join the conversation on meta!
- Conversations so far
So far the conversations have outlined some areas of agreement, areas where clarifications and changes are needed, as well as areas of disagreement.
You can find the overview of these in the slide deck presented at the CEE Meeting:
There is also a video overview of the conversations so far, which will help you to understand the state of the conversations and make it more clear where your insights would be valuable to share to advance the discussions.
- CEE perspectives
There is a CEE Hub, there are 8 chapters and 21 User groups directly related to the CEE region. There are others in close contact with the region working together with CEE project communities and affiliates. This means that any future changes to the overall affiliate model will have a significant impact in the region and it is important to have the CEE perspectives included in the conversation.
So far, there is extensive feedback provided by the CEE Hub, highlighting concerns with the approach to proposed funding tiers, rapid funds distribution, hub and affiliate roles, and compliance, measurements, and transparency expectations. There are a few comments from other groups and people connected to the CEE region, yet it would be great to have more voices included.
Couple of topics that were at the center of the conversation during the CEE Meeting 2026 session are following:
- Proposed changes need to happen without disruption to the current affiliate ecosystem. The main focus needs to be on working together, so we can sustain the work that we do as changes are happening.
- Overall definition of impact and who will define the expected impact of affiliates. There is a tension between expected clear definition with numbers and level of complexity of work that might take years to come to fruition. At the same time, the world around us is shifting rapidly, so that we do not even know what parts of our work might be relevant in a few years, which makes the definition and evaluation of impact even more complex.
- The region has a number of user groups and they differ vastly in their capacity to deliver work, but also reports. This needs to be accounted for in a future model. Overall, the expectations for affiliates need to be more contextualized and tailored for communities and organizations. Decisions about this should be made more democratically.
- The topic of the overlaps has become a point of discussion of the future landscape, while there are a number of gaps in the ecosystem, which we need to address to move towards our vision. It would be great to have guidance from the ecosystem conversations for future steps in that area.
- There is an expectation to fix some of the very obvious and immediate problems. At the same time, the more complex changes would benefit from assessment of “cost of change” compared to staying with the status quo.
To share further CEE perspectives please join the discussions on meta or planned open virtual calls 1) Tuesday, September 29, 16:00-17:00 UTC on affiliate growth paths and 2) Friday, October 2nd, 17:00-18:00 UTC on affiliate overlaps. Looking forward to CEEing your input in the discussions!
- By: Quim Gil (WMF)
Both proposals have been discussed on Meta, at Wikimania, and at other smaller meetings. After the initial feedback received, the proposal about Affiliation will be reviewed and submitted to the Board of Trustees in December 2026 for approval. The funding elements of the proposals will be developed through a longer consultation process, with the Ecosystem pilot and the GRDC working closely through March 2027. The CEE & CA region has a very diverse composition of affiliates and grantees with user groups, chapters, a pioneering regional hub experimenting with its own Rapid Fund program, some affiliates with multi-year funding. These proposals aim to clarify several points related to affiliation and grantmaking that have caused some confusion and discussions in the past.
- By: KVaidla (WMF) (talk)
In June 2026 I shared an update regarding the publishing of the Baseline NPOV policy, inviting Central and Eastern European Wikimedia communities to participate in the global conversation regarding its enforcement. There is now a final draft of this global baseline in place and there have been continued conversations on how to improve neutrality policies and enforcement on our projects.
- Policies in numbers
The session presented some data regarding the policy situation on CEE language Wikipedias, reiterating some of the data shared in our June 2026 update. You can find the CEE specific data with links in the session slide deck (slides 17-19).
There are still a number of Wikipedias that do not have the NPOV policy in place:
- 7 Wikipedias do not have a dedicated NPOV policy, but have neutrality guidance in pillars: Buryat, Ingush, Kyrgyz, Latvian, Livvi-Karelian, Pontic, Udmurt.
- 20 Wikipedias do not seem to have clear neutrality guidance on their projects: Abkhaz, Aromanian, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Erzya, Gagauz, Hill Mari, Komi, Komi-Permyak, Latgalian, Lower Sorbian, Meadow Mari, Moksha, Old Church Slavonic, Pannonian Rusyn, Rusyn, Samogitian, Tuvan, Veps, and Western Armenian.
- This means around 38% of Wikipedias in CEE region do not have clear guidance on Neutral Point of View.
As reliable sources policy has come up as important in supporting the neutral point of view on projects, there has been some mapping done regarding the situation of that particular policy. Here are the numbers from the CEE region:
- 26 CEE language Wikipedias have a reliable sources policy. This is about 37% of CEE languages.
- Albanian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Belarusian (Taraskevich), Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Georgian, Greek, Hungarian, Kazakh, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Sakha, Serbian, Slovakian, Tajik, Tatar, Turkish, Ukrainian, Uzbek, West Armenian
- About a third of all Reliable Sources policies on Wikipedias (79 in total) are on CEE language projects.
In addition, some of the Wikipedias have perennial sources lists to facilitate a shared understanding in the project regarding the source reliability:
- Based on interwiki links there seem to be 5 CEE language Wikipedias have a perennial sources list. This is again about a third of all Perennial Sources lists (14 in total): Greek, Lithuanian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian.
- At the same time it was noted during the session that there are further draft lists (e.g. Hungarian) that do not show up in the interwiki list.
- Continued conversation and peer support
The general hope on having these conversations is that this initiative will help to improve the existing NPOV policies in the regional languages and support the language projects that do not have one to introduce clear guidance for neutrality. Also there is a hope that this conversation can function as a basis for peer sharing and learning to improve the ability of the project communities to work on content neutrality.
Some important points from the in-person conversation at the CEE Meeting included:
- Importance of independence and agency of project communities to work on their policies. While there is now a baseline NPOV policy, it should not be pushed on the language communities. Rather awareness needs to be raised, so that they understand why and how it should be implemented.
- It is clear that for smaller language communities there is not that much time available to dive deep into the policy work, as the focus is on generating content. At the same time, sometimes clarity of editing actions (especially reversions of content) leave newcomers in confusion and frustration. Having a reference to a clear policy would help to prevent that. The key question is how to balance this need for clarity with the reduced capacity of small language communities.
- Finally, there was a conversation on reliable sources and the tendency of project communities to define sources in the language of the project to be more reliable. This is true for the projects in the CEE community, but also has been the case in larger projects, like English Wikipedia. The key concern is that this is maintaining a historic content bias, which is difficult to overcome for the project communities.
The hope is that the NPOV initiative and the discussions already had can function as a basis for future conversations, so that we can be of support to each other across the projects seeking solutions for these challenges. I am personally available to discuss these matters with the CEE communities, so if you are interested reach out to kvaidla@wikimedia.org or User:KVaidla (WMF).
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- By: Hynek Kaplan (WMCZ) (talk)
Bells of my homeland: Recordings from a difficult time
At the beginning of the Second World War, church bells rang out from towers in Czech towns and villages. Many of those bells no longer exist today, having been requisitioned and destroyed during the war. Their sounds, however, survive in recordings made between 1940 and 1941.
The recordings were originally produced as working material for a radio series entitled Zvony mého kraje (Bells of My Homeland). Radio employees travelled to Czech towns and villages to record the bells of local churches.
The series was produced during the Nazi occupation of the Czech lands and, according to archival records, was intended to encourage listeners during difficult times. However, the recordings soon acquired a significance that their creators could hardly have anticipated.
Many of the bells captured in the recordings were removed from their towers and taken away during the war. Some were returned after the war, but many others were melted down.
According to available documentation, the original radio broadcasts have not survived. The original working recordings on sound recording discs, however, remained preserved in the Czech Radio Archives.
Material originally created for a single radio programme thus gradually became a rare historical audio document. Several decades passed before archivists returned to the recordings and began exploring ways to make them accessible to the public.
How the partnership began
The journey towards making these archival recordings publicly available did not begin with the bells themselves.
The initial impetus came from the advocacy strategy adopted by Wikimedia Czech Republic at the end of 2024. The strategy identified cooperation with public service media as one way to make valuable audio and visual materials held in their archives more widely accessible.
Following the adoption of this strategy, Wikimedia Czech Republic's Executive Director, Klára Joklová, approached the management of Czech Radio and Czech Television with a proposal for cooperation.
At that stage, no specific project had yet been identified. Subsequent discussions brought Wikimedia Czech Republic into contact with the Czech Radio Archives, which began searching for suitable material for an initial joint project.
“The surviving bell recordings, originally made for the Zvony mého kraje series, were eventually selected,” explains Tomáš Dufka, Head of the Czech Radio Archives.
The Vanished Bells collection thus became a pilot project through which the partners could explore a model for longer-term cooperation.
“The aim was not simply to put the recordings online, but to make them available under a free licence, provide clear descriptions and connect them with places, churches and other information across Wikimedia projects,” adds Pavel Bednařík, Programs for Partnerships Manager at Wikimedia Czech Republic.
Digitisation was only the beginning
Miloslav Turek, a sound engineer at the Czech Radio Archives, undertook the digitisation of the historical sound recording discs. This made it possible to listen to the recordings again and work with them further.
Before the recordings could be published, however, it was necessary to establish exactly what they captured and where the individual sounds originated.
The level of detail in the archival records varied considerably. In some cases, a specific church could be identified, while in others only the name of a town or village had survived. This information alone was not always sufficient, as a single town could have several churches. The precise origin of some recordings therefore remained uncertain.
At this stage, Michal Josef Špaček, a Wikidata contributor and Wikimedia Czech Republic collaborator, joined the project.
He gradually reviewed the individual recordings, identified the corresponding churches or municipalities and searched for their existing Wikidata items.
Meanwhile, Jana Bartošová, an archivist at Czech Radio, continued her archival research, supplemented the available information and consulted a campanologist, a specialist in bells, on unresolved cases.
Bringing archival audio to Wikimedia Commons
Alongside the research into the recordings' origins, the partners needed to determine how to publish them on Wikimedia Commons, the repository of freely licensed photographs, audio recordings, videos and other media.
Every file on Wikimedia Commons must have a clearly identified source, description and licence. In the case of materials from an institutional archive, it was also necessary to demonstrate that Czech Radio had explicitly agreed to their publication.
An institutional account named Archiv Českého rozhlasu (Czech Radio Archives) was therefore created. Using this account, archivist Jana Bartošová gradually uploaded the entire collection.
Together with Michal Josef Špaček, she worked on file naming conventions, descriptions and categorisation to ensure that the recordings could be easily found and reused on Wikimedia Commons.
This approach was an important aspect of the partnership. The recordings were not uploaded by an anonymous user, nor did Wikimedia Czech Republic publish them on Czech Radio's behalf.
Instead, they were released directly by the institution responsible for preserving them. Each file page therefore clearly documents both its origin and the institution's consent to its use.
However, uploading the recordings to Wikimedia Commons did not automatically connect them to the churches and municipalities where the sounds originated. This required the involvement of Wikidata.
Listen to a historical bell recording: Bells of Kočí. Recording: Czech Radio Archives, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
From a recording to a church and a location on the map
An audio file does not inherently contain geographical coordinates. To display a recording on a map or associate it with a particular church, it was necessary to establish a connection between the file on Wikimedia Commons and information stored on Wikidata.
Wikidata is a free knowledge base in which municipalities, churches and other entities have their own items containing geographical coordinates and relationships to other entities.
Michal Josef Špaček therefore gradually linked the recordings to the most precisely identifiable locations.
Where a specific church could be reliably identified, he connected the recording to that church's Wikidata item. Where the archival information identified only a town or village, the recording was linked to that more general location.
In this way, the project avoided creating connections that were more precise than the surviving evidence allowed.
“For example, there are three or four churches in Havlíčkův Brod, and you don't know which one the recording comes from. There was therefore a considerable degree of uncertainty – a typical situation in archival research,” explains Michal Josef Špaček.
These connections make it possible to display the locations of the recordings on a map and facilitate the inclusion of historical audio in Wikipedia articles about individual churches and municipalities.
Readers can now listen to historical bell ringing directly alongside information about the places where the recordings were made.
Examples include the Wikipedia articles about the Church of the Holy Trinity in Dobříš and the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Česká Skalice.
The project culminated on 2 October 2025, International Bells Day.
However, publication does not mark the end of the work. If a recording can be identified more precisely in the future, its Wikidata connections can be updated, and the changes can also be reflected on the map.
The historical collection could eventually be supplemented with contemporary recordings and photographs of individual bells.
Explore the interactive map of historical bell recordings.
A pilot project for other archives
Vanished Bells was the first pilot project resulting from cooperation between Wikimedia Czech Republic and a public service media organisation.
Although the collection contains fewer than 90 recordings, processing it took more than a year and involved the management of both organisations, an archivist, a sound engineer, a bell specialist and volunteer members of the Wikimedia community.
The project demonstrated that making archival materials genuinely accessible is a considerably more complex process than simply uploading files to the internet.
Czech Radio selected, digitised and researched the recordings before releasing them under a free licence through its own institutional account.
Wikimedia Czech Republic and the Wikimedia community helped establish the publication workflow, organise the files and connect them with additional information.
Each participating organisation and individual contributed their own expertise while retaining responsibility for their respective parts of the work.
The same model could also be adopted by other public service media organisations, archives, libraries, museums and galleries.
There is no need to begin with extensive databases. A carefully selected, manageable collection provides an opportunity to test licensing, professional and technical procedures using concrete materials and to produce results that can subsequently be developed further.
“We believe that we will build on this cooperation in our future projects as well,” says Klára Joklová, Executive Director of Wikimedia Czech Republic.
“Vanished Bells demonstrates how cooperation between a heritage institution and an open community can transform archival material into a freely accessible, discoverable and interconnected part of public knowledge.”
- By: Nal Mencin
In August 2026, I travelled from Slovenia to Armenia as part of the CEE Hub's Peer Learning Exchange. The aim was to learn from Wikimedia Armenia's experience in youth engagement, community building and the organisation of youth-focused Wikimedia activities, and to see which of their approaches could be adapted to the Slovenian context. My mentor throughout the exchange was Mari Avetisyan, with whom I worked closely during my time in Armenia.
Learning from Wikimedia Armenia
The central part of the exchange was Wikimedia Armenia's Summer Youth WikiCamp in Tsaghkadzor. I joined the camp as a participant in one of four groups, alongside 12 other young people. Over five days, we took part in editing sessions, group competitions, sports, games, performances and other activities. Editing remained an important part of the programme, but it was combined with a strong social component.
The group system was particularly interesting to me. I arrived knowing very few people, but becoming part of a group immediately created a sense of cooperation and competition. Very quickly, I was not simply participating in the camp; I was working with my group and trying to help us win.
At the same time, I had the opportunity to learn about the work behind the camp. Through meetings with members of the Wikimedia Armenia team, I learned about applications and participant selection, choosing the location, dividing responsibilities, participant communication, social media, logistics and on-site coordination. We also discussed challenges that can arise during large youth events, including unexpected situations and difficult participants, and how the team prepares for them.
Another important part of the exchange was learning how Wikimedia Armenia brings newcomers into the community and encourages them to remain involved. I learned about the role of WikiClubs, photo walks and regular activities, as well as the possibility for participants to gradually take on more responsibility, first as WikiAssistants and later as organisers.
What really surprised me was the scale of interest for WikiCamps. Hundreds of young people apply each year, while only a limited number can participate. I thought they would have trouble attracting enough participants, but I was completely blown away.
I go in detail about all of the activities and competitions in my very emotional diff titled A Slovene in Armenia: The Best Wiki Experience of My Life.
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Meeting with WM Armenia staff -
A mentor-mentee moment at Lake Sevan -
Group performance during the "Delicious contest" -
My Group #2 -
Welcome to Armenia
Steps taken upon returning to Slovenia
Since returning from Armenia, I have already started applying some of what I learned. One of the main changes has been a stronger focus on regular activities and on having something happening in the community every month.
We have started holding regular online community meetings, with the first one taking place in September. I am also working on increasing the frequency of our WikiClub meetings and preparing regular photo walks, with the first one planned for October.
The exchange has also led directly to cooperation between Wikimedia Armenia and the Wikipedians of Slovenia User Group. Together we are planning a joint Slovenia–Armenia edit-a-thon for November 2026, and have already discussed further possibilities for collaboration. I also now have a direct contact within Wikimedia Armenia whom I can approach with specific questions about their activities and experience.
What comes next
The next step is to build a more structured programme for the Slovenian community. By the end of 2026, I want to establish a clear activity plan for 2027, with regular activities throughout the year rather than isolated events.
This includes two larger in-person community gatherings, regular WikiClub and photo-walk activities, new community awards such as Wikimedian of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and stronger outreach and promotion. I also want to explore whether the WikiCamp model, adapted to a smaller scale, could work in Slovenia.
The exchange has already changed the way I think about community development in Slovenia. I came back with a head full of ideas, a much clearer vision of where I want to take the community, and, perhaps most importantly, the feeling that I can actually make it happen. After Armenia, I actually feel like I can move mountains — so now I guess I have to start moving them.
- By: Hynek Kaplan (WMCZ) (talk)
Discussions about Wikipedia's future often focus on website traffic, technological development or the number of contributors. The Prague workshop began with an even more fundamental question: who decides what information reaches people, and in what form?
An increasing share of our information environment is shaped by social media algorithms and artificial intelligence systems. This shift was the starting point for the opening keynote by Josef Holý, an AI educator and co-host of Kanárci v síti (Canaries in the Network), a podcast about algorithmic propaganda.
Josef Holý: Wikipedia as a centre of cognitive power
“Let's stop thinking about Wikipedia as a website. It's not a website; it's a centre of cognitive power,” Josef Holý told participants in his opening keynote.
Holý presented his perspective on the ongoing transformation of the information environment. According to him, cognitive power lies in the ability to influence what people consider important, trustworthy and real.
Digital platforms select and rank information to maintain users' attention, often giving emotionally engaging content an advantage over better-substantiated information. With the rise of generative artificial intelligence, Holý argues, this power is becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of major technology companies.
Watch Josef Holý's keynote at Wikimedia Futures Lab in Prague:
Related lecture: Cognitive Power and Democracy – Josef Holý.
The issue goes beyond the selection of individual news stories. Holý pointed out that whoever controls the interface through which millions of people interpret the world also gains influence over which questions are asked in the first place.
In this context, he presented Wikipedia as an alternative model for creating and sharing knowledge. Its content is developed publicly, using traceable sources, according to open rules and through community discussion.
Wikipedia is not without flaws, but it is possible to examine how information was created, what evidence supports it and why it has changed. At a time when chatbot responses often obscure the path back to their original sources, Holý considers this transparency particularly valuable.
He therefore described Wikipedia as part of the infrastructure of a democratic society, alongside libraries, schools, research institutions and public service media.
His argument was not simply about preserving the encyclopaedia itself. He also emphasised the importance of promoting its underlying principles – verifiability, openness, shared governance and the public interest – throughout the wider information environment.
The Prague keynote built on Wikimedia Czech Republic's ongoing cooperation with Josef Holý.
At WikiConference 2025, he had already discussed the unequal relationship between large language models and Wikipedia with Josef Šlerka.
According to Holý, technology companies build their services partly on Wikipedia's human-created content without returning comparable value to the community that produces it.
In Prague, he expanded this argument to address broader questions about control over knowledge, trust and our shared understanding of reality.
When answers arrive without a visit to Wikipedia
Holý's keynote was followed by two panel discussions exploring artificial intelligence and changing reading habits.
Jan Hajič from OpenEuroLLM, Jan Šedivý from CIIRC at the Czech Technical University in Prague and Marian Grubben from Wikimedia Europe discussed European open AI models and what they could learn from Wikipedia.
Klára Joklová presented data on readers and contributors across Europe, while Daria Cybulska from Wikimedia UK shared her organisation's approach to innovation.
Although AI makes it easier to find and create information, it also increases the importance of verification, source traceability and accountability for the rules governing these systems.
The panel on readership, featuring Ali Mahmood, Katarzyna Drożdżal, Tereza Schambergerová and Viet Hung Nguyen, and moderated by Lucy Crompton-Reid, highlighted another important change.
People can now access information originating from Wikipedia through search engines and chatbots without ever visiting Wikipedia itself.
The challenge therefore extends beyond visibility. It also involves developing a more accessible user experience, exploring new formats and building stronger relationships with readers.
From concerns to hypotheses
In the afternoon, participants formulated hypotheses to guide further work across the Wikimedia movement.
Ideas included developing more conversational ways of accessing knowledge, providing concise article summaries and communicating more clearly what makes Wikipedia unique.
Participants also discussed the risk of AI amplifying existing biases, as well as its potential to help identify harassment on discussion pages.
These were not final decisions, but starting points for concrete, testable experiments.
A lab that continues beyond Prague
Wikimedia Futures Lab is a series of international discussions initiated by Wikimedia Deutschland and the Wikimedia Foundation.
The Prague workshop, which Wikimedia Czech Republic helped organise, followed the first event in Frankfurt.
One of the concluding topics was the concept of Futures Lab in a box – a set of resources designed to enable other Wikimedia organisations and communities to organise similar discussions.
Josef Holý's keynote and the subsequent discussions highlighted that Wikipedia's future is not simply a technological question.
It is also about whether knowledge will remain traceable, open and governed in the public interest.
Further resources
- Complete documentation of Wikimedia Futures Lab Prague 2026, including presentation materials and recordings.
- Photographs and videos from Wikimedia Futures Lab Prague on Wikimedia Commons.
- Josef Holý's complete keynote recording.
Header image: Jan Beránek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- By: MagdaBarascu (talk)
141 Wikimedians, open knowledge advocates, researchers, and affiliate leaders from across Central and Eastern Europe—as well as Central Asia—gathered in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, for the Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2026.
Hosted by Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova User Group in partnership with the Făgăraș Research Institute and held at Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB), this edition marked a milestone in the conference’s 14-year history. Under the timely theme “CEE Beyond the Crossroads,” the meeting signalled a shared transition from navigating regional crises and digital fragmentation toward proactive, long-term empowerment, regional self-reliance, and institutional integration.
What was new?
- Deep academic & open science integration: CEEM 2026 was embedded inside the Faculty of European Studies at Babeș-Bolyai University. The university was a full co-creator through its Office for Open Science, the Centre for Students with Disabilities, and the Doctoral School “History. Culture.
- "Open science at Babeș-Bolyai University" exhibition ran alongside the conference, highlighting university-Wiki collaborations developed since 2018.
- A re-engineered inclusivity model: The organisers replaced arbitrary seat quotas with an empirical, data-driven delegate allocation model based on four-year participation trends. Spare delegate spots were intentionally reallocated to support emerging communities, minority groups, and underrepresented regional and local language projects across Romania, Moldova, and adjacent borders.
- The community buddy system: To dismantle the intimidating "clique" feeling common at mature conferences, organisers paired newcomers and first-time attendees with seasoned CEE Wikimedians prior to arrival. Buddies helped new faces navigate the program, introduced them to working groups, and fostered a welcoming environment.
- Visual identity by Dan Perjovschi: The visual language of the conference carried a distinct cultural footprint, featuring original illustrations by renowned Romanian contemporary artist and commentator Dan Perjovschi, capturing the witty, resilient grassroots spirit of regional open-knowledge work.
What did participants enjoy most?
The energy in Cluj-Napoca was palpable, with attendees pointing to a balanced mix of deep-dive practical work, governance dialogue, and warm community reconnections: practical, problem-solving workshops. Participants praised the shift away from one-way slide presentations. High attendance marked the hands-on sessions, automated community maintenance tools, and the responsible adoption of AI-assisted workflows for smaller and low-resource language Wikipedias.
Real governance and Hub dialogue
The dedicated panels between affiliate leaders, the CEE Hub, and representatives from the Wikimedia Foundation — notably around the Future of the Ecosystem of Movement Organisations—gave attendees a direct platform to shape funding structures and regional capacity programs.
Thanks to the partnership with UBB’s Centre for Students with Disabilities, attendees noted the thoughtful physical accessibility of the venue, clear navigation, and sensory spaces, setting a strong precedent for future regional events. Beyond the lecture halls, Wikimedians connected during evening social events across Cluj-Napoca’s historic centre.
From sharing regional cross-border initiatives (such as expanding CEE Spring and trans-border GLAM projects) to casual late-night discussions over Romanian cuisine, the interpersonal bonds reaffirmed why CEE remains one of the movement's closest networks.
Looking ahead by moving "Beyond the Crossroads," CEEM 2026 demonstrated that Central and Eastern European communities are ready to lead with structured institutional alliances, rigorous technical tooling, and a supportive, inclusive community model. The connections made and strategies forged in Cluj will undoubtedly guide the region's projects for years to come.
- By: Mari Avetisyan WMAM (talk)
Wikimedia Armenia, jointly with the "Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom," organized the “Wikipedia for Freedom of Elections 2026” gathering from June 24 to 28 in Tsaghkadzor. The program was open to participants aged 16 and above.
Prior to the gathering, a training course for newcomer participants was organized from June 8 to 18, both at the Wikimedia Armenia office and online. Based on their results, participants of the course had the opportunity to qualify for the “Wikipedia for Freedom of Elections” Wiki-gathering.
A total of 119 people applied to participate in the program, including 59 experienced editors.
In parallel with the training courses, experienced participants were invited to create articles from suggested thematic lists. Based on their contributions, 29 out of 59 experienced editors were selected to participate in the gathering.
Training Courses
Out of 60 registered newcomers, 21 participants took part in the training courses, including 8 in-person and 13 online participants. During the training, they learned about the brief history of Wikipedia, its basic rules and tools, and how to edit and create articles on Wikipedia.
The five newcomers who achieved the highest results during the training were selected to participate in the gathering.
Wiki-gathering
A total of 34 Wikimedians participated in the gathering held in Tsaghkadzor. During the four working days, participants created articles and participated in different activities. One of the important parts of the gathering was a meeting and discussion with electoral processes expert Mariam Hoveyan. During the session, participants discussed electoral processes, freedom of choice, citizen participation, and the importance of making informed decisions.
The Wiki-gathering also included an excursion to Makravank and Hrazdan Reservoir. The educational visit allowed participants not only to relax but also to discover more about the beautiful corners of Armenia's history, culture, and nature.
The program also included a screening of the thematic movie “Wag the Dog”, watching a World Cup match, board games, and free time for participants to socialize and relax.
Throughout the four days of the Wiki-gathering, participants created 246 articles, totaling 10,454,544 bytes, based on suggested thematic lists. Meanwhile, during the entire project — including both the training courses and the Wiki-gathering — 53 editors created 402 articles, totaling 15,183,714 bytes.
The Uzbek Wikipedia has a rather unusual challenge: in 2012, thousands of articles were imported from the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan, but more than 10,000 of them remain unlinked to corresponding entries in other language editions. The project was born out of a desire to address this challenge.
Before the contest began, we prepared, we recorded a short online video tutorial showing participants how to identify corresponding articles across language editions and connect them through Wikidata. During the month-long contest, seven participants actively contributed, making over 10,000 project-related edits. Participants connected 1,373 previously unlinked Uzbek Wikipedia articles, cleaned up interlanguage-link templates, and added or improved over 5,000 Uzbek-language Wikidata descriptions. Although the original target was 2,000 linked articles, the result was significant because each connection required manual research and careful identification of the correct corresponding article. Using the microgrant, we rewarded the three most active contributors with bookstore gift cards.
The project also demonstrated the value of Wikidata as a space for multilingual collaboration and as an accessible way for Uzbek-language contributors to become involved in structured data. We hope the experience will encourage continued work on cross-language connections and further strengthen Uzbek participation in Wikidata.
- By: Hynek Kaplan (WMCZ) (talk)
Prague, 1 September 2026 – A new memorandum of cooperation has been signed by the Rector of Charles University, Prof. RNDr. Jiří Zima, CSc., and the Executive Director of Wikimedia Czech Republic, Mgr. Klára Joklová. The signing ceremony was also attended by the university’s Vice-Rector for the Third Role, Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Martin Vlach, Ph.D., who oversees this area of cooperation on behalf of the university. The memorandum sets out a framework for cooperation between Charles University and Wikimedia Czech Republic to expand and improve Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata, while supporting the university in fulfilling its third role.
“Over the past few years, we have moved from individual courses and events towards long-term cooperation that brings together teaching, science communication and professional practice. The new memorandum will allow us to develop this model across other university departments and jointly explore ways to make high-quality academic knowledge accessible to the public through Wikimedia projects,” says Klára Joklová, Executive Director of Wikimedia Czech Republic.
Open science and open dialogue
One concrete example of how the partnership between Charles University and Wikimedia Czech Republic brings scientific knowledge closer to the public is the UK100 initiative. Its original goal was to create or expand at least 100 Wikipedia articles by 2027 through university teaching and other joint activities. Contributions tagged with #UK100 introduce the public to academic disciplines, notable figures, discoveries and departments associated with the university. The original target has already been exceeded: the hashtag has so far recorded more than 300 edits across over 180 pages on Czech Wikipedia.
Building on this initiative, Charles University also participated in Month of Science on Wikipedia, one of the areas in which the partnership developed most significantly during the past academic year. During the campaign, 584 articles were created or expanded on Czech Wikipedia.
The partnership also creates opportunities for discussion about the possibilities and limitations of open science in the Czech Republic. In January 2026, Campus Hybernská hosted a panel discussion entitled The Third Role of Universities, Open Science and Wikimedia Projects, exploring how universities can share academic knowledge with the public while maintaining its quality, reliability and the necessary standards.
“Wikipedia makes it possible to share academic knowledge beyond the university while also teaching students to work responsibly with information. This kind of cooperation is a concrete example of how a university can fulfil its third role and transfer knowledge beyond academia,” says Vice-Rector Vlach.
From university courses to professional internships
During the 2025/2026 academic year, the course Writing Wikipedia: Creating Encyclopaedic Content continued at the Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University. Cooperation also expanded into other areas, including media studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Students learn not only how to write Wikipedia articles but also how to find and evaluate sources, cite correctly, understand copyright and use artificial intelligence tools responsibly.
“Wikipedia provides another channel through which we can communicate scientific topics to the general public in an accessible way,” says Pavlína Kolínová from the Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship at the Faculty of Arts. According to Kolínová, the university brings new editors to Wikipedia, while Wikimedia Czech Republic helps extend this proven teaching model to other university departments. More information is available in an interview with Pavlína Kolínová published by Charles University's Forum magazine.
The past academic year also saw the launch of professional internships and work placements at Wikimedia Czech Republic, now available to students from various university departments beyond the Faculty of Arts. Campus Hybernská also hosted the Community WikiConference and the Free Culture Evening, becoming a meeting place for the academic community, the general public and the Wikimedia community.
What the partnership will include
The memorandum envisages courses for the University of the Third Age, internships and work placements, potential Wikimedian-in-Residence positions, and the sharing of suitable photographs, documents and data through Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata. It also includes support for open science, media and information literacy, and critical thinking.
In the 2026/2027 academic year, the course at the Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship at the Faculty of Arts will continue, and the partners aim to extend a similar model to another faculty. They are also preparing joint projects focused on media literacy and science communication, student projects and further professional internships.
New areas under discussion include offering bachelor's and master's thesis topics and involving students and university departments in joint research activities. These could focus, for example, on data analytics and questionnaire surveys exploring the community of Wikimedia editors, users of Wikimedia projects, or public awareness of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
- By: Kruusamägi (talk)
Ever since the 18th century, encyclopedias have been a relevant part of the social ecosystem of science, transferring scientific information into the surrounding society at large, translating it into an understandable form for the general public. Few people, though, have ever understood how they function - and that's nowadays also true for Wikipedia. So, when we share knowledge, we must not forget to collect and share information about encyclopedias, as even while a popular saying goes, "the shoemaker's children go barefoot", we can do better.
Raul Veede, the main author behind our exhibition, explains why Wikipedians should spend time explaining encyclopedias in a popular form: "Wikipedia originates in the time-honored tradition of print encyclopedias. Their technical form has changed, but our mission remains the same: offering free, verified, and curated information for everyone, giving all readers an equal chance for their advancement. All the demagoguery trying to oppose Wikipedia to the "old and trustworthy" encyclopedias relies on people not knowing how strong the continuity between them is. If we show Wikipedia in its historical context, all the similarities become evident, demonstrating our reliability and heritance more strongly than any abstract appeal ever could. After all, we really are the heirs of Diderot."
While the exhibition featured various items behind glass and many informative posters, we also wanted more eye-catching pieces to spark initial interest. For that, we created an experimental installation imagining the entire Estonian Wikipedia as a printed encyclopedia. For that, we calculated the exact size of the Estonian Wikipedia if it were printed like the last fully finished Estonian-language printed encyclopedia. That resulted in a mock-up with 150 books (that last printed encyclopedia had 10+5 volumes). And interest followed; the installation even reached the media.
That exhibition keeps traveling around Estonia. In September & October 2026, it is in the Central Library of Võru County, and starting in November, it will be presented in the Tallinn University Academic Library. Alongside this, we also published several media articles about the history of the Estonian language encyclopedia, and Raul Veede gave radio interviews. Before the end of 2026, we also aim to assemble a virtual exhibition so this content can be made available online and in multiple languages.
The exhibition was assembled by Raul Veede; the project was led by Ivo Kruusamägi; Eva Lepik acted as a copy editor; Toomas Loide as designer; and Pille Priks provided communication. The City of Tartu helped fund the exhibition's assembly.
Note: Võro Wikipedia started in 2005, so 2025 also marks the 20th anniversary of this first Võro language encyclopedia. But how about encyclopedias in other countries? Might there be some more round dates to celebrate?
- By: Mari Avetisyan WMAM (talk)
Summer is always a busy season for Wikimedia Armenia’s WikiCamps, bringing together young editors for a mix of Wikipedia editing, learning, competition, and plenty of time to build friendships. This year, the camps also became more international, creating opportunities for participants to connect across Wikimedia communities.
From July 2–9, Wikimedia Armenia hosted its Teens’ Summer WikiCamp, bringing together 37 teenagers from WikiClubs, including 16 newcomers. Over seven days, participants created 632 articles and contributed more than 11.6 million bytes to Armenian Wikipedia. Alongside editing, the campers competed in sports, intellectual, and cultural activities, with the camp combining Wikipedia work with the traditional WikiCamp spirit of teamwork and fun.
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Teenagers editing Wikipedia -
Group photo -
Sports activities
The Summer Youth WikiCamp, held on August 9-16, was international for the first time in the past six years. The camp hosted 48 participants, including three participants from Italy, Ferdinando Traversa, Lorenzo Caresio, and Lorenzo Turquato, and one from Slovenia, Nal Mencin. The international participants contributed to their local Wikipedias by creating and improving articles about Armenia, while also taking part in the camp's daily activities.
To encourage interaction between local and international participants, the four international participants were divided among the four camp groups rather than being placed together. This gave each participant the opportunity to get to know their teammates, collaborate with Armenian campers, and become part of the group dynamic throughout the week.
The international character of the camp also extended beyond editing. During evening choir sessions, participants learned and performed Armenian and Italian songs, creating a simple but memorable space for cultural exchange. Sports competitions, performances, a visit to Lake Sevan, and a campfire evening with music and singing added further opportunities for participants to connect outside editing sessions.
Meanwhile, 25 of the 44 Armenian participants were newcomers. Together, local participants created 469 articles during the camp, contributing more than 24.5 million bytes to Armenian Wikipedia. With articles produced during the preceding training courses included, the total reached 611 articles and more than 35.8 million bytes.
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Editing hours -
Teamwork activity -
Italian and Slovenian participants on Sevan Peninsula -
Sports activities -
Awards ceremony
CEE Wiki Peer Learning Exchange
Nal Mencin from the Wikipedians of Slovenia User Group joined the WikiCamp through the CEE Wiki Peer Learning Exchange initiated by the CEE Hub. The exchange allowed Nal to experience Wikimedia Armenia’s approach to youth engagement, logistics, methods of communication, and WikiCamps firsthand. Wikimedia Armenia staff shared their expertise, presenting the preparatory work involved in organizing events, methods for targeting different age groups, the nuances of camp organization, efforts regarding safety and inclusivity, key communication methods, and pre- and post-event social media activities, and the communication strategy.
Alongside the peer exchange, Nal also had the chance to fully participate in the WikiCamp’s daily activities as a member of the second group, performing, singing, competing in sports activities, and making friends - perhaps for a lifetime.
The exchange also opened the door to future collaboration. The two communities discussed potential joint activities and agreed to organize an Armenian-Slovenian edit-a-thon in November, where participants will create articles about the culture, sports, notable people, and history of each other's countries.
For Wikimedia Armenia, this year's Youth WikiCamp was therefore not only about creating content. It was also about creating connections - between newcomers and experienced editors, between Armenian and international participants, and between Wikimedia communities learning from one another.
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WMAM staff explaining details on pre-WikiCamp training courses
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Nal raising his thought-provoking questions -
Mentor-mentee
- By: Mirishkorlik (talk)
Background
Farhad Fatkullin is a long-time Wikimedian with extensive experience and a recipient of the Wikimedian of the Year award. On 30 July 2026, he visited Tashkent on a business trip and expressed interest in meeting local Wikimedians. I accompanied him, and together we took a short walk, met with the WikiMarathon team, had lunch, and explored the city.
A Short Walk and an Introduction to the City
We left the hotel and took the metro, where I briefly introduced Farhad to the history of the Tashkent Metro. During our walk, we also discussed the Wikipedias in our respective languages.
Experience and Suggestions
WikiMarafon is a continuation of WikiStipendiya, a project led by Shohjahon Sobirov and other Wikipedians to develop the Uzbek Wikipedia. Farhad Fatkullin shared several suggestions:
- Despite the geographical distance between their speakers, their Wikipedias have developed in different ways.
- Every language community is best served by prioritizing content most useful to the wider body of speakers, namely content about its own people and country, its culture, and topics related to the surrounding region.
- Support from a government agency or any other activist entity — whether a Foundation, Hub, Chapter, or User Group — is very welcome, but it is best directed in a way that builds the long-term, self-sufficient sustainability of the on-wiki volunteer community.
- Supporting local-language content creation is the most efficient and effective approach, and it rarely causes any cross-cultural resistance.
Shohjahon Sobirov, in turn, shared his experience from WikiStipendiya and WikiMarafon:
- Since the project began in 2022, the number of Uzbek Wikipedia articles has grown from 140,000 to 360,000.
- Projects such as WikiOromgoh, WikiQuiz, WikiAyollar, WikiTarg'ibot, and WikiTour have been organized during the marathon.
- Since August 2025, the project has undergone rebranding and shifted its focus toward quality, with a new platform launched and a separate review process introduced.
- During the first three years, alongside the large number of articles created, there were also cases of low-quality articles.
It is worth noting that we communicated in both Uzbek and Tatar during the meeting. Shohjahon Sobirov, the main coordinator of WikiMarathon, also introduced Farhad to other projects of the Youth Affairs Agency of Uzbekistan.
Lunch
After walking around Chorsu Bazaar, Farhad, another Uzbek Wikipedia contributor editing under the Miss Kamola, and I continued our conversation together at a local eatery over national dishes. Our discussion ranged beyond Wikipedia itself, touching on traditions, the role of language within society, and the linguistic closeness between Uzbek and Tatar. It was an engaging exchange that gave us a chance to get to know one another better beyond our shared on-wiki work.
Seeing Farhad Off
After lunch, I accompanied Farhad by bus to the airport for his departure. The conversation remained just as engaging during the ride, continuing the exchange of ideas and experiences we had started earlier in the day.
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- By: ShahenWasHere (talk)
The reasoning is simple. The systems that increasingly shape how people find information- search engines, translation tools, and the newer generation of AI models- learn from what already exists on the open web. And the open web is not an even place. A single language accounts for roughly half of all the content whose language can be identified. The next languages down are already far behind. Out of the several thousand languages spoken in the world today, only a few hundred have any meaningful digital footprint. The rest are, in a practical sense, invisible to the tools that are quietly becoming everyone's first point of contact with knowledge.
This is where Wikipedia matters more than its reputation as an encyclopedia suggests. For a large language, Wikipedia is one (very big, very significant) useful resource among others. For a smaller one, it can be something closer to foundational: often the largest openly licensed, structured, and freely reusable body of text that exists in that language anywhere. When there is little else online, what a community builds on Wikipedia becomes a reference point far beyond the encyclopedia itself.
For those of us in the Central and Eastern European region, this is not an abstract concern. Our region is unusually rich in languages, including many that are minority, regional, or spoken across borders without a single national home. Each of these communities faces a version of the same question. It is not only whether the language survives in daily life, which is its own challenge, but whether it will exist in the digital spaces where the next generation increasingly looks first.
None of this requires a large institution behind it. Much of the most meaningful work in our region is done by small groups of volunteers, often coordinating across several countries, writing patiently, one article at a time. That work rarely makes headlines, but it is exactly the kind of quiet, sustained effort that decides whether a language is present or absent in the systems that are being built right now.
I left Paris more convinced than before that this is one of the most important things our movement does, even if it is one of the lesser visible ones. For many communities in our region (and beyond!), Wikipedia is where that future is being written, and it is worth continuing to write it.
- By: MagdaBarascu (talk)
What is the ASTRA Sibiu WikiClub?
ASTRA Sibiu WikiClub is designed from the ground up as a collaborative learning space. Its primary mission is to teach participants—both staff and the public—how to consult reliable primary and secondary sources, evaluate information critically, and contribute meaningfully across the Wikimedia ecosystem. Rather than remaining passive consumers of digital content, club participants are empowered to verify, document, and publish local culture and knowledge responsibly.
Key activities planned for the club include:
- Monthly hands-on editing workshops: Dedicated sessions for contributing to the Romanian Wikipedia.
- Semantic data exploration: Discovering and contributing to Wikidata.
- Cultural heritage curation: Digitising and documenting local history, regional figures, and institutional collections.
A productive debut at the ASTRA Summer School
The club made its practical debut during the annual ASTRA Summer School. Taking inspiration directly from library science, participants kicked off their journey with a session centred on Koha, the open-source integrated library system. Working collaboratively in real time, participating librarians researched, sourced, and wrote the article for Koha directly on the Romanian Wikipedia.
The initiative has also established its own project hub on the Romanian Wikipedia.
Expanding the network across Romania and Moldova
Following this milestone in Sibiu, Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova are actively looking to support the launch of new WikiClubs across Romania and the Republic of Moldova in public libraries, high schools, and universities.
If your institution or local group is interested in hosting an editing workshop or starting a WikiClub, the user group offers:
- Guidance and onboarding: Step-by-step best practices for community building and event management.
- Educational & technical support: Training kits, presentation decks, and Wikimedia tool resources.
- Regional connections: Direct pathways to collaborate with the broader CEE community and the global Wikimedia network.
Throughout the year, Wikimedia Armenia organizes thematic edit-a-thons and campaigns that encourage contributors to improve Armenian Wikipedia around topics connected to popular events, international occasions, and subjects of local or global interest. These initiatives bring together experienced and new editors and WikiClub members around a common theme, helping expand free knowledge while making editing activities timely, engaging, and connected to what people are talking about.
This summer, two thematic campaigns brought hundreds of new articles to Armenian Wikipedia, covering everything from football and the FIFA World Cup to Spanish culture, history, cuisine, arts, and more.
“2026 FIFA World Cup” Edit-a-thon
From June 1 to July 20, Wikimedia Armenia organized the “FIFA World Cup 2026” edit-a-thon. Participants translated and created articles based on prepared lists, focusing primarily on football players participating in the championship, but also covering coaches, referees, stadiums, official symbols, songs and albums, and other World Cup-related events and topics.
The edit-a-thon attracted 53 editors in June, who created 429 articles and contributed more than 9.2 million bytes to Armenian Wikipedia. In July, 55 participants created another 368 articles and added more than 6 million bytes.
In total, the two-month campaign resulted in 797 new articles and 15.2 million bytes of content. Before the edit-a-thon, Armenian Wikipedia had articles on 412 of the 1,248 football players participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. By the end of the campaign, that number had grown to 1,115 players.
Spanish Wiki Campaign
In August, Wikimedia Armenia launched the “Spanish Wiki Campaign,” a competition specifically designed for WikiClub participants. The campaign invited editors to explore Spain through a wide range of topics, including:
- people
- geography
- sports
- cuisine
- culture
- arts
- literature
While several article lists were prepared to help participants choose topics, editors were also free to select any Spain-related subject that interested them. The campaign was open to everyone in the Armenian Wikimedia community, while competition prizes were reserved for WikiClub members only.
Over the course of one month, 50 participants created 450 articles and contributed more than 8.3 million bytes to Armenian Wikipedia. The winning WikiClub participant received a prize and certificate from Wikimedia Armenia, while four other WikiClub members with the best results also received certificates.
From major global sporting events to the culture and history of a single country, thematic edit-a-thons offer the Armenian Wikimedia community new ways to engage with free knowledge. By connecting Wikipedia editing with timely, popular, and relevant topics, these campaigns continue to bring contributors together and expand the range of knowledge available in Armenian.
- By: MDehravan (IWUG) (talk)
To support participants, the organizers prepared topic lists, multilingual documentation, and outreach materials, helping contributors from different backgrounds engage with the campaign.
What followed was a diverse multilingual effort: 21 participants contributed 1,087 article edits across 12 languages, showing how a shared topic can travel across linguistic and cultural boundaries. From this contribution pool, five participants were selected as winners for the quality and impact of their work: Wadaihangit, Duhita Ragini Kalita, Rang Djambak, AMurmu, and নৰুনা বৰুৱা.
Like many community-driven initiatives, the campaign also became a space for discussion. Some community members raised questions about the name of the contest, which the organizing team clarified as a geographical reference intended to reflect the scope of the topic rather than any political framing.
Beyond the numbers and outcomes, the campaign highlighted something broader: how Wikimedia contributors, working in different languages and contexts, can collectively expand access to knowledge about a shared subject.
The organizers hope this experience will continue to encourage collaboration and sustained engagement with Iran-related content across Wikimedia projects.
- By: アンタナナ
"The 2025 contest edition had a record number of 11 special categories, with 4 of them aimed at documenting cultural heritage of national minorities in Ukraine -- Bulgarian, Jewish and Karaites, German, and Polish. This year, for the 2026 edition, the team actually added a new one, Czech", highlighted AntonProtsiuk (WMUA), Programs Coordinator at Wikimedia Ukraine.
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Poster exhibition opening -
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Nikola Tulechki at the opening -
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Bulgarian Wikipedians with WLM souvenirs
"The running joke in the WLM Ukraine team is a desire to cover all national minorities of Ukraine at some point in time -- a repeat of Armenian, Greek, and Crimean Tatar special categories would be most welcomed, but so would be covering Gagauzian, Belgian, Austro-Hungarian, Lithuanian, and even Italian heritage. Alas, this requires more time in the day than is humanly possible at the moment. So the team did the next best thing -- they shared their experience with others at the Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2026, with hopes that it will inspire others. The poster on special categories for endangered heritage was a part of this year's Poster Exhibition", continued AntonProtsiuk (WMUA).
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Iglika Ivanova giving the talk on Bulragian Heritage in Ukraine -
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Winning pictures of the 2025 Awards -
slides
Iglika Ivanova, a lecturer at Sofia University, Bulgarian Wikimedian, a jury member of "Bulgarian Heritage in Ukraine 2025" special award, gave a lightning talk about her experience of being a part of this cross-border project.
"We are very grateful to the whole organising team of Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova User Group, who created a really friendly space for all our conversations, a space to share, learn, listen to others. We have also used this opportunity to thank our volunteers in person, and make new connections", commented DarynaVozniuk (WMUA), Wiki Loves Monuments Ukraine project manager, volunteer organiser of trainings. "We are looking forward to working together on documenting the heritage, and hoping to present something even more interesting for the next year in Gdańsk".
- By: Velkovski.b (talk)
"Coordinate Me 2026" results
"Coordinate Me 2026" was the third edition of the international Wikidata competition focused on creating and improving items with geographic coordinates. The initiative aimed to enrich Wikidata by encouraging contributors to add or improve items with the geographic coordinates property (P625), and it ran from 1 to 31 May 2026.
This year, Macedonia was among the countries included in the international "Coordinate Me 2026" competition, which enabled editors from different parts of the world to contribute to the improvement and expansion of data related to the country on Wikidata. The inclusion of Macedonia in the contest enabled the global Wikimedia community to improve the accuracy and completeness of geographic information about the country’s settlements, cultural and historical heritage, natural landmarks, public institutions, and other notable locations.
During the contest, a total of 33 editors from the international Wikimedia community actively participated in creating new records and improving existing ones. Their work focused on adding missing geographic coordinates, correcting inaccurate data, and improving structured information. The contributions covered a wide range of topics, including cities, villages, archaeological sites, churches, monasteries, museums, schools, government institutions, mountains, rivers, lakes, and other notable places in Macedonia.
The results of the competition were highly significant. Participants made more than 3,540 edits across over 2,280 different Wikidata items, substantially increasing the quality, precision, and usefulness of data related to Macedonia. Through these efforts, the contest not only improved the representation of Macedonian locations on Wikidata but also strengthened the availability of reliable geographic information that can be used across Wikimedia projects and by the broader public.
Editing Week "History of Human Rights"
The editing week “History of Human Rights” was an initiative dedicated to enriching the Macedonian-language Wikipedia with content related to the development, protection, and significance of human rights throughout history. This week was part of the international initiative Wiki for Human Rights, dedicated to human rights and free access to knowledge, through which volunteers and editors from different countries contributed to creating higher-quality and more accessible encyclopedic content on this topic. The editing week took place from 1 to 7 June 2026.
During the editing week, participants were encouraged to:create new articles and improve existing ones, add reliable external links to articles; and add images to articles in order to make them more illustrative. All articles were required to be written in accordance with the principles and rules of Wikipedia. Therefore, all articles were expected to be written in an encyclopedic style and include references. During the editing contest and after its conclusion, all participants were required to list the articles with which they participated.
A total of 16 editors participated in the editing week, during which 321 articles were created and improved. This represents a significant contribution to Wikipedia in Macedonian language, both in terms of quantity and thematic coverage.
Based on the established criteria, the most successful participants were selected and they were awarded:
- First place –Tiveropolnik
- Second place –19user19
- Third place – Dandarmkd
Wikimedia MKD continues to support and organize such initiatives as part of its broader mission to promote free knowledge, community engagement, and the development of high-quality educational content.
Editing competition "CEE Spring" results
The “CEE Spring 2026” editing contest was part of an international initiative that brings together Wikimedia communities from Central and Eastern Europe. Its goal was to improve the coverage of topics related to the region and to strengthen cooperation between different Wikipedia language editions.
The contest was held from 1 to 30 April 2026. During this period, participants expanded existing articles and created new ones on topics related to the CEE region, including history, culture, geography, institutions, and society.
All articles were required to follow Wikipedia’s policies, be written in an encyclopedic style, and include reliable sources. Participants also had to register the articles with which they competed.
The submitted articles were reviewed by an evaluation committee of experienced Wikipedians, who assessed the content according to Wikipedia’s standards and guidelines to ensure a fair and objective selection of the winners.
After the end of the competition, Wikipedia in Macedonian got 451 articles created and improved and in total 9 different users participated in this April competition.
The final results revealed the awarded users, as follows:
- I Award - Тиверполник with total 1.331 points,
- II Award - 19user99 with total 711 points,
- III Award -Marco Mitrovich with total 643 points.
Besides these three awards, the competition gave the following awards as well:
- Award for best article - Тиверполник for the article Operation Storm
- Award for the most edited articles: 19user99 with 86 edited articles for 51 different participating countries
- Award for best existing user: IvanKonev123 with 377 points
The competition significantly improved Macedonian Wikipedia content on the given topic.
Teachers training at "Goce Delcev" primary school in Tetovo
As a continuation of the Teachers' Conference held in May, a practical training session for teachers was conducted on 7 July 2026 at Goce Delchev Primary School in Tetovo. The purpose of this activity was to enable participants to put the theoretical knowledge they had gained during the conference into practice by editing Wikipedia with the support of Wikimedia MKD trainers.
During the training, the teachers became familiar with the process of creating new Wikipedia articles, editing and expanding existing content, adding internal links, categorizing articles, and applying the fundamental principles that make Wikipedia a reliable and verifiable source of information. Through practical exercises and individual work, each participant had the opportunity to apply their newly acquired knowledge and actively contribute to enriching the Macedonian-language Wikipedia.
A total of 12 teachers took part in the training, creating 19 new articles during the session. These articles represent a valuable contribution to expanding the free knowledge available to all Wikipedia readers. The participants also demonstrated a strong interest in becoming further involved in Wikimedia MKD's activities and in applying their newly acquired skills in their work with students. The training was conducted in a productive and interactive atmosphere, with participants asking questions, sharing experiences, and discussing the potential of Wikipedia as a complementary educational tool in the classroom.
You can see how it went through the photographic material uploaded on Commons, but also some of the photos are bellow:
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Editing on Wikipedia -
Editing on Wikipedia -
Editing on Wikipedia -
Editing on Wikipedia -
Editing on Wikipedia
Wikiexpedition in the Demir Hisar Region
The second Wikiexpedition of 2026 took place from 10 to 12 July 2026, focusing on the Železnik region and the wider Demir Hisar area. Kruševo served as the base for the two days of fieldwork.
During the first day, the team visited numerous villages, including Žurče, Sladuevo, Belče, Graište, Barakovo, Edinakovci, Sveta, Vardino, Kutretino, Suvodol, Strugovo, Zagoriče, Obednik and Smilevo. Churches, monasteries, schools, monuments and other local landmarks were documented, while drone photography was used to capture aerial views of settlements and their surroundings.
The expedition also documented the locations of the historical villages of Metimirci and Kraguevo. The day concluded with a visit to the monastery near Leskovo, where drone photography was used to document the area of the largely abandoned settlement.
On the second day, the team continued towards Demir Hisar, first documenting the historical village of Murgaševo, now incorporated into the town. The route continued through Slepče, Suvo Grlo, Sopotnica, Radovo and Žvan, as well as the historical settlement of Dobromirovo.
In Sopotnica, several important landmarks were photographed, including the preserved former railway station. The final part of the expedition focused on Boište and Cerovo, two villages that had not previously been visited as part of the Wikiexpeditions project.
The expedition significantly expanded the photographic coverage of the Demir Hisar region. In total, 10 previously undocumented villages and 3 historical villages were photographed, while the team travelled more than 600 kilometres.
You can view all the photographic material from the Wikiexpedition here, but there are some pictures bellow:
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A nest with a stork in the village of Sveta -
A summer landscape near the village of Žvan -
St. Thomas Church (left) with the bell tower (right) of the Graište Monastery -
The minaret of the mosque in the village of Suvodol -
A traditional house in the village of Radovo
Wikimania 2026
Wikimаnia 2026 was held in Paris, France from 21–25 July under the theme "Freedom, Equity, Reliability". Macedonia was represented by Kiril Simeonovski, member of the Executive Board of Wikimedia MKD, Toni Ristovski, active contributor to the Wikimedia movement, and Jovan Tasevski, community manager of Wikimedia MKD.
A significant part of the Macedonian team’s participation was a presentation on their experience with outdoor activities, particularly Wikiexpeditions in Macedonia. It highlighted experience gained through years of fieldwork and approaches to planning and carrying out such activities. The presentation was divided into three sections, covering the process from initial planning to the creation and publication of free content.
The first section introduced outdoor activities, their advantages and disadvantages, and the need for sustainable planning. It emphasized the importance of fieldwork in documenting places and cultural, historical, and natural heritage underrepresented on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.
The second section covered six steps for researching and planning expeditions, from setting goals and planning resources to field visits, content creation, and evaluation. Practical examples demonstrated the importance of thorough preparation for successful expeditions.
The third section focused on expedition photography, including equipment, subject selection, legal considerations, and geotagging. Attention was also given to properly uploading, describing, and categorizing photographs on Wikimedia Commons, making them easier to find and use.
Participation at Wikimania 2026 provided an opportunity to share the Macedonian team’s experience with the international Wikimedia community and exchange ideas and good practices. It also opened possibilities for future cooperation and further development of Wikimedia activities in Macedonia.
Wikiexpedition - Prilep Basin
The third Wikiexpedition in 2026 took place from 7 to 9 August 2026 in the Prilep Basin, with the aim of documenting the remaining underrepresented villages around Prilep, as well as several settlements in the municipalities of Krivogaštani and Dolneni.
During the first day, the team visited numerous villages in the southern and central parts of the Prilep Basin, including Lopatica, Podmol, Marul, Kanatlarci, Erekovci, Topolčani, Trojkrsti, Čepigovo, Veselčani, Zagorani, Alinci, Šeleverci, Malo Ruvci, Berovci, Galičani, and Kadino Selo. Churches, mosques, tekkes, schools, railway facilities, and public buildings were photographed. The team also documented Staro Bonče and the remains of the ancient city of Styberra, while drone photography provided aerial views of several locations.
The second day covered Selce, Volkovo, Prilepec, Leništa, Oreovec, Krstec, Star Prisad, Nov Prisad, and Dabnica. The team documented churches, monasteries, archaeological sites, lakes, monuments, and landscapes. Notable locations included Prilep Lake, the former village of Pešterica, the Sivec marble quarry, the Church of St. Athanasius in Star Prisad, and the remains of the Derven mountain lodge.
The expedition also documented abandoned or endangered heritage sites, including the former cinema hall in Topolčani and the World War II memorial near Dabnica, dedicated to local residents executed during the second world war and now surrounded by waste from a nearby landfill.
In total, the expedition documented 24 previously undocumented villages and one historical village. The team travelled more than 500 kilometres, producing a substantial collection of new photographs, including aerial images taken by drone.
You can view all the photographic material from the Wikiexpedition here, but there are some pictures bellow:
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Remains of a building in the village of Marul -
Remains of the building of the Derven mountain hut -
A World War II monument near the village of Dabnica -
The interior of Kurt Dede Kodža Teḱe in the village of Kanatlarci -
The narthex of St. Demetrius Church in the village of Podmol -
St. Nicholas Church of the Berovci Monastery -
The interior of St. Petka Church of the Leništa Monastery
Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2026 results
“Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2026” was a contest dedicated to enriching existing articles on the Macedonian-language Wikipedia with relevant photographs and other visual illustrations. Many articles contain high-quality and useful information but still lack illustrations that could complement their content and help readers better understand the topic.
With this goal in mind, Wikimedia MKD once again gave editors the opportunity to contribute to the contest while also competing for prizes. The contest was held from 1 July to 31 August 2026, with clearly defined criteria for participation and scoring.
The prizes were provided for the most prolific participants, who have added an illustration of at least 100 different articles on Wikipedia in the Macedonian language. Points were calculated according to the principle: one article one point for the illustrations, regardless of how many illustrations were placed in that article. It is important to note that illustrations were inserted on already existing articles, newly created articles for the purpose of inserting photos were not taken into account. There was no limit to the number of illustrations that could be used. The photo that was used had to be uploaded under a free license or in the public domain. Contributors also included the #WPWPMK entry on every save change when they added an illustration, and on every article they added an illustration to. So the award winners are:
- 1st prize - winner is Тиверполник: 1148 valid illustrations
- II prize - the winners are the following users:
- Lili Arsova: 390 valid illustrations
- P.Nedelkovski: 290 valid illustrations
- Chnitke: 285 valid illustrations
- SirGoldenBlade: 128 valid illustrations
In total 8 editors participated and 2352 valid illustrations were added to the existing articles.
Wiki Loves Film – Collaboration with MakeDox Film Festival
As part of the GLAM program of Wikimedia MKD and the international initiative Wiki Loves Film, Wikimedia MKD continued its collaboration with the MakeDox - Creative Documentary Film Festival in Skopje, Macedonia. The collaboration aims to document important cultural events in the field of film and make freely accessible visual content available through Wikimedia projects.
This year, the MakeDox Film Festival was held from 20 to 27 August 2026. MakeDox is one of the most recognized documentary film festivals in Macedonia, with international reach and an important role in promoting creative documentary filmmaking and bringing together filmmakers, artists, and audiences.
During this year's festival, Wikimedia MKD's GLAM Coordinator participated in the festival and documented its activities as part of the Wiki Loves Film initiative. Throughout the festival, photographs were taken of screenings, events, guests, participants, and the overall festival atmosphere.
As a result of this activity, approximately 430 photographs from the MakeDox Film Festival were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. The photographs are freely licensed and available for use on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, contributing to the visual documentation of the festival and contemporary cultural life in Macedonia.
The participation also provided an opportunity to continue strengthening the cooperation between Wikimedia MKD and the MakeDox Film Festival, while promoting the importance of free knowledge and freely accessible cultural content.
Through its participation in MakeDox 2026, Wikimedia MKD continued its efforts to document cultural and artistic events in Macedonia and make them more visible and accessible to a wider audience. Activities such as this contribute to enriching Wikimedia Commons with valuable visual material while strengthening long-term cooperation with cultural institutions and festivals.
You can see the photographs uploaded on Commons, but also some of the photos are bellow:
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Day 2 Kurshumli-An - Countri in Focus: Spain, Miguel Eek & Xavier Marrades -
After the 'Good People' movie premiere -
Tamara Kotevska -
Thus wrote Ilinka - Zlatko Geleski & Petar Volnarovski -
MakeDox 17 (2026) - Press Conference -
MakeDox 17 - Milcho Manchevski & Toni Dimkov
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Wiki Loves Monuments 2026
Wiki Loves Monuments 2026 is being held in Macedonia from 1 to 30 September 2026. The aim of the photography contest is to collect freely licensed photographs of monuments, protected sites, and other objects representing the cultural heritage of Macedonia.
Participants can upload their own photographs to Wikimedia Commons under a free license (Creative Commons 4.0), making them freely available to the Wikimedia community. To participate, photographers are required to complete the official registration form and submit photographs of cultural heritage sites included in the selected list of monuments.
The selected list has been specially prepared for the competition and includes cultural heritage monuments in Macedonia that currently do not have photographs available on Wikimedia Commons. By photographing these sites, participants will help fill existing gaps in visual documentation and make photographs of previously undocumented monuments freely available to everyone through Wikimedia projects. Only photographs of monuments included in the selected list are eligible for the competition.
The best photographs will be selected by a professional jury. A total of four prizes will be awarded, including prizes for the three best photographs and a special prize for the participant who photographs the largest number of different eligible monuments.
To qualify for the special prize, a participant must photograph at least 25 different cultural heritage sites from the selected list of monuments.
Certificate of Appreciation for Wikimedia MKD from the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle
As part of the activities of Wikimedia MKD, cooperation with cultural institutions in Macedonia continued through partnerships aimed at supporting the sharing and promotion of free knowledge. One of the institutions with which Wikimedia MKD has established cooperation is the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle in Skopje.
In recognition of the cooperation and activities carried out so far, оn 3 September 2026, the Museum awarded Wikimedia MKD a certificate of appreciation. The certificate was received on behalf of Wikimedia MKD by Bosa Filipović, Education Program Manager at Wikimedia MKD.
The cooperation with the Museum is part of Wikimedia MKD’s broader efforts to establish connections with cultural and educational institutions and involve them in activities related to Wikimedia projects. Through such partnerships, institutions have the opportunity to become more familiar with the Wikimedia movement and the possibilities for making cultural, historical, and educational content freely accessible.
The certificate of appreciation represents recognition of the cooperation established between the two organizations and the activities implemented within this partnership. It also provides a basis for continuing and further developing the cooperation in the future.
Wikimedia MKD will continue working with museums and other cultural institutions in Macedonia in order to support the documentation, preservation, and sharing of knowledge and cultural heritage through Wikimedia projects.
Wiki Loves Film - Editing Activities on Macedonian-language Wikipedia
As part of the international Wiki Loves Film initiative, Wikimedia MKD organized two editing activities in September 2026 aimed at enriching film and cinema-related content on the Macedonian-language Wikipedia.
The first activity was held on 3 September 2026, with an editing day dedicated to Academy Award winners for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Participants focused on creating new articles about actors who have received this prestigious film award over the years, helping to improve the coverage of notable figures from different periods of world cinema.
The activities continued on 5–6 September 2026 with an editing weekend dedicated to the filmography of Brigitte Bardot, one of the most recognizable figures of French and European cinema. Editors worked on articles about films from different periods of her career, expanding the coverage of her filmography as well as French and European cinema on the Macedonian-language Wikipedia.
A total of 17 editors participated in the two activities and created 37 new articles. The newly created content includes biographies of notable actors and articles about films, contributing to broader and more diverse coverage of cinema-related topics in the Macedonian language.
Through these thematic editing activities, Wikimedia MKD continues to encourage its editing community to identify and address content gaps related to film and cinema. As part of Wiki Loves Film, these activities contribute to making more knowledge about films, actors and film heritage freely available on Wikimedia projects and accessible to Macedonian-speaking readers.
Wiki Camp and Wiki Team Building 2026
From 11 to 13 September 2026, Wikimedia MKD organized Wiki Camp and Wiki Team Building 2026 at Metropol Lake Resort in Ohrid, bringing together more than 40 participants. For the first time, the two annual activities were held as one joint event, combining Wikipedia editing, educational sessions and community-building activities.
The main editing topic of this year’s Wiki Camp was “Botanists with Author Abbreviations.” During the three-day event, participants translated, edited and created articles related to the selected topic. Their work resulted in more than 400 new articles on the Macedonian Wikipedia.
The program also included several presentations dedicated to Wikimedia projects and community activities. Nikolche Stojanovski, President of Wikimedia MKD, presented Wikisource and its role in digitizing and making source texts freely available. Snezhana Shtrkovska, Executive Director of Wikimedia MKD, introduced the organization, its programs and activities. Kiril Simeonovski, member of the Executive Board of Wikimedia MKD, presented Wikimedia Commons and explained the use of free multimedia content and licenses. Jovan Tasevski, Community Manager of Wikimedia MKD, spoke about editing competitions and their role in engaging and motivating the community. Bojan Jankulovski, an active Wikipedian, presented the basic rules and principles for creating well-structured Wikipedia articles and shared good editing practices.
The event also provided an opportunity for participants with different levels of experience to exchange knowledge, discuss Wikimedia activities and strengthen connections within the community. The combination of editing sessions and presentations helped participants gain new practical knowledge that they can use in their future contributions.
At the end of the Wiki Camp, six prizes were awarded to the students who created the highest number of new articles during the event.The joint Wiki Camp and Wiki Team Building resulted in more than 400 new articles, strengthened participants’ knowledge of Wikimedia projects and encouraged their continued involvement in the Wikimedia community.
You can see the photographical material from the Wiki Camp here and from the Wiki Team Building here but there are some pictures bellow:
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Nikolche Stojanovski giving a presentation -
Snezana Strkovska giving a presentation -
The participants -
Group photo of the participants -
Participants in the Wiki Team Building
- By: Gorana Gomirac (VMRS) (talk)
Within the Education Program, the main highlight was the Edu Wiki Camp 2026, held in Sremski Karlovci in July. In parallel, Wikimedia Serbia completed cooperation with educational institutions from the previous school year, started planning new partnerships, welcomed new student interns and participated in international exchange of good practices in Wikimedia education.
The GLAM Program focused on preparations for new Wikimedia activities and Wikipedian in Residence projects, continued participation in the Content Partnerships Hub, and organized an initiative dedicated to highlighting overlooked scientists and preserving scientific heritage.
Within the Diversity Program, Wikimedia Serbia organized and prepared several thematic activities, including the World Refugee Day edit-a-thon, an article illustration competition and the Wiki Loves Sport campaign, while continuing to support external projects and microgrants and preparing further community activities for the autumn.Education Program
From June to August 2026, Wikimedia Serbia’s Education Program wrapped up activities from the previous school and academic year, organized the Edu Wiki Camp, and started preparing new partnerships and activities for the year ahead. In June, the program was strongly focused on preparations for Edu Wiki Camp 2026. Activities included launching and managing the call for participants, selecting candidates and preparing the program and agenda. At the same time, the team reviewed the final student and pupil contributions from the school and academic year, with support from student interns and Wiki Ambassadors, allowing participants to further improve their Wikipedia articles.
- Edu Wiki Camp 2026 was held from July 13 to 16 at the Radulovački Ecological Center in Sremski Karlovci. The four-day event gathered 17 participants interested in becoming more actively involved in Wikimedia Serbia’s Education Program. During the camp, participants created 16 new Wikipedia articles and improved 13 existing ones, uploaded 321 files to Wikimedia Commons, and added more than 400 statements to Wikidata.
- Following the camp, Wikimedia Serbia finalized cooperation with educational institutions from the previous school and academic year and started preparations for partnerships and activities planned for the new academic cycle.
- In August, the first preparatory meetings with teachers and professors were held to plan workshops for pupils and students during the 2026/2027 academic year. Five university students also joined the internship program: four students from the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade, and one student from the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade.
- The Education Program also prepared its activity plan for 2027 and participated in the first EduWiki Roundtable with Education Project Officers, an online format designed to enable Wikimedia education program representatives to exchange experiences, ideas and examples of good practice.
GLAM Program
During the summer months, Wikimedia Serbia continued to develop the GLAM Program through international cooperation, planning of new activities and preparation of future Wikipedian in Residence projects.
- Wikimedia Serbia remained actively involved in the global Content Partnerships Hub, which brings together Wikimedia organizations and volunteers interested in building partnerships with museums, libraries, archives, scientific institutions and other knowledge organizations. Through the Hub, Wikimedia Serbia continued contributing to international cooperation aimed at making cultural and scientific knowledge more accessible through Wikimedia projects.
- During June and July, significant attention was dedicated to preparing activities for the second half of the year. This included defining thematic frameworks and timelines, developing rules and criteria for future activities, and preparing upcoming Wikipedian in Residence projects. Planning also included identifying priority areas for digitization and developing preliminary work programs.
- In August, Wikimedia Serbia organized an activity dedicated to the forgotten minds of science. Nine participants created 16 new articles on Serbian Wikipedia about overlooked and lesser-known scientists. Participants also expanded the list of suggested articles, creating a stronger basis for future activities dedicated to scientific heritage.
- Preparations for Wikipedian in Residence activities continued throughout August, including the development of work plans, implementation timelines and priority areas for digitization for projects planned for the remainder of the year.
Diversity Program
From June to August, Wikimedia Serbia’s Diversity Program brought together thematic editing activities, competitions, community support and preparations for several campaigns planned for the autumn.
- The CEE Spring competition concluded with 242 articles written on a wide range of topics related to Central and Eastern Europe and more than 2.5 million bytes of content added. The competition was jointly organized by Wikimedia Serbia and the Wikimedia Community of the Republic of Srpska.
- Wikimedia Serbia organized its fifth World Refugee Day edit-a-thon on Serbian Wikipedia from June 20 to 26. Five editors participated, creating 10 new articles and improving one existing article related to refugees, refugee crises and the challenges faced by displaced people.
- In July, Wikimedia Serbia organized an article illustration competition aimed at improving existing Wikipedia articles through the use of relevant free images, while also promoting multimedia files collected through Wikimedia photo competitions and photo tours. Ten editors participated and 194 Wikipedia articles were illustrated during the competition.
- Quarterly meetings with leaders of external projects and microgrants were also held in July, continuing Wikimedia Serbia’s support for independently implemented community initiatives.
- During July and August, preparations and implementation of the Wiki Loves Sport campaign took place. Wikimedia Serbia joined the global campaign for the third time, with the Serbian Wikipedia edit-a-thon running from August 1 to October 4 and focusing on the creation and improvement of articles related to sports.
- August was also dedicated to preparations for the Wiki Loves Pride edit-a-thon, scheduled for September 1-7, and another community competition based on a topic selected by Serbian Wikipedia editors through a survey.
- On August 30, Wikimedia Serbia held its 37th Extraordinary General Assembly, attended by 11 regular members of the Association. The agenda included membership status changes and the adoption of Wikimedia Serbia’s Strategy for the 2027-2029 period and Strategy Implementation Plan, alongside other organizational matters.