CEE/Newsletter/Newsroom/Building Bridges: The CEE Hub's Perspective on Empowering Wikimedians in Cyprus
- By: Barbara Klen and Philip Kopetzky
Learn more about the journey of the Wikimedia Community User Group Cyprus and how the CEE Hub support them during the process.
While the Cypriot community has always been one of the Central and Eastern Wikimedian communities that the CEE Hub should support, our initial attempts to connect with any active members of the community proved unsuccessful. We didn't find out about Anna Prodromou from Cyprus until after one of our sessions with the Greek Wikipedia community. Although we lacked specific details, we were keen to communicate and learn more about Wikimedian endeavours in Cyprus. Our first online encounter with Anna was in the summer of 2023, not long after we exchanged emails, and we are thrilled to report how much has happened since then.
While the Cypriot community has always been one of the Central and Eastern Wikimedian communities that the CEE Hub should support, our initial attempts to connect with any active members of the community proved unsuccessful. We didn't find out about Anna Prodromou from Cyprus until after one of our sessions with the Greek Wikipedia community. Although we lacked specific details, we were keen to communicate and learn more about Wikimedian endeavours in Cyprus. Our first online encounter with Anna was in the summer of 2023, not long after we exchanged emails, and we are thrilled to report how much has happened since then.
Shortly after our first meeting and brainstorming session regarding opportunities and possible activities, Anna and a few other community members made the decision to apply for Rapid Grants in order to obtain the funding required for planning a larger community event. We were excited about this as well because this diverse group embodies the spirit of Wikimedia in its mission to transcend boundaries by bringing together Greek- and Turkish-speaking Wikipedians to collaborate on information creation. The group's long-term objectives were fully aligned with the theme selection for both their first rapid grant and their first public event, which honoured Cypriot women regardless of where on the island they were from.
This (rapid) grant application procedure was supported by the CEE Hub, and we were overjoyed when the project was approved in the fall of 2023. Aside from this, we held a few other virtual meetings with Cypriot Wikipedians when the subject of their official status was raised. During the group's application process to AffCom, we were able to advise and assist them, and we are currently waiting for AffCom's decision.
In addition to resolving a few technical issues, we were also able to assist with the implementation of the awarded rapid grant by enabling two members of the CEE Hub to attend the HERitage Amplified event that took place in February in Nicosia, Cyprus. A Wikipedia Marathon (edit-a-thon) honouring Cypriot women was one of the event's main highlights, along with insightful talks about gender bias and digital literacy. Following their keynote speeches, Barbara Klen, the regional coordinator of the CEE Hub, Marios Magioladitis from Wikimedia Community User Group Greece, and Philip Kopetzky, a member of the CEE Hub’s SC, took part in a panel discussion centred on the gender gap in the Wikimedia context. If you want to know more information about this event, you can find it here.
