Wikimedia CEE Hub/Catch Up
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CEE Catch Up is a series of bi-monthly meetings about projects, activities and communities of the CEE region. The initiative is curated by the Wikimedia CEE Hub (staff members) and Wikimedia Foundation’s Movement Communications regional specialist Natalia Szafran-Kozakowska.
Goals
[edit]CEE Catch up initiative is a series of online gatherings which started taking place from March, 2023, focusing on communication in the CEE Region, and between the Region and WMF about major events, meetings, initiatives, or other things, that are happening or will be happening in the region and/or in the Wikimedia movement.
How to participate?
[edit]Events are open to everyone who's interested in learning about new initiatives across the region and in the Wikimedia movement.
Upcoming events
[edit]We're working on the next meeting when the summer ends. Subscribe to the regional mailing list and join our Telegram announcements channel not to miss the invitation!
Past events
[edit]
The topic of the #14 CEE Catch Up was News on Wiki tools & Wikifunctions. The meeting took place on June 1, 2026 and was interpreted into Polish.
Together with Mārtiņš Bruņenieks from the CEE Hub Tech Advancement working group, participants explored the CEE Tech Village Pump and the recommended tools.
Luca Martinelli from the Wikimedia Foundation gave a presentation on Wikifunctions and Abstract Wikipedia. Participants also heard updates on the Open Knowledge conference and the Wikimedia Hackathon 2027 planned to take place in Albania.
You can check out the June 2026 slide deck here.
The topic of the #13 CEE Catch-Up was the Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan.
This meeting was chance for the Wikimedia CEE community to speak up about what our projects need in relation to the global trends in how people access and share knowledge and to make sure our region’s voice helps shape the Wikimedia Foundation work and priorities for the next fiscal year.
The basis for our workshop was the Global Trends analysis. As CEE representatives we shared our perspective and regional context on the Contributors & Readers Global Trends.
Product Managers and Software Engineers from Wikimedia Foundation walked us through the latest improvements and ongoing work on tools and features for Users with Extended Rights, and engaged in an open conversation to share insights and address community questions.
You can watch the December 2025 recording here.
Together with representatives from the Wikimedia Foundation, we explored what was planned for Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary, how the campaign would be coordinated globally, and how to organize a memorable celebration within local communities.
You can watch the November 2025 recording here.
Temporary accounts is an important change is going to affect every Wikipedia soon, so it is important for patrollers and functionaries to understand it. On wikis where temporary accounts are enabled, IP addresses of unregistered editors are not visible publicly. Only those who fight spam, vandalism, harassment and disinformation have access to IP addresses there.
You can watch the June 2025 recording here.
Topic of the #9 Catch Up event was Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan for the period 2025-2026, with special focus on the focused on Global Trends that are affecting our movement.
Together (the CEE Communities and the Wikimedia Foundation staff) we discussed the trends related to our projects, our readers and editors. We explored how those trends show up in the CEE context and discussed what our projects need to address those trends, and how we can support them.
You can read the April 2025 report here.
Topic of the #8 Catch Up was sustainability. We did hear what are the activities of the Wikimedians for Sustainable Development, Kiril will shared some of his insights about sustainability within the movement, and at the end we did hear about the efforts from the Wikimedia Foundation about this topic.
You can watch the November 2024 recording here.
In June 2024, the session focused on how to use social media to promote Wikimedia projects and Wikimedia events, featuring discussions on how different organizations from the CEE region use social media in their work, as well as insights from the Wikimedia Foundation on its social media strategy.
You can watch the June 2024 recording here.
May 2024: Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan
[edit]Topic of the sixth CEE Catch Up was Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan for the period 2024-2025, where WMF gave the introduction of the Annual Plan, and then CEE Hub team gave an update of the Year 2 of their Annual Plan.
The topic of the fifth CEE Catch Up was “Why the brand is important?”, and the session featured four speakers from the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimania 2024, and the regional community.
You can find the February 2024 report here.
This was the fourth meeting of the Catch Up initiative, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) tools and their implementation in everyday Wikimedia work, with contributions from the Wikimedia Foundation and representatives of four CEE communities (Slovenia, Greece, Cyprus, and Poland).
You can find the November 2023 report here.
July 2023 Catch Up brought together over 20 participants from across the region. The topic of the meeting was Supporting community health with speakers speakers representing the Human Rights Team (Nicky Deluggi), Wikimedia Poland (Natalia Ćwik and Paulina Studniczka), and Wikimedia Ukraine (Anton Protsiuk).
You can watch the July 2023 recording here and read the report here.
In May 2023, Catch Up brought together more than 20 participants from across the region and foucused on youth collaboration.
The main discussion featured Mari Avetisyan (Armenia), Kacper Szymański (Poland), Denis Smajlović (Denmark), and Y. Caner Özyayıkçı (Türkiye), who talked about their Wikimedia journeys, perceptions of Wikipedia, the value of Wikimedia involvement for young people, international cooperation, and ways to engage newcomers through social media and other channels.
You can watch the May 2023 recording here and read the report here.
In March 2023, on the first day of the CEE Spring 2023, the first CEE Catch Up gathered over 27 participants from across the CEE region.
The agenda included a short update on CEE Spring, including its global statistics and the participation of new and returning communities, as well as updates on Wikimania 2024, Wikimedia CEE Meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, and information on coordination session for Wiki Loves Earth organizers led by the CEE Hub, the Let’s Connect team, and Wikimedia Ukraine. The session concluded with an open discussion on additional topics, including activities of the Let’s Connect network.
You can read the March 2023 report here.
Sessions documentation
[edit]Meetings will be recorded, so you can find recordings from the meetings here:
| # | Date | Topic | Recording | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | June 2026 | News on Wiki tools & Wikifunctions | (N/A) | Commons |
| 13 | March 2026 | Around the Puzzle Globe | (N/A) | (N/A) |
| 12 | December 2025 | Tools for Users with Extended Rights | Commons, Zoom[a] | (N/A) |
| 11 | November 2025 | Wikipedia 25 | Commons, Zoom[b] | (N/A) |
| 10 | June 2025 | Temporary Accounts | Commons, Zoom[c] | (N/A) |
| 9 | April 2025 | Global Trends | (N/A) | (N/A) |
| 8 | November 2024 | Sustainability | Commons, Zoom[d] | (N/A) |
| 7 | June 2024 | Social Media | Commons, Zoom[e] | (N/A) |
| 6 | May 2024 | Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan | (N/A) | (N/A) |
| 5 | February 2024 | Why the brand is important? | (N/A) | (N/A) |
| 4 | November 2023 | Artificial intelligence (AI) tools | (N/A) | (N/A) |
| 3 | July 2023 | Supporting community health | Commons, Google Drive | (N/A) |
| 2 | May 2023 | Youth Collaboration | Commons, Google Drive | (N/A) |
| 1 | March 2023 | First Catch Up | (N/A) | (N/A) |
Notes
[edit]Safe space policy for video conferences
[edit]- This event is covered by a safe space policy
- We treat each other with friendliness and mutual respect
- Respect the privacy of other participants
- If you have any questions regarding this or there is something you would like to report, reach out to the organising team
You can read the safe space policy here.