Wikimedia CH/Newsletter/10/2017

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Please find Wikimedia CH's newsletter for the month of October.
If you wish to share an event or activity through this newsletter, please feel free to send us a message at info@wikimedia.ch. Have a nice reading!

What happened in October?

Media in Piazza 2017

Media in Piazza, a team

This year Media in Piazza has been held again but the location was the new building of the Palacinema of Locarno. 700 Students, accompanied by their teachers and from 10 to 14 years old, attended the event across two days (26th and 27th October). The event was organized by the Faculty of Pedagogy of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland together with Wikimedia CH, Amnesty International, CISA – Conservatorio Internazionale di Scienze Audiovisive, Red Cross, Radix, RSI, the Cantonal Police and other several local associations to have workshops. Wikimedia CH proposed a "virtual treasure hunt" with the objective to train students about how find the right and the reliable information in internet and in Wikimedia projects. The classroom was split in 10 teams solving a list of problems, the teachers joined us to help students. The feedback of the survey, filled by the students at the end of any session, was very positive and students admitted to have had fun and to have learned interesting skills, the feedback of the teachers were positive too.

DINAcon 2017

DINAcon Logo

Wikimedia CH was thrilled to be able to participate actively in the first edition of the DINAcon, a conference on digital sustainability. It took place on Friday, 20th of October 2017, at "Welle7", a workspace in Bern. More than 200 people participated in the plenary sessions and workshops. Wikimedia - under the competent guidance of Hadi - conducted a "crash course" on the functioning of Wikipedia where 8 people participated. Unfortunately the second session that Patrick Borer was going to animate on behalf of WMCH around copyright restrictions and the missing pictures in Wikimedia Commons/Wikipedia had to be cancelled because of a lack of registrations in the run-up to the event. WMCH attended among others the talk about the coming copyright reform in Switzerland which was very interesting and informative. The DINAcon as such is definitely a worthwhile event and we are looking forward to being present next year again!

Visits

at GDI

GDI Logo

Wikimedia CH was invited to join a workshop at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute near Zurich. At a time when the rule of law is called into question in some countries, this workshop was about volunteer work in the framework of civil society participation. Wikimedia as a stakeholder of volunteer work 'par excellence' was a popular participant in the circle of a dozen more common-oriented players. One of the quarterly magazines called "GDI Impuls" will be presented to the public in May 2018 and the topic of the workshop will be part of this report.

at Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) has invited WMCH to provide its information workers with insights into the workings of Wikipedia. On October 25, user Hadi was able to answer questions from around 30 curious federal employees. Because the DFA is also responsible for development cooperation, it was also possible to introduce them to Kiwix, the software that allows Wikipedia to be used offline.

WikiConvention francophone

WikiConvention Francophone Logo

The WikiConvention francophone took place in Strasbourg from October 19th to 21st. The convention gathered volunteers from France, Tunisia, Cameroon, Switzerland, Canada and Belgium. Several stimulating conferences were offered on varied topics, from technical and ethical ones, to educational ones. Participants had, among others, a chance to learn what projects are going on with GLAMs, their fortes as well as their downsides, how to introduce smart uses of Wikipedia in schools, to discover several Wikipedia projects in the African continent, how to program their first bot, or discover Wikidata. A small 'Festicabale d'automne' was held on Friday 20th evening, and gathered about 60 participants.

Announcements

Devoxx4kids, Zürich, 2nd December

Interior of the University of Zürich

Wikimedia CH will be part of the Devoxx4kids in Zürich the 2nd December. Children can learn technology and new media in a successful format held by the University of Zürich. Additional information are here. Please fill the specific form to register children and to participate to a wonderful event.

itWikicon

The Italian community organizes the 1st Italian Wikimedia Conference in Trento from the 16th to the 19th November. Wikimedia CH supports the event as a sponsor and supports people who is willing to join to the event. Who is interested may contact Wikimedia Switzerland at info@wikimedia.ch for a scholarship.

Wiki Science Competition

Wiki Science Competition is started and Switzerland is represented by several scientists in the jury. This year Wikimedia CH is looking with interest to this competition and has a good contact with the organizers to check the possibility to participate to the next edition.

WikiCon 2018 in Switzerland

In 2018, the annual conference of the voluntary organization will be held in Switzerland for the first time in the history of the three German-speaking chapters. After a successful application, the committees of the three participating countries also agreed. It is expected to be carried out in September or October in the northeastern part of Switzerland. More to be follow.

List of coming events

04.11.2017 10:00AM – 4:00PM	Edit-a-Thon in the National Library	Bern, BE
postponed: 08.11.2017 12:15 AM - 1:30 PM	discussion / information event Vom Umgang mit Wikipedia. Eine Herausforderung für Forschung und Lehre an der Universität? L’usage de Wikipedia à l‘université. Un défis pour la recherche et l’enseignement ?	Fribourg, FR
16.11. - 19.11.2017	GLAM-on-Tour at Monte Verità	Ascona, TI
17.11. - 19.11.2017	Italian Wikimedia Conference	Trento, Italy
17.11. - 19.11.2017	WikiDACH Barcamp	Mannheim, Germany
2.12.2017 09:00 AM - 5:15 PM	Devoxx4Kids at UNIZH (Information to the workshops (German)	Zurich, ZH