CEE/Newsletter/October 2024
Editorial
Welcome to the October 2024 edition of the CEE Hub Newsletter! This issue highlights a diverse range of activities, collaborations, and achievements from across the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Wikimedia communities, showcasing the continued dedication and creativity of contributors in our region.
At the heart of this newsletter, we present key findings from the Wikimedia Tools Research Survey, conducted by the CEE Hub. With insights from over 44 participants across 20 communities, this research offers a glimpse into the tools that drive daily Wikimedia activities, reflecting the practical needs and preferences of our editors. These findings will play an essential role in shaping the technological support provided to the CEE community in the future.
We also delve into the CEE Hub’s Year 3 Grant Proposal, which outlines an ambitious roadmap for 2025. Continuing to build on our existing initiatives, we are also venturing into new areas of focus, driven by feedback from the community.
This edition also brings you updates from across the CEE region. From the successful seventh edition of Senior WikiTown in the Czech Republic to Wikimedia Serbia's packed summer of events, and the inaugural Films on Wikipedia challenge, this newsletter celebrates the variety and vibrancy of our region's contributions. Be sure to read about the Human Rights on Wikipedia challenge and the Mobile Photography Micro-contest taking place in Czechia, as well as the exciting new collaboration between Wikimedia Polska and Wikimedia Ukraine for a special edition of Wiki Loves Monuments focused on Polish heritage in Ukraine.
Our community spotlight also takes us to Romania and Moldova, where Wikimedians hosted the first Wikipedia editing course for seniors, empowering older generations to contribute to free knowledge. Meanwhile, Wikicamps in Armenia continue to provide a dynamic platform for youth to engage in Wikimedia projects, fostering future generations of editors.
With all these and more, we hope this edition offers inspiration, insight, and a sense of pride in the collective accomplishments of our region. Let’s continue to shape the future of free knowledge together!
Happy reading!
Jan Beránek
editor of the CEE Newsleter
CEE Hub sent out the survey to the communities and editors from various Wikipedia language editions in the Central and Eastern Europe region where we asked the editors to answered which tools they are using in their daily work in the Wikimedia projects.
The survey was conducted during August 2024 and we received 44 responses from more than 20 community members.
The respondents in the survey used tools during their work on the Wikimedia projects, or at least they tried to implement the tools in their work. But, they face a lot of difficulties, first to find them, documentation is poor without any examples and/or guides (videos would be preferable), secondly the tools addresses are often changed, leaving a lot of red links across the projects afterwards. Additionally, it seems that we had a lot of tools in the movement, but they are not known to the local communities and so they are not using them.
Creating a list of tools on the address that can be recognisable for everyone can be a much better solution than ToolHub, along with creating examples of the tools and videos examples. Majority of the respondents would like to see something about this from the CEE Hub, as they do not know that ToolHub exists in the first place.
In the survey we received a lot of manual work tasks that respondents are doing quite often, and although for some of them it has some solutions even right now, for some we should work with the community members who are developers or with Wikimedia Foundation to create those tools.
Also, respondents would like to have a regional Community Wishlist.
In the comments section, they are mentioning that the promotion of the tools among the communities should be much better than the current state, so here should work community members, affiliates and CEE Hub together.
Whole research results you can find on our separate Meta page.
Wikimedia CEE Hub will focus on some of the segments during the Year 3 plan (during 2025) as following:
- Tool discovery improvements (e.g. featured tools)
- Reaching out to volunteers from the survey to understand what they'd like to work on
- Help maintain technical Village pumps in CEE languages.
- By: BKlen-CEEhub and TRistovski-CEEhub
CEE Hub published the grant proposal for our activities for Year 3 which will be implemented during 2025. The project will continue working on the existing activities, but also we will focus on some new areas in 2025. You can find more in the text below, but please read the dedicated Meta page for this grant proposal as well.
Compared to the year 2 of the CEE hub project implementation we plan to introduce some changes related to the activities that we have already been implementing:
- More focus on learning about and using of external funds
- Offering more structured support for the local organisers of the CEEM who are in charge of organising the CEE meeting
- Coordination of regular meetings and cooperation with other Wikimedia hubs
- More focus on reaching out to community members who did not get a chance to be involved before and who do not know what CEE hub is (via Village pumps)
- Changes related to Microgrants: higher max amounts (up to 700 EUR) and extending this support to the neighbouring Central Asian communities too
- Evaluation of the pilot community building process that was introduced during the year 2 of the CEE hub project and which was dedicated to 3 CEE communities: we will analyse and evaluate the process and outputs that were achieved
Apart from this, we plan to introduce 2 new packages: Development of intra-regional educational cooperation and CEE Hub incubator programme (for more information read the explanation below).
Whole grant proposal you can find on our separate Meta page.
What will be going on in the international Wikimedia Space for the rest of the year? Let's have a look at the news and events that will happen in 2024!
- Current contests
- Wiki Loves Monuments 2024 (1 September-31 October 2024) - public photo competition around cultural heritage monuments, organised by Wikimedia chapters and groups. This is the biggest photography competition in the world and we hope to be able to count on massive participation again this year.
- SheSaid (1 September-31 December 2024) - an initiative by Wiki Loves Women to add more quotes by notable women to Wikiquote projects in all languages.
- Upcoming meetings & conferences in 2024
- Big Fat Brussels Meeting 9 will be held in Brussels, Belgium from September 29–30.
- WikiConference North America will be held in Indianapolis, USA from October 3–6.
- WikiIndaba Conference 2024 will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from October 4–6.
- Wikimedia Technology Summit (WTS 2024): will be held in Hyderabad, India from October 4–5.
- Past meetings & conferences in 2024
- CEE Meeting 2024 (20–22 September 2024) – a yearly meeting of the Central and Eastern European Wikimedians. You can find photos, presentations and recordings from the conference on Commons.
- WikiOutdoor Training 2024 (7–8 September 2024) – first outdoor training for participants from the Central and Eastern Europe. You can find photos and presentations from the training on Commons.
- Wikimania 2024 (7–11 August 2024) - the annual global conference of Wikimedia in Katowice, Poland. You can find a curated list of community and media coverage of Wikimania 2024 on this Diff blog post. Additionally, photos, presentations and recordings from the conference you can find on Commons.
What do they write about us? A summary of the articles from This month in Education and This month in GLAM.
- Results of the 2023 “Wikipedia for School” Contest in Ukraine, August 2024, Wikimedia Ukraine
- Edu Wiki Camp in Serbia, 2024, August 2024, Wikimedia Serbia
- Wikimedia Human Rights Month this year engaged schools in large amount, August 2024, Wikimedia Czech Republic
- For what matters most for your community, July 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- Prompting what's most important - our community in Albania and Kosovo, July 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
- Cooperation between National Library and Wikimedia CR was presented at Wikimania 2024, August 2024, Wikimedia Czech Republic
- An insight of Wkikimedia MKD's 2024 GLAM Programme, August 2024, Wikimedia MKD
- What's up in GLAM-Wiki in Poland, August 2024, Wikimedia Poland
What's going on around the globe? Check out those Diff articles to stay in the loop!
It is with great joy and excitement to inform everyone that during the CEE Meeting in Instabul, it was announced by the Selection Committee that the next Wikimedia CEE Meeting, will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece! The Wikimedia Community User Group Greece, having submitted a comprehensive and thorough proposal, will undertake the organisation of this great event, which is the largest Wikimedia meeting in the region.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
Wikipedia is a shelter, haven for different languages and cultures, in particular for the Crimean Tatar. I can compare Wikipedia to the biblical Noah’s Ark, as here these languages and cultures have a chance to survive and live for the future generations. That’s why we want to popularize it in Ukraine and hold marathons on editing Crimean Tatar Wikipedia.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
At Wikimania 2024, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced the winners of the annual international Wikimedians of the Year award. Among them is Vira Motorko, a Ukrainian Wikimedian and administrator of the Ukrainian Wikipedia, who was recognized as Functionary of the Year for her work in maintaining Wikipedia behind the scenes.
Wikimedia Ukraine’s communications manager Iryna Boiko spoke to Vira about her contributions to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, how she got involved, and what motivates her to continue volunteering.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
This is our last communication as the Movement Charter Drafting Committee. The committee will dissolve today, August 30, 2024. We will take this opportunity to share our recommendations for the next steps concerning the Movement Charter work.
We want to start our recommendations for next steps by encouraging everyone to keep working on Recommendation #4 Ensure Equity in Decision-Making(1); we don’t need a “Movement Charter Drafting Committee” for this. It was clear in our conversations at Wikimania that you are passionate about governance and strategy, and you desire to move forward together. Simultaneously, we encourage the Wikimedia Foundation to take a more participatory and collaborative approach to Recommendation #4. The project contributors and the affiliates are two stakeholders in the movement; the Wikimedia Foundation is another. We need all three stakeholders to interdependently work together as equals to create a more equitable movement.
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
On 16 November, 2023, a court in Munich, Germany, ruled that the Wikimedia Foundation correctly refused to censor a gambling tycoon’s name in a Wikipedia article about that person’s business. Although the case was appealed, the appeal was later dropped on 25 July, 2024, leading to a final judgment in favor of keeping the Wikipedia article in full!
- > Read more about this on the blog post.
Voice your opinion! These topics are open to discussion. Also, please take a look at the open calls and apply!
- Ongoing open for CEE Hub Microgrant Programme. Apply!
- The new Community Wishlist is open for new wish submissions. From now on, it will be possible to submit new wishes at any time. The team working on the Wishlist encourages users to submit a wish in their native language.
- By: Pavel Bednařík
On the weekend of 13-15 September 2024, the seventh Senior WikiTown took place, this time in Bečov nad Teplou.
Almost a dozen participants of the senior courses, lecturers and collaborators visited the historic town in the Karlovy Vary region, where the Botanical Garden in Bečov nad Teplou opened its arms to them for a few days.
The participants visited, among others, the castle in Bečov nad Teplou, the reliquary of St. Maurus and the Gallows Hill. But the main part of the program was a tour of the unique Bečov Botanical Garden together with the director and founder, Jiří Šindelář.
Editing in the heated premises and exceptional hospitality guaranteed fond memories of an otherwise gloomy flood weekend.
Photos from WikiTown are available for preview on Wikimedia Commons.
- By: Ivana Madžarević
During July and August, Wikimedia Serbia had various activities within the framework of all three programs. As part of the Education Program, an Edu Wiki camp was organized, and preparations were also made for participation in thematic conferences. GLAM program was focused on the Wikipedian in residence project in cooperation with the Little Theater “Duško Radović”, as well as the organization of the GLAM event at Wikimania. August brought competitions such as Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos, Wiki likes Sport, but also preparation for Wiki Loves Pride. A call for annual projects is planned, which was announced on September 2.
Education Program
- Edu Wiki Camp was held from July 22 - 25, in Banja Koviljača. 11 students from different parts of Serbia participated. During the program, participants had the opportunity to become familiar with the activities of Wikimedia Serbia, but also to improve their skills that will help them in further volunteer engagement. The activities are presented in a blog post.
- The project Wikipedia in schools has been completed in all educational institutions with which Wikimedia Serbia cooperated during the past school year. Activities related to reviewing seminar papers from the current half-year/semester, calculating project metrics and planning activities from September 2024 have been carried out.
- The participation of the WMRS’ representatives at the conference "South Slavic languages in the digital environment" (JuDig), which will be held in Belgrade in November 2024, has been confirmed.
- Wikimedia Serbia was invited to take part in the conference "Requalification and advanced training in the era of digital transition" organized by the EPALE national team of the Tempus Foundation in Serbia. The conference will be held in October 2024 in Belgrade.
GLAM Program
- Wikimedia Serbia participated in an online lecture on the impact of contributions to Wikimedia projects on professional development. The Wiki librarians project was presented, and the lecture was attended by over 50 participants. This lecture was held as part of the Let’s Connect program.
- Wikimedia Serbia was part of the organizing team of the GLAM global pre-conference day at Wikimania. About 50 participants were present, and the day consisted of interactive workshops and lectures.
- A lecture titled Empowering Innovation and Flexibility: The Future of GLAM Wiki was held at Wikimania. During the conference, numerous contacts were established and joint activities were agreed upon.
- A total of 60 new articles were written, 43 were improved, and 94 were illustrated as part of the Wikipedian in Residence project, which is realized in collaboration with the Little Theater “Duško Radović”. 1,758 multimedia files have been uploaded to the Wikimedia Commons. Among that material there are five monographs, 65 theater programs and 12 posters.
Diversity Program
- Wikimedia Serbia in cooperation with the Paralympic Committee of Serbia is joining the global campaign Wiki Loves Sport for the first time. The edit-a-thon on Serbian Wikipedia will last from July 17 to September 22. Project is focused on writing or improving articles related to various sports topics. The organizer of the global campaign is providing prizes if 5 or more articles are written about para-athletes, and Wikimedia Serbia will reward the most active two participants with vouchers for books in the amount of 2,000 RSD.
- During July and August, Wikimedia Serbia organized the Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos competition, which is an annual event where Wikipedians on all language versions add photos to Wikipedia articles that lack illustrations. The competition lasted until August 31. During this year's action, 9 participants made 18,438 changes within 13,086 articles.
- Preparations have been made for the Wiki Loves Pride and the Asian Continent competition on Wikipedia.
- By: Pavel Bednařík
Movies on Wikipedia – that’s the name of a new challenge and micro-competition for Wikipedians who like film and cinema. The challenge, which took place between two summer festivals, the Karlovy Vary IFF and the Summer Film School, attracted the attention of not only die-hard Wikipedians, but also those interested in cinema.
The highlight of the challenge was the editathon of the 50th Summer Film School on Wikipedia, which among other things produced articles on the distribution company Film Europe, or photos from the festival – including photos from the award ceremony of the Association of Czech Film Clubs to the legend of Czech music and film, Mr. Jiří Suchý. However, the challenge also included articles about the cinema in Hejnice, the upcoming film by Agnieszka Holland Franz or the director Jaroslava Vošmiková. You can listen to the report on Czech Broadcast. List of photos to be found at Wikimedia Commons.
- By: Vyolltsa
Prompting what's most important - our community in Albania and Kosovo
During the summer, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group focused on what’s most important for the community by sharing some of the most interesting projects and activities on social media posts.
Below are some of the accomplishments that we have featured so far.
- Posting personal stories from our community members
This summer, we have shared inspiring stories of community members who have participated in and contributed to different projects to strengthen our Wikipedian community and to get to know each other. Through this initiative, our members serve to increase further connections and interactions among each other.
- Drawing attention to main projects
For the first part of this year, we have undertaken many activities and initiatives that enriched the content on Wikipedia. We utilized social media posts to share everything from editathons to special GLAM projects like Wiki Loves Living Heritage in Albania and Kosovo, Wikimedian in Residence, and contributions from our members that publish articles on different portals about the role of Wikipedia in Albanian society. All these helped us expand our outreach and impact.
Looking back at our social media updates, we can see the real outcomes of our work. We have noticed more people joining our events and activities and more interactions on our posts.
- Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
- By: Jan Beránek
At the end of May and throughout June, Wikipedians focused on human rights and humanitarian topics, history, and notable individuals. Thanks to the Human Rights on Wikipedia challenge, which we organized for the third time this year, 33 Wikipedians managed to create 99 articles and expand another 117 – in total, they edited 216 articles.
The community of Wikipedians gathered twice in person as part of the challenge: at an editathon at the People in Need center in the Langhans café and during a tour at the Ďáblice cemetery. Additionally, we organized three events for schools: at ZŠ Londýnská, at the Secondary School of Informatics, Postal Services, and Finance in Brno, and at Dvořák Gymnasium in Kralupy nad Vltavou. The entire challenge was also complemented by an online workshop for non-profit organizations.
- By: Jan Beránek
The best camera is the one you always have with you (and on social media, this is doubly true)! That is the motto of the Mobile Photography Micro-contest, which started on September 1st in Czechia and runs until October 6th.
More info is available at Wikipedia Photography Micro-contest (Czech only).
I remember how amazed I was when I first heard that I could edit Wikipedia. No matter how strange that may sound, I was a librarian working in a public library and I had no idea what Wikipedia meant. Two years have passed since then and I couldn’t be happier.
This year I attended my first Wikimania and it was greater than my expectations. So many people were talking about my favourite subjects and I had the chance to discuss them with them and share each other's experiences. I attended sessions about media education, libraries and schools and the future of editing Wikipedia as part of the educational curricula. And the problems I face in my country are pretty much the same everywhere. I am talking about librarians who want to make a difference in notability and the lack of visibility of articles. I met a wonderful person who translated poems of a Romanian writer into her language, I couldn’t be more proud. It feels great to know you are not alone, some people understand and are ready to give a hand when in need.
The presentations at Wikimania were very interesting, I enjoyed the talks about libraries and the position of Wikimedians in residence. This concept of Wikimedian in residence is well known in France, England, Scotland, USA, and it is a job like any other because public institutions are aware of how much visibility Wikipedia brings to their collections.
I’m the first wikimedian in residence in my country Romania this year, for a brief period, five days, but the results are quite impressive and my hope for the future is to develop this concept and make it popular in my country too.
Another charming aspect I would like to point out is that there is no such thing as you are too small, you can not do this or that.
Wikimania gave me confidence, more enthusiasm than I already had and the strong belief that if I have an idea or a project, nothing is impossible. Besides the professional aspects, there were those talks in the lobby, between the two sessions, such a relaxed atmosphere and friendly people, I felt like I’d been there forever. This is the difference between Wikimedia, which is completely organized by volunteers, and the classic job where you get paid to follow strict rules and sometimes initiative gets to be blamed.
Innovation and inclusion are the main characteristics that help us shape a brighter future and transfer the concept of open knowledge from paper to reality. Open mind, open heart, open knowledge - my three coordinates. This experience encouraged me to keep being part of the Wikimedia movement and to develop my professional skills, knowing that here we are all the same, facing the same problems and enjoying the same emotions. I may be a small piece in this puzzle, but the world is full of such pieces, each with its special feature, and together they form the beauty of open knowledge.
During Wikimania this August, Wikimedia Polska organised a keynote discussion panel. The panel focused on open science, open academia, and how these concepts intersect with the Wikipedia and Wikimedia communities. Kasia Makowska, Open Science Manager at WMPL, moderated the panel and summarises it below.
Panel participants were: Dariusz Jemielniak (Polish Academy of Sciences, WMF Board of Trustees), Julia Maria Koszewska (Wikimedia Polska Board of Trustees), Włodzimierz Lewoniewski (Department of Information Systems at Poznań University of Economics and Business).
The panelists opened by discussing their personal views on open science and the academic landscape. They spoke about the importance of accessibility of research materials and data. The inaccessibility of research and the high cost of publishing were highlighted as major barriers to truly open science. The publish-or-perish culture in academia was mentioned as a challenge that hinders researchers from engaging in open practices. Włodzimierz emphasized that the academic system forces scholars to choose high-impact, closed-access journals to advance their careers, even though they support open access ideologically.
The role of Wikipedia in open science was a central focus. Dariusz encouraged academics to integrate Wikipedia editing into their teaching, asking students to write Wikipedia articles as a part of their assignments. He suggested that contributing to Wikipedia could be just as valuable as writing traditional academic papers, especially if academic systems began to recognize Wikipedia contributions in evaluations, including tenure evaluations.
There was also a strong emphasis on the synergy between academia and the Wikimedia community. Julia shared a successful example from Poland, where a collaboration between academics and Wikimedia volunteers led to ethnographic fieldwork that enriched Wikipedia's content, illustrating the power of mutual benefit.
Lastly, the panelists discussed the educational value of using Wikipedia in classrooms to teach students how to contribute, review, and engage critically with sources, arguing that it could be a great learning tool for critical thinking and understanding how research is constructed and reviewed. The audience engaged in the conversation too, challenging some points from the panel about students editing Wikipedia and the burden it might pose on Wikipedia editors (see reflections from Clovermoss, Wikimedian of the Year), bringing up the Wikipedian in Residence role as a potential solution, and the Wikimedia Foundation having a seat at the table to advocate for open science in the broader world.
Overall, the discussion reflected an ongoing struggle between the ideals of open science and the realities of academia, with the panelists pushing for more collaboration between the Wikimedia community and academic institutions to make knowledge more accessible. The themes raised were aligned with what was discussed during other sessions about open science at Wikimania, such as the workshop Strengthening Wikimedia Collaborations with and for Open Science.
Personally, I really enjoyed moderating the panel. It was a bit stressful to participate in such a big event but great to hear interesting contributions from the panelists and engaged questions from the audience. I feel like I learned a lot! You can watch the session recording here.
- By: antanana, a member of Wiki Loves Monuments Ukraine organising team
For the first time a Ukrainian edition of Wiki Loves Monuments international photo contest will have a special category dedicated to Polish cultural heritage during October. The authors of the best pictures and videos will receive prizes and branded souvenirs. Wikimedia Polska is partnering with Wikimedia Ukraine for this inaugural joint project.
Due to a long shared – and at times complicated – history, there are many Polish monuments on the territory of Ukraine; and not all of them are registered and protected, let alone properly cared for by the state authorities or local communities. The main purpose of a separate special category is to draw attention to these monuments and their condition, and to document them for Wikipedia. Over the years of conducting Wiki Loves Monuments Ukraine the organising team held special categories dedicated to monuments of Greek, Armenian, German and Jewish cultural heritage in Ukraine – in an attempt to cover a very multicultural landscape of Ukraine in the past.
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Saint Francis Borgia church. Rozluch, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. Photo: © Henryk Bielamowicz, CC BY-SA 4.0 -
Ruins of Czerwonogród Castle. Nyrkiv, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. Photo: © Rbrechko, CC BY-SA 4.0 -
Potocki Chapel. Pechera, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. Photo: © Posterrr, CC BY-SA 4.0
Anton Protsiuk, programs coordinator of Wikimedia Ukraine, noted: “We are very grateful for Wikimedia Polska partnering with us in this project. The lists for the special category are created by the volunteer organising committee based on the available information about monuments, and there might be some grey areas with thinking whether to include this or that monument. So, it is important to have the final decision to be residing outside of the organisers. It is also good to have a jury formed by Wikimedia Polska, and, of course, getting some branded (or sweet) souvenirs from Poland would be a welcome gift for our participants.
We hope that we can motivate new and existing participants to upload more materials, especially as quite a lot of the objects in the special category lists are not officially protected by the state, so they were not featured during the usual Wiki Loves Monuments Ukraine contest”.
This list can be viewed at the link: pl.wlm.photo.
The list of the special category currently has already more than a few hundred objects, and we are working on it, and it will be expanded during the competition as well. The organising committee welcomes suggestions and additional information about Polish cultural heritage objects not currently listed. You can send this information to the e-mail address of the committee at wlm
wikimedia.org.ua.
The expert jury will determine and award:
- authors of the three best photos of Polish monuments in Ukraine;
- the author of the best video depicting Polish cultural heritage.
Besides, the most active participants will receive branded souvenirs.
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Organisational team of the special category Polish heritage in Ukraine. Photo: © Martin Urbanec, CC0 -
Wikimedia Polska team. Photo: © Jacek Durski, CC BY-SA 4.0 -
Ukrainians at Wikimania 2024. Photo: © Ferdinando Traversa, CC0 -
Wikimedia Polska'a visual. © Aleksandra Cyron, Wikimedia Polska, CC BY-SA 4.0
- How to participate
- Go to the special category page on Wikipedia (the page is also available in English and Polish, though the lists themselves are in Ukrainian only).
- Create or log in to your Wikipedia account (you must enter a valid e-mail when registering).
- Find a monument in the lists of the region. Each monument has its own identifier (ID).
- If you have information about an object that is not on the lists, please send that information to wlm
wikimedia.org.ua, indicating the name of the settlement where the object is located, other data (coordinates, links to publications, etc.). - From October 1 to 31, upload a photo of the monument directly from the lists: find the line with the desired object in the lists, and in the last column click on the link "[Upload photo] (Завантажити фото)" or "Upload another photo" (Завантажити ще фото).
Please note: due to the state of war in Ukraine, only photos taken no later than June 30, 2024 can participate in the contest. The only exception is the interiors of monuments – their pictures can be submitted even if the pictures were taken during the competition in October.
All photos depicting objects from the lists of the special category will automatically participate in it, so there is no need to additionally indicate this when submitting a photo to the competition. Please note that photos of objects that have an official protection status will also take part in the main categories of the competition. But objects without official protection status can be awarded only within this special category.
- By: MagdaBarascu
Constant reading and learning new things are protective factors for cognitive function later in life. Frequent reading activities are associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline for older adults at all levels of education in the long term, according to the latest study from the European Institute for the Biology of Aging.
Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova organised editing workshops for seniors on the Wikipedia platform in Onești, between May and June 2024. The project's main objective is to familiarise groups of seniors with the basics of the Wikipedia editing process and develop digital and information evaluation skills.
The project was developed in collaboration with Giurgiu County Library ”I.A. Bassarabescu” and "Radu Rosetti" Municipal Library from Onești. The courses were held in two stages at the "Radu Rosetti" Municipal Library from Onești and were facilitated by this year's librarian and Wikimedian in Residence Elena Damian, from ”I.A. Bassarabescu” Giurgiu County Library.
The complexity of reading and editing keeps seniors healthy
Recent research suggests that modifiable lifestyle factors, such as engaging in cognitively stimulating activities, contribute to cognitive regeneration, such that individuals may tolerate greater disease burden before cognitive symptoms develop. Although projects for seniors are a priority on the EU agenda, the Romanian state does not offer educational and digital skills programs to older adults.
The WMROMD project took place in two phases. The first part took place between May 20-21, 2024, when seniors created a user account and made the first contributions from editing suggestions: grammar correction and links between pages. The second stage took place between June 25-27, 2024, when the same activities were resumed, and the seniors contributed to the editing of the Onești library’s Wikipedia page. The Wikipedia Editing Workshops for Seniors helped participants learn how to edit, use and improve Wikipedia pages. "The Wikipedia editing course was, after all, our chance to learn something new and contribute to the largest online encyclopaedia."
| “ | As a librarian, you must have curiosity and a desire to always learn new things, which you can pass on to the readers we interact with. In recent years we have learned to use online and technology in our work to keep up with the world of today. Librarians and libraries are and must be modern. The Wikipedia editing course was our chance to learn something new and contribute to the largest online encyclopaedia, which enriched our knowledge and most importantly we managed to create our library page. It was genuinely nice teamwork. We learned things that we can apply to create and edit other pages as well. We are glad to be part of the Wikipedia team, and we want to do interesting things together | ” |
| — Ionuț Tenie, manager of the library in Onești | ||
Seniors’ experience with editing on Wikipedia has been positive
The Wikipedia editing workshops allowed seniors to share their knowledge and learn new things they did not think possible while contributing to an important project and connecting with a global community. They discovered “Wikipedia, naturally, by navigating the Internet. But the course they attended had the merit of systematizing their information about this encyclopaedia of the 3rd millennium. They learned how they can get involved in the development of some topics starting with grammar corrections, translations, links, and the transformation of stubs into articles. They have gained more confidence in the information obtained, which is why they want to continue the collaboration." Ionuț Tenie, manager of the library in Onești
Wikicamps are considered to be one of the most efficient and motivating projects for the Armenian Wikimedia community. Wikimedia Armenia has been organizing Wikicamps since 2013. Generations have passed through Armenian Wikicamps and they always remember the camps with the warmest memories. This year Wikimedia Armenia organized two summer Wikicamps: one for teenagers in July and the other for the youth in August. Though the article cannot pass on all the hard work and fun of the Wikicamps but it will give an insight into the days Armenian community members spend in camps.
Teens’ Summer Wikicamp
On July 7-14, Teens’ Summer Wikicamp took place in Tsaghkadzor, Armenia. 45 teenagers aged 13-17 participated in this Wikicamp. The selection of the participants was done based on their active contributions to Wikimedia projects and the quality of created and improved articles within the previous one year.
The campers were separated into 5 groups of 9 people each which were competing with each other by wiki edits, sports activities, intellectual games and cultural events. Within the seven days of the Wikicamp participants translated and created 588 articles with a volume of 8,694,616 bytes. Based on edits (both quality and quantity) the best editor and the best group were determined and they received awards and certificates from Wikimedia Armenia.
During the Wikicamp, participants competed in various sports, played the “Brain Ring” intellectual game and the best-loved “Fort Wiki” multi staged game. On the last day of the Wikicamp a theatrical performance was staged during which the groups prepared performances picturing the cultures and traditions of different countries. After the closing ceremony campers gathered around a bonfire, sang songs and had a lot of fun.
Youth Summer Wikicamp
On August 11-18, the Youth Summer Wikicamp 2024 was held in Tsaghkadzor, in which 46 young individuals aged 18-35 took part. 22 of them were experienced editors, whose selection was made after the Youth Winter Wikicamp 2024 based on the combination of their activity on Armenian Wikipedia and the quality of the articles they created. The other 24 participants were newcomers who were selected after the training sessions which were held at Wikimedia Armenia’ office, as well as Wikiclubs; those who actively participated and created quality articles were selected as participants of the Summer Youth Wikicamp.
The participants of the Wikicamp were divided into 4 groups of 11-12 people, which competed with each other not only in editing Wikipedia, but also in sports, intellectual games and cultural events. During the 7 days of the camp, the participants translated 461 articles from different languages. In total, they contributed 15,594,760 bytes to Armenian Wikipedia. The articles were written from the lists of the vital articles on Wikipedia. As a result of the edits, the best wiki editor, the best new wiki editor and the best team were determined, who received the awards and certificates set by Wikimedia Armenia.
As during the Teens’ Wikicamp, the youth also competed in various sports and played the “Brain-Ring” intellectual game and the multi-staged “Fort Wiki”. In addition to these games, there was a special “Tasty Competition” organized for the participants; the teams presented their cooking skills by preparing a dish with the pre-provided foods, and the dishes were evaluated by the judges.
During the Wikicamp, an excursion was organized to several natural and historical monuments of Armenia - Jukhtak Monastery, Haghartsin, Hidden Waterfall - during which the participants took photos of these historical-architectural and natural monuments in order to later upload those images to the Wikimedia Commons during the "Wiki Loves Monuments" and "Wiki Loves the Earth" photo contests.
Wikicampers also welcomed some guests. The representatives of the "Grkaser" website visited the Wikicamp. The attendees participated in the discussion of the audio book, after which the campers who created articles on literature from the pre-provided lists, were awarded special prizes from the “Grkaser” website and Darak publishing house. The deputy head of the Youth Department of theMi nistry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Armine Petrosyan, visited the Wikicamp. The youth programs and future opportunities of the camp participants were discussed. The guest answered the questions from the audience, then she attended the "Fort Wiki" game.
On the last day of the Wikicamp, a theater performance was held, during which the groups performed their plays using the plots of well-known movies. After the official closing ceremony, the camp participants gathered around the campfire, where they spent several hours singing and networking.
Wiki Loves Earth 2024 International competition devoted to the natural heritage sites is over: check the latest news and updates!
The biggest photo contest devoted to natural heritage, Wiki Loves Earth, lasted from May 1st to July 31st. Overall, we gathered 55 participating countries and territories with 79,765 uploaded images!
14 CEE region countries took part in the contest this year:
- Albania (234 images) – 46th place by the number of uploads
- Armenia (3,150 images) – 6th place by the number of uploads
- Azerbaijan (120 images) – 50th place by the number of uploads
- Croatia (399 images) – 40th place by the number of uploads
- Czech Republic (309 images) – 42nd place by the number of uploads
- Germany (16,664 images) – 1st place by the number of uploads
- Italy (2,195 images) – 11th place by the number of uploads
- Kosovo (110 images) – 51st place by the number of uploads
- Malta (515 images) – 34th place by the number of uploads
- Serbia (3,517 images) – 5th place by the number of uploads
- Slovakia (472 images) – 37th place by the number of uploads
- Sweden (1,017 images) – 22nd place by the number of uploads
- Turkey (1,201 images) – 19th place by the number of uploads
- Ukraine (6,437 images) – 2nd place by the number of uploads
Check the full list of participants.
We are extremely glad and excited to see such a number of CEE countries on the list of participants; this region has an extensive and beautiful natural heritage that must be shown to the world! If your CEE country is still not on the list of participants, consider joining next year:)
- What is next?
- The international core team has already gathered the full list of local winning images and videos both for the main nomination and special ones (Video nomination, Human Rights and Environment).
- The International jury team has started the main evaluation process, which will last till the end of October.
- We will be happy to announce the final results, which are the top 20 best images of this year’s contest, by the end of November.
Check all the local winners here, and stay tuned for the final results!
If you need any assistance or have questions, contact the International organizing team at wle-team@wikimedia.org.ua!
Follow the project on social media channels to see the jury introduction and the announcements of the final results: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- By: Velkovski.b
The Macedonian Wikimedian community’s summer was interesting, productive and effective. The community, besides the well-deserved summer break, did not stop contributing Wikimedia projects and working towards reaching the organization’s goals.
Wikimedia MKD kept on organizing campaigns and activities aimed at enriching the content of Wikipedia, but also creating a well-written article, with well-introduced references and good illustrations. The lack of illustrations in the articles leaves room for further editing of the article, and that is exactly what we aimed for this time.
The campaign "Articles without illustrations" ran from July 1, 2024 to August 31, 2024. The prizes were provided for the most prolific participants, who have uploaded 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.
Also Wikimedia MKD expanded its network of partnerships and collaborations. The latest formalized collaboration comes from Demir Hisar. The Municipality of Demir Hisar and Wikimedia MKD signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on 11 September 2024. This memorandum confirms the commitment of the two organizations to cooperate together, and more specifically the Municipality of Demir Hisar with its potential to help Wikimedia MKD in achieving its stated goals - free access to free content and knowledge. Through cultural, scientific, historical, museum and socio-political materials, Demir Hisar will provide significant help and support for the achievement of the organization's goals.
"Wikiexpeditions" continue exploring Macedonia and enriching the contents of Wikipedia in Macedonian. The project's goal is to help improve existing and create new articles about cities, villages, geographical areas and peculiarities in areas throughout the territory of Macedonia. In the period from 7 June to 9 June 2024, our team of Wikipedians held the second Wikiexpedition for 2024. This time, the Babuna and Topolka River valleys were the subject of research. The end result of this Wikiexpedition was visiting and photographing 9 new villages, 10 revisited, 1 historical village and traveled over 600 kilometers.
The editing days and editing weekends were also successfully finished. New articles on different topics were created every day and every weekend and thus the Macedonian Wikipedia is growing day by day.
Wikimedia MKD continues working on the organization’s growth and reaching the annual goals. Led by the principles of the Movement, Wikimedia MKD gives a significant contribution to the creating of free knowledge.