Dear Wikimedians,
I am pleased to announce the launch of *Wiki Loves Peace (WLP) 2026*, an
international photography campaign organized in collaboration with the *United
Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)*.
Wiki Loves Peace aims to document peace-related heritage, memorials,
museums, educational institutions, public art, and peacebuilding
initiatives around the world through freely licensed photographs and media
on Wikimedia Commons. The initiative takes inspiration from campaigns such
as Wiki Loves Monuments and Wiki Loves Earth while focusing specifically on
themes of peace, remembrance, reconciliation, coexistence, and disarmament
education.
Selected winning photographs will be featured on UNODA's official social
media platforms with appropriate attribution in accordance with Wikimedia
Commons licensing requirements.
Campaign dates
*Launch:* 21 September 2026 (International Day of Peace)
*Submission deadline:* 30 October 2026, 11:59 PM AOE (end of United Nations
Disarmament Week)
Objectives
The campaign seeks to:
- Promote open knowledge related to peace and disarmament
- Encourage documentation of peace memorials, museums, monuments, and
heritage sites on Wikimedia Commons
- Increase freely licensed media related to peace education and anti-war
remembrance
- Support collaboration between Wikimedia communities and institutions
working on peace and disarmament themes
Examples of eligible subjects
Contributors are invited to document, among other things:
- Peace memorials and monuments
- Peace museums and exhibitions
- Anti-war memorials
- Sites associated with reconciliation and coexistence
- Disarmament and peace education initiatives
- Public art promoting peace
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki heritage sites
- Cultural heritage associated with peacebuilding
Learn more
Meta-Wiki project page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Peace
Questions, suggestions, endorsements, and expressions of interest are
warmly welcome. We would be especially grateful for support from
affiliates, community organizers, photographers, educators, GLAM
institutions, and peace-related organizations interested in helping expand
participation and document peace heritage from their regions.
Kind regards,
--
Raydann
*Wikimedian-in-Residence*
Central Library, IIT Delhi &
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
Forwarding an email to Wikimedia-l / estoy reenviando un correo electrónico
a Wikimedia-l.
Regards / saludos,
Pine🌲
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Luis Carrasco via Wikimania-l <wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Date: Thu, Sep 10, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Subject: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2027: Santiago, 18–21 August "The Internet
We Want"!
To: <wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Cc: Luis Carrasco <luis.carrasco(a)wikimediachile.cl>
Dear Wikimedia community,
On behalf of the 2027 Core Organising Team, we are delighted to let the
community know that Wikimanía 2027 will take place in Santiago and online
from 18 - 21 August, under the theme “The Internet we want.”
The Core Organizing Team
<https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2027:Organizers> is already hard at
work conceptualizing a conference around a shared vision for the future. A
vision of an Internet that is more diverse, more equitable, and more just;
where knowledge is a right rather than a privilege; where minority
languages are valued on par with hegemonic ones; and where collaboration
prevails, where digital public goods (geared toward the public interest
rather than profit) are promoted and strengthened.
2027 will mark the third time Wikimanía comes to Latin America, following
editions in Buenos Aires (2009) and Mexico City (2015). Its return
celebrates the growth of the Wikimedia communities in Latin America -
communities that have strengthened and coalesced around core principles of
democracy, access to information, freedom of expression, and that have
devised innovative strategies for overcoming significant structural
barriers in sharing free knowledge with the world.
We look forward to hosting a space for global Wikimedia communities to
share their own knowledge and experience, and innovate with us as we work
toward building the internet we want.
The 2027 COT are also happy to announce that scholarships will be open for
applications in the next few weeks. The application process will be
announced widely when it is live - please keep an eye here and on
Diff, the Wikimania
Wiki <https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2027:Wikimania>, or on the
Wikimania social channels (Telegram: @wikimaniachat | Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/wikimania.conference/?hl=en> | Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/wikimania.conference>). Thank you and we look
forward to hosting you in 2027!
¡Nos vemos en Santiago!
Warmly,
Wikimania 2027 Core Organising Team
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list -- wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimania-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Hey All
There has been the question, "will people watch videos on Wikipedia?" After
many many years of work we are finally able to answer that question:
1) This video on Polio made with VideoWiki
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:En.Video-Polio.webm> and which is
in the lead of the EN WP article on the same subject, had its "play button"
hit 3,619 times
<https://mvc.toolforge.org/index.php?category=Videowiki×pan=now-90&rang…>
over the last 3 months.
2) The English Wikipedia article on Polio during that time received 144,389
pageviews
<https://pageviews.wmcloud.org/?start=2026-06-10&end=2026-09-07&project=en.w…>.
This means for this prominently placed video our readers play it about 2.5%
of the time. Unfortunately we are unable to determine how much of the video
was watched. Hopefully that will come in the future.
Best
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
*This message is also available in French and Portuguese. Scroll down to
see both language versions. | Ce message est également disponible en
français et en portugais. Faites défiler vers le bas pour découvrir les
deux versions linguistiques. | Esta mensagem também está disponível em
francês e português. Deslize para baixo para ver as duas versões
linguísticas.*
Hello everyone,
*It is happening today.*
At *13:00 UTC*, we will be bringing the EduWiki community together for the
September edition of the *EduWiki Knowledge Showcase*.
For 90 minutes, we will hear directly from Wikimedia education
practitioners and explore work happening across *Central and Eastern Europe
and Central Asia* and *Sub-Saharan Africa, *with *live interpretation in
French and Portuguese*.
Joining us today are:
*Lora Milutinović*
Wikimedia Serbia
*Ayokanmi Oyeyemi*
Wikimedia User Group Nigeria
*Mari Avetisyan*
Wikimedia Armenia
We will also have a special capstone project highlight from *Dev Jadiya*, a
mentee from *Cohort 1 of the EduWiki Mentorship Program*.
If you have already registered, your place is saved. If this slipped your
mind, there is still time to join us.
*Join the September Knowledge Showcase
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Wikipedia_%26_Education_User_Group_Sh…>*
See you later today,
*---*
Français
Bonjour à toutes et à tous,
*C’est aujourd’hui.*
À *13h00 UTC*, nous réunirons la communauté EduWiki pour l’édition de
septembre du *EduWiki Knowledge Showcase*.
Pendant 90 minutes, nous échangerons directement avec des personnes actives
dans le domaine de l’éducation sur Wikimedia et découvrirons des
initiatives menées en *Europe centrale et orientale et en Asie centrale*,
ainsi qu’en *Afrique subsaharienne*, avec une *interprétation en direct en
français et en portugais*.
Nous accueillerons aujourd’hui :
*Lora Milutinović*
Wikimedia Serbia
*Ayokanmi Oyeyemi*
Wikimedia User Group Nigeria
*Mari Avetisyan*
Wikimedia Armenia
Nous aurons également un aperçu spécial du projet de fin de parcours de *Dev
Jadiya*, mentoré de la *Cohorte 1 du programme de mentorat EduWiki*.
Si vous êtes déjà inscrit, votre place est réservée. Si vous avez oublié de
vous inscrire, il est encore temps de nous rejoindre.
*Rejoindre le Knowledge Showcase de septembre*
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Wikipedia_%26_Education_User_Group_Sh…>
À tout à l’heure,
*---*
Português
Olá a todos,
*É hoje.*
Às *13h00 UTC*, vamos reunir a comunidade EduWiki para a edição de setembro
do *EduWiki Knowledge Showcase*.
Durante 90 minutos, vamos ouvir diretamente pessoas que trabalham na área
da educação na Wikimedia e conhecer iniciativas desenvolvidas na *Europa
Central e Oriental e na Ásia Central*, bem como na *África Subsaariana*,
com *interpretação ao vivo em francês e português*.
Hoje, teremos connosco:
*Lora Milutinović*
Wikimedia Serbia
*Ayokanmi Oyeyemi*
Wikimedia User Group Nigeria
*Mari Avetisyan*
Wikimedia Armenia
Teremos também um destaque especial para o projeto final de *Dev Jadiya*,
mentorando da *Cohorte 1 do Programa de Mentoria EduWiki*.
Se já se inscreveu, o seu lugar está reservado. Se ainda não se inscreveu,
ainda vai a tempo de se juntar a nós.
*Junte-se ao Knowledge Showcase de setembro*
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:Wikipedia_%26_Education_User_Group_Sh…>
Até logo,
*Barakat Adegboye*
User: BAdegboye (EdWH)
Communications Assistant
Hello everyone,
We're delighted to announce that WikidataCon 2027 will be hosted in
Istanbul, Türkiye.
After an open call for expressions of interest to host, we received three
strong proposals from Wikimedia Ghana User Group (Accra, Ghana),
Wikimedistas de Uruguay (Montevideo, Uruguay) and Wikimedians of Turkic
Languages User Group (Istanbul, Türkiye). We selected the proposal from the
Wikimedians of Turkic Languages User Group.
WikidataCon 2027 will take place from 29 to 31 October 2027, opening
exactly on Wikidata's 15th birthday.
Hakan, on behalf of the host team, shared this welcome message:
"Many languages, one shared knowledge. We look forward to welcoming the
Wikidata community to Istanbul, where cultures and continents meet."
More details, including the theme, program and scholarship information,
will follow in the coming months. We look forward to celebrating this
milestone together in Istanbul.
Cheers,
--
Mohammed S. Abdulai
*Senior Community Communications Manager, Wikidata*
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0) 30 577 116 2466
https://wikimedia.de
Grab a spot in my calendar for a chat: cal.com/masssly.
A lot is happening around Wikidata - Keep up to date!
<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Status_updates> Current news and
exciting stories about Wikimedia, Wikipedia and Free Knowledge in our
newsletter (in German): Subscribe now <https://www.wikimedia.de/newsletter/>
.
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us to achieve our vision!
https://spenden.wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland — Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Charlottenburg, VR 23855 B.
Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin,
Steuernummer 27/029/42207. Geschäftsführende Vorstände: Franziska Heine
*Dear African Wikimedians,*
We are pleased to share our plan to *map Movement-aligned initiatives
across Africa*.
The Pan-African Hub is undertaking this exercise to build a shared picture
of initiatives contributing to the Wikimedia Movement’s mission across the
continent. These include work in areas such as *education, leadership,
indigenous languages, cultural heritage, technology, research, open
knowledge and community development*.
The mapping will help us:
- Identify initiatives, expertise and good practices across Africa;
- Connect communities and organisations working on similar priorities;
- Strengthen collaboration and peer learning;
- Identify opportunities for partnerships and capacity building; and
- Inform programme development and strategic planning.
The exercise is open to *Wikimedians, affiliates, institutions,
organisations, thematic networks and other partners* running initiatives
with a continental or multi-country focus.
*The focus is on the initiative, not the organisation behind it.* An
initiative may be a project, programme, campaign, partnership, platform or
other collaborative effort that advances free knowledge and aligns with the
Wikimedia Movement’s strategic direction.
Please share your initiative through the *Google Form below*:
https://forms.gle/StKqhuUT7o26yD9Z6
We will use the information collected to develop a *continental inventory*,
identify expertise and opportunities for collaboration, showcase successful
approaches, and support knowledge sharing across the Movement.
*This is not a funding assessment or evaluation exercise.* It is intended
to help us better understand, connect and strengthen the work already
happening across Africa.
Thank you for contributing to this collective effort.
For: Pan-African Hub- Interim Steering Committee
Amb Olushola Olaniyan
French Version
*Chers Wikimédiens africains,*
Nous sommes ravis de vous présenter notre projet de cartographie des
initiatives alignées sur le Mouvement à travers l'Afrique.
Le Pôle panafricain lance cette démarche pour bâtir une vision partagée des
initiatives qui contribuent à la mission du Mouvement Wikimédia sur le
continent — qu'il s'agisse d'éducation, de leadership, de langues
autochtones, de patrimoine culturel, de technologie, de recherche, de
savoir libre ou de développement communautaire.
Cette cartographie nous permettra de :
- Recenser les initiatives, les expertises et les bonnes pratiques à
travers l'Afrique ;
- Relier les communautés et organisations qui travaillent sur des
priorités communes ;
- Renforcer la collaboration et l'apprentissage entre pairs ;
- Repérer des opportunités de partenariats et de renforcement des
capacités ;
- Nourrir l'élaboration des programmes et la planification stratégique.
Cet exercice s'adresse aux *Wikimédiens, aux entités affiliées, aux
institutions, aux organisations, aux réseaux thématiques et à tous les
partenaires* portant des initiatives à portée continentale ou
transnationale.
*L'accent porte sur l'initiative elle-même, pas sur la structure qui la
port*e. Une initiative peut prendre la forme d'un* projet, d'un programme,
d'une campagne, d'un partenariat, d'une plateforme ou de toute autre action
collaborative* favorisant le savoir libre et s'inscrivant dans
l'orientation stratégique du Mouvement Wikimédia.
Partagez votre initiative via le formulaire Google ci-dessous :
https://forms.gle/StKqhuUT7o26yD9Z6
Les informations recueillies serviront à dresser un* inventaire continental*,
à identifier les expertises et les opportunités de collaboration, à mettre
en lumière les approches fructueuses et à soutenir le partage de
connaissances au sein du Mouvement.
*Cette démarche n'est ni une évaluation en vue d'un financement, ni un
processus de contrôle*. Elle vise à mieux comprendre, connecter et
renforcer les actions déjà menées à travers l'Afrique.
Merci de contribuer à cet effort collectif.
For: Pan-African Hub- Interim Steering Committee
Amb Olushola Olaniyan
Hello,
If you’re a cyclist and a Wikimedian—or better yet, if you use your bike
for Wikimedia activities—this email is for you.
During Wikimania in Paris, an informal group of cycling Wikimedians
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedian_cyclists_group> was formed. And
a key request immediately emerged: to provide *a secure place at every
Wikimedia event (Wikimania, WikiCon, etc.) to park the bikes of
participants* who made the effort to ride there et encourage the
participants to came with their bikes (this will help reduce the carbon
footprint for such events). For Paris, among the longest trips, one
participant came from Germany and two from Denmark.
We also seek to encourage and discuss Biki-expeditions (a biki-expedition
is a sort of Wikipedia takes your city
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Takes_Your_City> but in
villages or to points of interest (POI) in the countryside/outdoors with
bicycles). Ehrlich91 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ehrlich91> shared
such an experience during a talk at Wikimania.
More generally, the group wants to promote Wikimedia activities by bike.
For example, you can check out the great work Dirk Schmidt has done documenting
Germany's greenways
<https://de.wikivoyage.org/wiki/D-Route_11:_Ostsee%E2%80%93Oberbayern> on
german Wikivoyage.
If you're interested, want to share an experience or ideas, or want to
start or join a bike expedition in your area, this group is here for you.
On Meta : *Wikimedian cyclists group
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedian_cyclists_group>*
Regards.
Thierry / TCY
Hi everyone,
Starting a new thread. I know Sunday evening can be long and uneventful, so
I decided to come bearing the gift of a follow-up to my January essay:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Schiste/what-now-2-data-strikes-back
I tried to make it shorter... and failed. But this time I crafted a tl;dr,
which I'll share here in parts.
tl;dr: the situation is worse than what you think, we need to close ranks
and make choices and act fast.
In January I shared a projection taking into account internet growth
against our own trends, and where it was probably leading us. With a
"conclusion" that we would probably lose half of our traffic in 3 to 5
years.
Good news, I was wrong.
Bad news, it will most probably be sooner than that: depending on the
assumptions, between 2.3 and 4.4 years. And this doesn't include the worst
case scenario with a steep decline acceleration.
Back in January I also shared my concern that the readership decline would
hit editorship with a lag, and hard. Well, you've guessed it, here it
comes. The lag is around one month on casual contributors and eight months
on the core, and we're now at almost a 4% yearly decrease on the most
engaged contributors, and between -5% and -11% on the least engaged, under
25 edits a month.
So, where does that leave us? Readership decline has crossed -15% year on
year. The decline rate has got worse in 28 months out of the last 30.
Editorship decline is worsening month over month.
And because bad news travels in groups: edit numbers are increasing. Good
news? Nope. It means the work not done by the people who moved on is being
picked up by the most engaged people in our communities. Which is the
recipe for more burnout and more people leaving, creating a very dangerous
loop. One would say we already started it.
Of course we can wait a few more months to see the data confirm the trends.
Sadly, I'm pretty confident, again, it will.
All that being said, the question is what we can do. A few things are
solely in the hands of the Foundation, and I hope they'll act. But a lot of
things are in the hands of everyone else.
First, the situation itself. We need to create a shared sense of where
we're standing. That's what I'm trying to do with these emails. But more
often than not I read people saying "it doesn't matter that we lose
readers". Maybe they're right. I think not. But unless we build consent
around the situation, everything after that is going to be tough, slow and
depleting much needed energy. Because we are lacking any mechanism to
create consent, we're scattered around and stretched thin just trying to
have discussions. Which leads me to...
Second, we need a "place" to build consent. Following a meeting two months
ago, I've been working on formalising a "campaign" to test new ways of
building that shared picture: Next 25.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Next_25 there is a proposal, a few examples
and some data already on the Meta page.
The talk pages are there to collaborate and discuss, and the idea is to
move away from approve/neutral/oppose and build something richer. In the
next few days I'll try to push discussions on some topics to start building
that muscle.
So, without further ado, three asks:
1. Come and discuss the essay, and share it. We need our local communities
to see where we actually stand.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Schiste/what-now-2-data-strikes-back
2. Please discuss and challenge this proposal:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Next_25/A_proposal_to_frame_Next_25 Maybe
it's the wrong idea, but we need to find a way to discuss better and build
shared understanding.
3. If you are trying things, building tools, share them there:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Next_25/Tools_and_experiments
And more generally, we need to value and celebrate innovation and
exploration.
In the essay I share some ideas, some bolder (it's the last part if you
want to skip to it) but there are hundreds more. We need better ways to
share them, showcase them and test them.
We can't continue working in such siloed ways. We need to band together,
and we need to make quick, clear choices about what we stop doing, because
we can't fight every fight. Otherwise the -4% will turn to -15% very fast,
and by then we'll be fighting so many fires that our time and energy won't
go into building for tomorrow.
That is not the path we're on today. But! It still can be.
PS: Last time people reached saying I should have shared ideas and opinions
more, now that I did I of course expect people to reach out and say that I
shouldn't have shared ideas and opinions :D
--
Christophe
Hello everyone,
The *EduWiki Knowledge Showcase
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_%26_Education_User_Group/Showcase…>*
is
back this September.
After a three month break, we’re resuming the Showcase with spotlights on
interesting Wikimedia education activities from affiliates in the *Central
and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Sub Saharan Africa (SSA)* regions.
Join us on *10 September 2026 at 13:00 UTC* to hear from communities
working across different education contexts and discover the ideas and
activities they are developing.
*Date:* 10 September 2026
*Time:* 13:00 UTC
*Live interpretation:* French and Portuguese
*Register here:* https://w.wiki/TZag
Register now and save the date. We’ll be unveiling our speakers soon, so
keep an eye on our channels for the announcements.
We look forward to welcoming you back to the EduWiki Knowledge Showcase.
Best,
*Barakat Adegboye*
User: BAdegboye (EdWH)
Communications Assistant