The annual conference behind Wikipedia, one of the world’s most visited and beloved websites, will take place in Stockholm from 14–18 August 2019. The event will bring together members of the global community behind Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects: volunteer editors (Wikimedians) from around the world, museum and archival experts, leaders of the free knowledge movement, academics, and more. It will be the first time the conference is held in the Nordics, with previous events being held in Cape Town, South Africa; Montreal, Canada; and Esino Lario, Italy, among other locations.
The conference theme this year is “Stronger together: Wikimedia, free knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals,” emphasizing the shared aspirations of Wikimedia, free knowledge, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the role of each in creating a more equitable world. It is not up to one or a few actors to build a better world. It is up to all of us who inhabit this planet.
Wikimania will encourage attendees to reflect on how our free knowledge movement can support and collaborate with others to address some of the world’s most challenging problems in gender diversity, environmental sustainability, quality education, and more. The conference programme will include a diverse array of speakers and presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and more. This year’s conference is co-organized by Wikimedia Sweden, the independent non-profit Wikimedia chapter dedicated to supporting Wikipedia, the other Wikimedia projects, and free knowledge in Sweden, and the Wikimedia Foundation, the international non-profit that operates Wikipedia.
“Wikimedians believe that a world that is better informed is a world that is better equipped to meet our shared challenges. This year’s Wikimania is an opportunity to come together and celebrate the accomplishments that we have made in free knowledge over the past year. It’s also a time to reflect on what’s next—how shared knowledge can contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future for all,” said Katherine Maher, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation.
An estimated 1,000 people are expected to attend this year’s conference. Among the main speakers are Michael Peter Edson, co-founder of the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live; Liv Inger Somby, journalist and associate professor at the Sami University of Applied Sciences; Karin Holmgren, Vice-Chancellor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; and Ryan Merkley, CEO of Creative Commons.
“One of Wikipedia’s greatest strengths lies in collaboration—that we can collectively achieve greater things when we collaborate together. The UN has also explicitly stated that we can only achieve greater equity and peace in the world when we openly contribute and work together. At the first ever Wikimania in the Nordics, Wikimedians from around the world will meet to discuss how we can collectively support the Sustainable Development Goals in our work with the free knowledge movement. We are also hoping to see many of our partners and users of Wikipedia join the discussions in Stockholm,” said John Andersson, the Executive Director at Wikimedia Sweden.
This year’s conference program is underway, with sessions based on individual Sustainable Development Goals, including diversity, education, technology, and Wikimedia’s role within each of the goals.
For more information, please see the program (presented in full at the beginning of July) and how to register for the conference. For questions regarding interviews and press accreditation, please contact Victoria Englund at victoria[at]wenderfalck[dot]com.
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Quick facts
- Our theme is “Stronger together: Wikimedia, free knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals”. This year’s Wikimania is hosted by Wikimedia Sweden, the local independent non-profit Wikimedia affiliate.
- The fifteenth edition of Wikimania will take place in Stockholm between 14–18 August 2019, a city recognized internationally for its work in sustainability and sustainable development.
- Among the expected 1,000 guests will be: Katherine Maher, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, Michael Peter Edson, co-founder of the Museum of the United Nations; Ryan Merkley, CEO of Creative Commons; and Wikimedians from all over the world.
About Wikimedia Sweden
Wikimedia Sweden is the non-profit volunteer-driven Swedish Wikimedia chapter. It exists to promote the free knowledge movement in the country by supporting Wikipedia editors, contributions to Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, and increasing access to free knowledge sources. Wikimedia Sweden has around 500 members and several organisational members. The organisation consists of nine board members and nine employees. Their headquarters are located in Stockholm, but their members are spread out all over the country and a large extent of their activity is managed online, which makes it easier for people to get engaged in the organisation.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation is the international non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. We believe that everyone has the potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge, and that everyone should be able to access that knowledge freely. We host Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, build software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content, support the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible, and advocate for policies that enable Wikimedia and free knowledge to thrive. The Wikimedia Foundation is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that relies on donations. We receive financial support from millions of individuals around the world, with an average donation of about $15. We also receive donations through institutional grants and gifts. The Wikimedia Foundation is a United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with offices in San Francisco, California, USA.
About Wikimania
Wikimania is the annual conference centered on the Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia free knowledge websites) and the Wikimedia community of volunteers who contribute to them. It features presentations on Wikimedia projects, other wikis, free and open source software, free knowledge and free content, and the social and technical aspects which relate to these topics. Wikimania 2019 marks the 15th year of the conference.
About Wikipedia
Wikipedia is the world’s free knowledge resource. It is a collaborative creation that has been added to and edited by millions of people from around the globe since it was created in 2001: anyone can edit it, at any time. Wikipedia is offered in 300 languages containing a total of more than 50 million articles, and viewed more than 15 billion times every month. It is the largest, collaborative collection of free knowledge in human history, and today its content is contributed and edited by a community of more than 250,000 volunteer editors each month.
