Education/Newsletter/May 2014/EduWiki Conference in Belgrade 2014

EduWiki Conference in Belgrade 2014

By Ivan25

Learning Day - group photo

Conference Day

On March 24, first EduWiki Conference in Serbia was held in Belgrade.

EduWiki Conference 2014 - Belgrade was the first conference organized by Wikimedia Serbia, whose aim was cooperation between Wikimedia and educational and scientific institutions, as well as mutual cooperation between Wikimedia chapters on educational projects.

This was a two-day meeting divided into two parts: the first (Learning day) was reserved for local and internal meetings, workshops and presentations between Wikimedians and participants of educational projects from Serbia and other local Wikimedia chapters; the second (Conference) consisted of lectures, presentations, and meetings with local educational and science organizations.

Learning Day was held on March 23, at the Wikimedia Serbia office. Participants were from the host chapter, WMF, WM Czech Republic, Macedonian Wikipedia community, WM Ukraine, WM United Kingdom and WM Deutschland.

The aim of this meeting consisted of workshop and discussion about the most important educational topics – metrics, project managers, community support, quality and quantity of articles and also sharing of good ideas and experiences. All together we learned what we are doing well, what we could improve, and what novelties we could introduce in our educational projects.

On March 24, the conference was held at the Belgrade Youth Center. Among the presenters were guests from abroad, including a Wikipedian from Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina), our colleagues from the chapter and also guests from local educational and scientific institutions and government representatives. All together there were around 75 participants.

The idea was to present to educational institutions what we are doing and how they can join us and start a project in their organization. Conference was divided in three parts. The first one was introduction (what is Wikimedia and Wikipedia, WMRS educational projects and projects in practice); second part was reserved for CC licenses, language dictionary project (Arabic-Serbian dictionary "1001 Arabic word") and successful stories from educational institutions; the last part was reserved for presentations of our guests from other local chapters.

Altogether, the Conference was successful and well organized. Guests from educational institutions shared their positive impressions with us and gave us support to continue our mission. In the next few months we will see what the real impact on the educational community was, and what our next steps will be.

Beside meetings and Conference day, guests from abroad had the opportunity to enjoy social activities such as boat cruise on the Belgrade's rivers, sightseeing in the city center and a glimpse of a well-known Belgrade nightlife and restaurants. Rainy weather didn't affect the last-night gathering, in spite, hosts made a heartwarming farewell party which lasted till the morning.

Find more information on the website EduWiki and also see a lot of interesting photos taken during those days.