GLAM/Newsletter/August 2025/Contents/AvoinGLAM report
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Steps towards a sustainable cultural commons
TAROCH
Panel discussion at Digime2025
TAROCH is a Creative Commons-led initiative to promote equitable access to public domain heritage in the digital environment. The Finnish local circle for TAROCH organized a panel discussion at the Digime2025 seminar, an annual event organized by the National Library of Finland and partners.
The discussion touched upon many aspects of public domain heritage from indigenous rights to preparedness in the changing political landscape. Brigitte Vézina, Director of Policy and Open Culture at Creative Commons, opened the session by introducing TAROCH. The panel discussion was moderated by Jessica Parland-von Essen, Development Manager (FAIR data, EOSC) at CSC – IT Center for Science, with panelists Rosa Ballardini, Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Vice Dean (research) at the University of Lapland, Faculty of Law, DIGICHer project, Hannu-Pekka Polttila, Head of Department, Archives and Information Services, Finnish Heritage Agency, Kimmo Tuominen, National Librarian, Professor, National Library of Finland, and Tomi Ahoranta, Archivist, National Archives of Finland, secretary of the Memory of the World National Committee. The recording of the event and the panel discussion in English will be available in October on the event page.
The Finnish advocacy circle
The Finnish TAROCH circle has currently four members: The National Library is represented by Director of Services Johanna Lilja who initially became involved through IFLA. Director of Music Archive Finland Juha Henriksson is extensively networked through Time Machine, Europeana, AI4LAM, common European data space for cultural heritage and the European Cultural Heritage Cloud. Senior Expert Ilmari Jauhiainen at Federation of Finnish Learned Societies brings in the strong tradition of open science through initiatives such as Open Science in Finland and EOSC, the European Open Science Cloud initiative, which also highlights the link to the existing UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science. AvoinGLAM also represents Open Knowledge Finland which is part of the Open Knowledge Network and hosts Creative Commons Finland and participates in the Creative Commons Global Network.
Cultural Rights in the Digital Environment
Creative Commons and IFLA will host a panel discussion titled “Cultural Rights in the Digital Environment” as a side event of the upcoming MONDIACULT 2025 cultural policy conference to highlight the initiative. Tapani Sainio, Senior ministerial advisor at the Ministry of Education and Culture Finland, will bring perspectives from Finland to the discussion on how cultural rights are shaped and challenged in today’s digital world. The event will take place on Zoom on September 17, from 14:00 to 15:00 UTC. Registration is open to all interested participants.
Finland joins the Memory of the World challenge
Finland joins the public writing challenge related to the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register. AvoinGLAM supports Wikimedia Finland in the preparations of the local challenge. Edits to articles in the Finnish, Karelian, Northern, Skolt, and Inari Saami Wikipedias are included in the local contest, and they also contribute to the international challenge.
It is noteworthy that one of the items inscribed from Finland in the Memory of the World International Register is the Archive of the Skolt Sámi village of Suõʹnnʼjel in the Pechenga region, dating back to 1601. The Skolt Sámi population was evacuated in 1939 during the Second World War to Sevettijärvi–Näätämö area in Finland after losing their native lands in Pechenga, and their archive was moved to the National Archives of Finland in Helsinki. In 2012, it was returned to the Skolt Sámi community, which then donated it to the Sámi Archives for preservation.
Join the Finnish local challenge on Finnish Wikipedia 15–30 September!
Oulu Löyly insights
The survey results are out for the Oulu Löyly Community engagement survey!
Oulu Löyly will be a think & do fest to investigate community heritage in the global cultural commons, organized in the context of the European Capital of Culture in Oulu 8–10 June, 2026. The event also hosts Wikimedia meetups of Finno-Ugric Wikipedia communities and regional chapters.
The following insights to the question What is the most important goal, problem, or obstacle facing digital cultural heritage over the next two years? have been compressed from the extensive responses with the help of GenAI. You can see the responses in full in the survey results.
- Threats to the cultural commons – Political neglect, commercialisation, monopolistic tech, and authoritarianism erode cultural heritage and its sustainability.
- Resource gaps in digital heritage – Limited funding, skills, and tools leave institutions unable to sustain or develop digital culture.
- Barriers to openness – Legal, technical, and regulatory hurdles, from copyright to AI rules, threaten open access and collaboration in digital heritage.
- Access and engagement – Poor usability, low-quality digitization, and outdated platforms hinder cultural heritage, while better accessibility, reuse, and participation remain key goals.
- Global infrastructure and interoperability – Open, decentralized, and user-friendly platforms can empower worldwide collaboration, preservation, and ethical use of digital cultural heritage.
- Future-ready preservation – Building decentralized, resilient systems with strengthened skills, standards, and funding ensures cultural heritage remains accessible and protected against obsolescence and deliberate loss.
- Trust and authenticity – Strengthening cultural heritage organisations as reliable stewards and ensuring digital content’s authenticity will be crucial in an AI-driven, polarised information landscape.
- AI opportunities and risks – Harnessing AI for discovery, description, and contextualisation of cultural heritage, while managing risks and supporting minority language tools.
- Equity and representation – Ensuring diverse, ethical, and community-driven preservation combats bias, digital homogenization, and the erasure of marginalized cultural heritage.
- Community and sustainability – Empowering communities, documenting living heritage, and applying standards ensures cultural and ecological sustainability in a technology-driven future.
Co-creating GLAM Wiki
Content Partnerships Hub
AvoinGLAM is contributing to the Content Partnerships Hub initiative by strengthening the renewed GLAM Wiki pages as a resource. We will help build robust pipelines to record learning resources and data about GLAM activities in the global Wikimedia community in Metabase, and showcase this information on Metawiki. We plan to make the GLAM Wiki pages a go-to destination for capacity building materials and a showcase of GLAM Wiki activities across the world.
Collective intellingence at GLAM Wiki 2025
We will set up a collaborative map of commitments and ideas for GLAM Wiki resources at the upcoming GLAM Wiki 2025 conference in Lisbon. Everyone is invited to share resources they know or have produced, and make commitments to the collaborative work.
GLAM Wiki 2025 hackathon
AvoinGLAM is coordinating the GLAM Wiki hackathon at GLAM Wiki 2025. The hackathon is designed to fit the needs and makeup of the GLAM Wiki community. No technical skills are required and everyone’s expertise is welcome! The goal is to begin shaping a roadmap that addresses the service needs of GLAM Wiki contributors on Wikimedia platforms. We invite volunteers, affiliates, partners, and representatives from the Wikimedia Foundation Product & Tech team to join the collaborative work. The day starts with a joint discussion, followed by facilitated group sessions. Participants are welcome to join in at any time, every contribution counts!
