On 10 and 11 March 2025, several heritage organisations and enthusiastic volunteers in Flanders participated in Wikipedia writing sessions on the occasion of International Women’s Day. These initiatives were aimed at increasing the visibility of women on Wikipedia. Currently, less than a quarter of biographical articles are about women.
Some highlights of the sessions:
- Antwerp (Museum Plantin-Moretus): The Letterenhuis organised a session aimed at bringing more women out of the shadows of history.
- Library of Bruges: on women and heritage in Bruges or West Flanders.
- Ghent (meemoo): Participants wrote about various women to reduce the gender gap on Wikipedia.
- Ghent (Industriemuseum): The focus was on female business leaders, engineers or technicians who did not make it into the history books despite their influential role.
- Leuven (KADOC-KU Leuven): In collaboration with CEMPER, the focus was on women in music and performing arts.
- Erfgoedcel Waasland, City Archive Sint-Niklaas and Bibliotheca Wasiana: The focus was on highlighting women in local history, from beguines to artists and resistance women.
These joint efforts have led to a significant enrichment of Wikipedia with articles on influential women, making their contributions to society more visible.
| Location | # pages added | # editors | # recent edits |
| Antwerp | 11 | 22 | 633 |
| Bruges | 9 | 11 | 36 |
| Ghent (meemoo) | 12 | 11 | 224 |
| Ghent (Industriemuseum) | 3 | 6 | 35 |
| Leuven | 33 | 21 | 453 |
| Sint-Niklaas | 22 | 15 | 357 |
Want to read more about these results? You can do so here!
We thank all participants and organisations for their efforts and look forward to future initiatives to further strengthen the representation of women in our digital knowledge resources.
And last but not least, we also give you a look behind the scenes.
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