Building Inclusive Communities Through Language: Highlights from the Wikitongues Preconference at Wikimania 2025

What does it take to make Wikimedia truly inclusive? For 40 Wikimedians and language activists from 19 countries speaking 27 languages, the answer begins with language.

At Wikimania 2025 in Nairobi, Wikitongues hosted its first-ever pre-conference: Building Inclusive Communities Through Language. The day brought together 12 speakers and dozens of participants to explore how language diversity shapes participation, knowledge equity, and cultural sustainability within Wikimedia.

Why language matters

The preconference opened with a keynote panel on Why Language Matters in Free Knowledge by Wikitongues Executive Director Daniel Bogre Udell. Speakers reminded us that language is more than communication; it is identity, culture, and memory. If Wikimedia is to represent the sum of all human knowledge, then it must embrace every language.

From challenges to solutions

The event’s collaborative roundtables provided space to discuss the barriers communities face and how we can address them.

• Fostering Multilingualism: Participants shared stories of bias toward dominant languages and the need for better translation tools, multilingual campaigns, and advocacy.
• Documenting Endangered Languages: Discussions highlighted how Wikimedia Commons and other projects can preserve oral histories, songs, and cultural practices. Barriers include a lack of orthographies, limited digital access, and language imperialism, but solutions such as offline tools like Kiwix and local partnerships were proposed.
• Building Inclusive Communities: Inclusivity was described as compassion, collective decision-making, and support from elders and leaders. Participants emphasised mentorship, recognition for volunteers, and localised training as key to long-term engagement.

Key takeaways

By the end of the day, participants converged on three priorities:

• Offline access: bringing Wikimedia tools to communities with low connectivity.
  
• Localised resources: translating platforms, guides, and training into more languages.
• Sustainable networks: building mentorship programs and recognition systems to keep contributors engaged.

To coordinate these actions, attendees committed to forming an Inclusivity Task Force, ensuring momentum continues beyond Wikimania.

Looking forward

The Wikitongues preconference showed that language diversity is central to Wikimedia’s future. With voices from across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, participants reminded the movement that every language counts, whether spoken by millions or just a few.

As one participant put it:

“People stay engaged when they see their contributions matter. Building inclusive spaces means making sure every language has a place in Wikimedia.”

The conversations in Nairobi were only the beginning. The next step is turning these ideas into concrete projects that bring more languages and more people into the movement for free knowledge.

Together, we are building inclusive communities through language.