At WECUDI 2025, We Look for Collective Answers on Which Role the Wikimedia Movement Will Play in the Internet’s Future

Between talks about the Internet’s future as we know it, the rising of automatizing tools that are abusive or openly against Wikimedia projects, their impact on the formal and informal education as well as the increase of authoritarian democracies, we celebrated for the second time the Congreso Internacional Wikimedia, Educación y Culturas digitales: Resistencia, colaboración y enfoques Críticos frente a las Hegemonías Tecnológicas (Wikimedia, education and Digital Cultures International Congress: resistance, collaboration and critical approaches to technological hegemonies, also known as Wecudi), organized by Wikimedia Mexico.

Given the emergence of these factors, Wecudi is a bridge between academic thinking, social resistance, and the Wikimedia movement that finds a vehicle on free and open knowledge. Wikidata for memory conservation. A school for female Wikipedians. Open mapping against commercial maps. Drones to safeguard the territory with Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia projects as a way to preserve territories. These are just five examples of ideas born from the Wikimedia movement, and both formal and informal education during the event.

Wecudi was held in the Centro Cultural Tlatelolco (Tlatelolco Cultural Center, CCUT) of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM) on October 29th, 30th, and 31st in Mexico City. Wecudi was made in partnership with the Instituto de Investigaciones sobre la Universidad y la Educación (University and Education Research Institute, IISUE), An International Research Entity responsible for, mainly, pondering over Educational processes of —but not limited to— the biggest Latin American University.

Participants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, the United States, France, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico Uruguay and 11 Mexican states (Aguascalientes, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, state of Mexico, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz) gathered at the historic CCUT Building, located in an emblematic part of the Mexican capital, which was a backdrop of Historical turning points.

During the three Congress days, Wikimedians, educators, activists, teachers, and researchers converged to reflect, share projects, debate ideas, and envision possibilities where things are built from collaboration, freedom, and critical thinking, both on the inside and outside the Wikimedia movement.

In today’s Internet, academic considerations and criticism come either from techno-enthusiasm, meaning a critical vision on the adoption and technology’s impact upon society. Or, from rejection as a denial attitude to ongoing changes. On account of these considerations, and in contrast to the latest Wecudi edition, we decided to enable the Congress in a cross-disciplinary approach towards academia, education, digital cultures, and the Wikimedia movement; all influenced by three main themes:

• Collaborative knowledge construction, learning, and communicating paths walked by the Wikimedia community regarding communal knowledge production.  

• Critical, decolonial, and resistance approaches against technological hegemonies and techno-fascism, inviting projects that defy technological hegemonies. 

• Critical approaches and human rights defence in digital contexts, reuniting Wikimedians and non-Wikimedians out there in the world, who document and expand the global memory, as well as advocate for human rights through technology.

WECUDI held over 50 activities: ranging from conferences, workshops, cultural activities, and round tables to a poster session.  

We kicked off this edition with Luisina Ferrante (Wikimedia Argentina’s projects manager), who passed the baton to Mexico after holding back in 2023 the first Wecudi International Congress at the Universidad de la Plata (National University of La Plata). Afterwards, Carmen Alcázar (Wikimedia Mexico’s executive director) gave a welcome speech to all the participants and inaugurated this edition, noting that Wecudi goes beyond the educational phenomenon and reminding us of the importance of having this type of events within the community.

Five examples of talks 

Throughout the three days of activities, we participated in sessions related to the gender gap in the Wikimedia projects. For example, Diez años de Editatona: lecciones aprendidas (Ten Years of Editatona: Lessons Learned) by Carmen Alcázar; Campaña en tu nombre: Editatona por las mujeres desaparecidas del Perú (Campaing In Your Name: Editatona for Missing Women) by Kelly Pariona; the experience of the Escuela de Mujeres Wikipedistas (School of Wikipedian Women, EMW) with Oralia Torres and Isamar Cerón, and the Editatón: Filósofas, Artistas y Pensadoras 2024 (edit-a-thon: Female Philosphers, Artists and Thinkers 2024) with Luis Álvarez and Gabriela Martínez. All of these spaces highlighted needs, progress, and possible solutions to our problems within specific contexts.

Furthermore, in workshops like Mapear desde el margen: co-laboratorio rizomático de cartografía comunitaria y participación ciudadana (Mapping from the Margins: Rhizomatic Communal Cartography Co-lab and Citizen Participation) led by Mariana Marín, and Luis Antonio Sierra, we explored in a practical and thoughtful way open mapping as a territorial transformation and as a citizen participation tool. Likewise, in the Session plan for: ¿Eres el que construye, el que escucha o ambos? Pon a prueba tus habilidades comunicativas con Legos (Session Plan for: Are You the One Who Builds, Who Listens or Both? Test your communication skills with Legos) held by Cassie Casares, we exercised collaborative communication and active listening to strengthen teamwork, trust and mutual understanding. 

In Bernardo Caicedo’s storytelling of Cátedra Glaciares: una experiencia colaborativa para la conservación de la criósfera colombiana (Glaciers Lecture Series: a Collaborative Experience for the Conservation of the Colombian Cryosphere), a joint project between Wikimedia Colombia and the National University, we learned about innovative education, designing new ways to evaluate and document the pedagogical process through open and collaborative platforms like Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons to contribute to public databases about glaciers nationwide and globally. 

The Wikiproyecto LGBT: Rescatando la memoria de las diversidades sexuales latinoamericanas a través de Wikipedia (LGBT Wikiproject: Saving the Memory of Latin American Sexual Diversities Through Wikipedia) was present with Freddy Veloz, who shared with us the evolution of the LGBT Wikiproject, their strategies, efforts, and current challenges regarding sexual diversity in digital spaces.

In addition, we shared with the Hispanic community the artistic, cultural, and social impact project, Mi valedor (My Supporter), which supports the creation of networks for homeless people, as well as seniors and people on the move. And, Echarchal from the Colectiva Hilos (Threads Collective), entangled us with her intervention in the lobby of the CCUT with the proposal Sangre de mi Sangre (Blood of My Blood), a street and collective knitting project that represents a missing person or a victim of violence against women with a knitted piece.  

WECUDI 2025 program: https://w.wiki/DxWd 

Cultural activities 

Cultural activities were an important segment of the program, so the participants could get a more immersive experience of the city. First off, getting to know the origins and history of the CDMX; then, exploring the memory and strength of the country’s social movements, with the Museo Memorial 68 (68 Memorial Museum) and a guided tour through the historical zone of Tlatelolco. Finally, we ended on a high note with a dinner and a lot of dancing at the traditional Bar Mancera. 

WECUDI voices 

• “In the future, I would like to have more spaces like this (WECUDI) to talk and gather.”  — Cassie | WMF 

• “Overall, I think this idea allows creating networks; to start thinking about talking to other people, to keep that bond online, but still keep on generating projects in common with different groups.” — Mikel | Argentina 

• “As a challenge, WECUDI has to keep bringing together teachers from different parts of the world to build a better world.”— Lorena  | Colombia 

• “To try to make it once again (WECUDI), maybe with other people who were not able to make it, but I think that is one of the biggest challenges.” — Galder | Basque Country 

• “WECUDI is community: that’s what is happening here; the desire to participate and to build in common.” — Agustín | Argentina 

Do you want to know what happened at WECUDI 2025? 

Check all the photographs and resources in the Commons category: https://w.wiki/Dw$U