Historic delegation from Wikimedia Chile participates in Wikimania Paris in preparation for Santiago 2027

Wikimania Paris 2026 brought together around 3,000 people from around the world, 1,200 of whom attended in person, to celebrate Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the Wikimedia movement.

Under the theme “Freedom, Equity, and Reliability” (Liberté, Équité, Fiabilité). “Together, let’s protect knowledge, equity, and freedom,” the conference sparked discussions around fundamental questions for the movement: How can we resist political and media attacks against free knowledge? How can we strengthen solidarity among multilingual Wikimedia communities and other digital commons? And how can we ensure increasingly inclusive spaces where people can imagine and build the future together?

In this context, Wikimedia Chile was represented by a delegation of 15 members—the largest in our organization’s history—including our members Dennis Tobar, Claudio Loader, Sebastián Flores, Luis Carrasco, Carlos Figueroa, Daniela Colleoni, Nicole González, and Céline Assémat.

During the conference, our delegation actively participated in discussions, workshops, presentations, and collaborative sessions alongside people from every continent, sharing experiences and seeking collective solutions to these challenges.

Communication as Community Infrastructure

Drawing on our experience at Wikimedia Chile, we shared how a strategic shift in our communication practices helped grow our volunteer base. This process led us to focus particularly on strengthening a sense of belonging and connecting people through a shared purpose. We also discussed some of the challenges we’ve faced as our community has grown rapidly.

Respect for Indigenous Knowledge in Open Spaces

During the keynote panel discussion led by Dr. Terri Janke, our Director of Communications Michelle Collipal shared Wikimedia Chile’s experience in encouraging the participation of Mapudungun speakers and Mapuche cultural leaders in the “Mapudungun Wikipedia Mew” project, addressing the challenges and opportunities involved in promoting greater participation by Indigenous communities in Wikimedia spaces.

The conversation highlighted the importance of recognizing and respecting the knowledge, languages, and right to self-determination of indigenous communities, especially when it comes to representing and sharing knowledge in open forums.

Featured team in the Team Challenges

Our Director of Technology Carla Toro participated alongside other Latin American Wikimedia members in the Wikimania 
Team Challenges, an initiative that brought together people with different profiles and experiences to work together on solutions and tools that contribute to strengthening the Wikimedia movement.

As a result of their efforts, they received the “Best Teamwork” award, highlighting the ability of its members to work together in the face of common challenges.

Participation of students from the Universidad del Desarrollo

The Chilean delegation also included a presentation by Daniela Ávila and Carla Paredes, collaborators in our Education Program. They presented a tool that uses artificial intelligence to detect potential biases in Wikipedia articles. The platform analyzes aspects such as content relevance, sources used, and the level of neutrality of the articles, with the aim of strengthening the moderation work carried out by the encyclopedia’s readers and editors.

With new learnings and challenges, we conclude this experience with our sights set on Wikimania 2027.  See you in Santiago to build together “The internet we want”.