PhilWiki Community has announced that next Wikimedia Commons Philippines Conference will be held from April 16 to 18, 2027 in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, bringing together Wikimedia Commons contributors, Wiki Loves Philippines campaign winners and participants, photographers, and open knowledge advocates from across the Philippines.
As one of PhilWiki Community’s flagship initiatives, the Philippine WikiConference serves as a central platform for community engagement, knowledge exchange, capacity building, and partnership development. The annual gathering provides opportunities for volunteers, cultural institutions, educators, and heritage advocates to collaborate in advancing free and open knowledge.
The local community has chosen the theme From Lens to Legacy, highlighting how photographs and multimedia can contribute to preserving collective memory. “Images captured by the lens and learnings from the Commons conference will become part of legacy. Legacy encompasses history, language, culture, memory, the environment/biodiversity, and whatever we have in our repositories. Such legacy can be shared locally and globally,” expounded WikiConference director Bernadette Roco.
WikiCommons PH Con 2027 is expected to feature strategy sessions, workshops, panel discussions, and cultural and nature tours. These activities will highlight the importance of documenting the Philippines’ rich cultural heritage, biodiversity, and environmental resources through Wikimedia Commons and other Wikimedia projects.
Over the years, the conference has been successfully organized in various cities through partnerships with local government units and cultural institutions. Previous editions have been supported by the city governments of Naga City, Cebu City, and Mandaue City, as well as the National Museum of the Philippines, particularly its Cebu and Ilocos branches.
The Philippine WikiConference has been hosted in key locations such as Naga City, Vigan, and Cebu City, attracting Filipino Wikimedians, professionals from Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM), educators, photographers, researchers, and community leaders. Participants have represented a wide range of provinces and cities, including Aklan, Agusan del Norte, Batangas, Camarines Sur, Cebu, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Lanao del Norte, Metro Manila, Negros Occidental, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Rizal, and Zamboanga City.
“These annual gatherings strengthen the national Wikimedia community while fostering regional collaboration and innovation,” according PhilWiki Community president Maffeth Opiana-Sto. Tomas. “They provide an important venue for sharing best practices, developing new initiatives, highlighting local content projects, and building partnerships that support the promotion of open knowledge.”
By rotating conference venues across different regions of the country, PhilWiki Community aims to engage more local communities, showcase regional heritage and culture, and expand participation in Wikimedia projects. Hosting the next conference in Puerto Princesa City underscores the organization’s commitment to recognizing the unique contributions of local communities while encouraging documentation and preservation efforts in one of the Philippines’ most important cultural and ecological destinations.
The organizers welcomes local and international Wikimedians, and photographers who can finance their participation. Application period will start on September 1, 2026 while the announcement of accepted participants will be on December 30, 2026.
The Philippine WikiConferences and WikiCommons PH Con 2027 are expected to strengthen collaboration among volunteers, institutions further, and advocates working toward a shared vision of making knowledge freely accessible to everyone.
PhilWiki Community is a Philippine-based Wikimedia affiliate dedicated to promoting free knowledge, cultural heritage preservation, language diversity, and community engagement through Wikimedia projects. Through conferences, outreach programs, training activities, and partnerships, the organization empowers volunteers and institutions to contribute to the global open knowledge movement.
For more information, email us at contact@philwikicommunity.org
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