Wikimedia Residencies at UTDT: A WIR Experience from an Educational Program

The WMAR education program is carrying out its first initiative to support Wikimedians in Residence (WIR). In this post, we will tell you about this initiative and how it is progressing.

The role of the WIR is widely recognized within the Wikimedia Movement, especially within GLAM programs or institutions. A Wikimedian in Residence (WIR) is a person who serves as a liaison between the institution to which they belong (museum, library, university) and the local Wikimedia chapter in their country. In this link, the WIR’s role is to implement open knowledge projects within the institution, such as digitization efforts, research, talks, or editing workshops.

Building on this track record, the Wikimedia Argentina Education Program planned a pilot to implement a WIR project focused on education. To carry it out, we partnered with Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT), an institution with which we had been working consistently since 2024. This shared history, particularly with the Digital History Lab within the Department of Historical and Social Studies, as well as the university’s internship program, allowed the project to take root within the institution and ensured that students felt engaged by the proposal.

What have we done in this project so far?

First steps

Between December 2025 and February 2026, we held meetings with UTDT to prepare the proposal and ensure it met the university’s requirements. Additionally, we worked to prepare the selection process for the WIRs, which took place in March 2026. The call for applications focused on seniors and recent graduates of the Bachelor’s degree programs in Social Sciences and History. The selection process included interviews with applicants. Among the profiles we sought, we were interested in working with young people who had a broad interest in Wikimedia projects and whose thesis topics could be linked in some way to the Wikimedia ecosystem.

The selected persons were: 

• Felipe Romero Martini, a student in the Bachelor’s degree program in Social Sciences;
• Federica Peralta Maccioni, a student in the Bachelor’s degree program in Social Sciences;
• Luna Chaves Baile, a student in the Bachelor’s degree program in Social Sciences and History; and
• Valentina Taboada, a Bachelor’s degree holder in History.

Training

As we mentioned earlier, with this WIR project we aim to focus on education. In this regard, during the first part of the year we worked extensively to train the WIRs in both the use of Wikimedia projects and the Wiki ecosystem in general, with a special emphasis on communities.

During the first two months of the project, we held weekly in-person training sessions, where we explored Wikimedia projects in depth, particularly Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata. We then spent six weeks supporting each WIR in designing their own project. These projects were to focus on a topic of interest to each WIR, be anchored in a Wikimedia project, and be associated in some way with UTDT.

During the training sessions, we also held meetings with guest Wikimedians. Diego de la Hera, a WMAR volunteer, led a workshop on the Wikidata Query Service, while Tatjana Baleta, from the UK, shared her experience as a WIR at Climate at the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter.

In addition, as part of the initial training, the WIRs had the opportunity to participate in Wiki Conf Argentina, which took place in April in Buenos Aires. This allowed them to become more deeply familiar with the Wikimedia Movement, getting to know the Argentine community and its areas of interest.

Implementation of each project

From July through September, the WIRs are carrying out the implementation of each project designed. To support them throughout the process, we meet as a group each month to review the progress and challenges of each project. Additionally, on an individual basis, we work on topics that each WIR needs to continue learning and guide each one in carrying out their planned activities.

The projects focus on:

• Wikidata. With a project titled Oil Fields on Wikidata, Felipe aims to improve information regarding environmental conflicts on Wikidata.

• Wikipedia. Through the “Wiki Club” project on Argentine history at the university, Luna aims to conduct workshops with students focused on creating and improving content about sites of historical memory in Argentina.

• Wikipedia. Federica designed the project Contemporary Thought and Democracy in Latin America, which aims to create and improve content about democracy and the “new rights” in Latin America.

• Wikimedia Commons. Through A Project to Promote the Public Architecture of Alejandro Bustillo, in partnership with the UTDT Architecture Archive, Valentina aims to release files on Argentine architecture.

Currently, the WIRs are in the midst of carrying out their activities. Throughout September and October, we will be sharing the results of each project and more information about the activities being carried out.

Why work with WIRs through education?

Through the WMAR Education Program, we interact with higher education students as part of our activities with universities, particularly within the framework of the “Wikipedia at the University” project. While this contact is very valuable, it usually takes place within a limited educational context tied to the activities planned by their instructors. This allows for a general introduction to Wikimedia projects but does not allow for a deeper exploration of them. We believe that working with higher education students as WIRs allows us to move beyond the pedagogical context, inviting them to design their own projects and become part of the local Wikimedia community.