2025:Program/Preserving Global Heritage: The Journey of Wiki Loves Folklore

Session title: Preserving Global Heritage: The Journey of Wiki Loves Folklore

Session type: Lecture

Track: Community Engagement

Language: en

🎥 Session recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/IIJaOtycCf0?feature=shared&t=1037 🎥

Wiki Loves Folklore is an international campaign dedicated to documenting and preserving the world's rich cultural traditions, festivals, and folklore through the Wikimedia movement. Since its inception, it has empowered volunteers from diverse backgrounds to contribute freely-licensed media and content on intangible cultural heritage, addressing gaps in global knowledge representation. This lecture will explore the campaign's evolution, community collaborations, impact metrics, and innovative tools developed to scale participation across continents. We’ll showcase how storytelling through local knowledge can become a universal bridge, promoting equity and representation. Aligned with Wikimania@20’s theme, this session emphasizes inclusivity, measurable impact, and sustainable content creation—making folklore not just a relic of the past, but a living, evolving asset on the world’s largest free knowledge platforms.

Description

This session will offer a comprehensive insight into Wiki Loves Folklore (WLF)—its grassroots origins, global expansion, and the community-led innovation that fuels its success. Participants will learn about content campaigns like Feminism and Folklore, the tools (CampWiz, List Generator, StatsWiz), multilingual engagement strategies, and how WLF partners with local affiliates to amplify voices from underrepresented regions. The lecture will include case studies, visual data, and media highlights from past editions. This session is ideal for movement organizers, GLAM partners, and contributors passionate about cultural equity.

How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?

WLF bridges cultures by inviting participation from all linguistic and regional communities, especially the Global South, ensuring no culture is left behind. With thousands of media uploads and articles improved annually, it actively addresses knowledge gaps and increases content diversity. Through reusable tools, community capacity-building, and ongoing mentorship, WLF nurtures long-term engagement and documentation of heritage across Wikimedia projects.

What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?

Everyone can participate in this session

Speakers

• gonsalvestiven

I am a long-time contributor to the Wikimedia movement, beginning with the Marathi Wikipedia, where I’ve served as an administrator, creating content, developing templates, and maintaining project quality. My journey has expanded globally through organizing and coordinating campaigns like Wikipedia Asian Month, Wiki Loves Folklore, and Feminism and Folklore, which celebrate cultural diversity and document intangible heritage.

As lead coordinator of Wiki Loves Folklore, I’ve helped grow the campaign into a vibrant global initiative, engaging thousands of contributors across communities. I also contribute to Wikimedia Commons in areas like image categorization, licensing, and translation tools, and have previously served as a VRT member handling copyright permissions.

My work is driven by a commitment to free knowledge, cultural representation, and building inclusive spaces within the Wikimedia ecosystem.

• joyag

I’m a Ghanaian female editor with over 9 years experience on diverse Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, WikiData, Wikicommons and translate wiki platforms amongst others. I have a wealth of experience per my previous role with AFFCOM and Regional Grants Committee. Over the past 5 years, I have been a Co- Lead and Project Manager for Wiki Hour Initiative where our passion is to drive connections between people with disabilities, specifically hearing impaired, empower young girls, and address sustainable topics on Wikimedia eco spaces.

• SAgbley

Stella Sessy Agbley is a dedicated advocate for digital inclusion, community engagement, and knowledge equity within the Wikimedia movement. With over a decade of experience, I am the co-lead of the Wiki Hour Initiative, a coordinator for Feminism and Folklore, and a community board member for the Wikimedia Ghana User Group. For three years, I was the coordinator for the Wiki Women’s User Group. My work focuses on equipping girls, women, and the hearing-impaired community with digital skills to confidently engage with Wikipedia and its sister projects. Through capacity building, mentorship, and outreach, I promote cultural representation, gender equity, and inclusive participation in open knowledge.

• Joris Quarshie

Joris Darlington Quarshie is a dedicated advocate for open knowledge and cultural preservation, currently serving as an outreach facilitator for the Capacity Exchange Tool and an event coordinator for Wiki Loves Folklore. In his role with the Capacity Exchange Tool, he fosters collaboration and resource-sharing among communities to enhance global capacity-building initiatives. As a coordinator for Wiki Loves Folklore—an international campaign to document cultural heritage on Wikimedia platforms—he organizes events, engages volunteers, and promotes the documentation of traditional practices, festivals, and folklore. Passionate about bridging knowledge gaps, Joris combines strategic outreach with grassroots engagement to empower communities and expand access to diverse cultural narratives.