Women and Cultural Diversity on Wikipedia

Date: 10 February 2024

Location: Paschalis Paschalidis Hall, Hellenic Bank Headquarters, Nicosia

HERitage Amplified 2024 was an edit-a-thon and community event focused on amplifying the presence and contributions of Cypriot women on Wikipedia, particularly in contexts where their stories and achievements have been historically underrepresented online. The event brought together participants passionate about digital literacy, gender equality, and cultural diversity to create and enrich Wikipedia articles about women from diverse backgrounds, spanning Greek, Turkish, Maronite, Armenian, and Latin communities.

Organised by the Wikimedia Community User Group Cyprus with the support of University of Limassol (UoL) and the WICZ+ Foundation, the event featured discussions on gender bias in online knowledge production, hands-on editing workshops, and capacity-building sessions for both new and experienced editors.

The day included keynote contributions from Barbara Klen (Representative of the Central Eastern European Wikimedia Community HUB), Michael Tyrimos (Managing Director, Capacitor Partners), and Marios Magioladitis (President, Wikimedia Community User Group Greece), who shared perspectives on digital inclusion and representation. The event was moderated by Dr. Andri Hadjiandreou from UoL.

The event was held under the auspices of the President of the Cyprus Parliament, Ms. Annita Demetriou, and was supported by the Commissioner for Gender Equality, Ms. Josie Christodoulou, both of whom addressed participants.

HERitage Amplified highlighted how collaborative Wikimedia editing can contribute to a more equitable and representative online knowledge ecosystem by centring women’s lives, work, and cultural impact on the world’s largest free encyclopedia.