A group of seniors from Miechów (40 km north from Kraków, Poland) participated in a 2-day training on developing Wikipedia content. Workshops were led by Anna Jarzębska, a trainer from Fundacja Mapa Pasji. Developing Wikipedia is one of methods of seniors activation presented within the ITOSA project.
Description
On the first day (March 12th, 2025) the idea of the ITOSA project was presented and next the Wikipedia as a tool with explanation how it works, what different services it includes, how people can engage in its development on their own. In the next module, we had brainstorming on what is missing in Wikipedia on Miechów’s history and contemporaneity, seniors’ activities, famous people born or living in the city etc. We made a long list of different topics that seniors could work on, so that the information in Wikipedia would be more up to date and complex. We divided roles and responsibilities. Seniors decided to take care of different topics themselves, collect materials, prepare texts etc.
At the second meeting on June 27th, 2025 we continued our discussion on editing Wikipedia. We worked together to improve materials prepared by seniors and to discuss the final content that would be proposed to Wiki admins. Then we set up several accounts on Wikipedia, in order to exercise “live” how to publish new information, what rules should be respected and where to search replies from admins if they don’t accept the changes we proposed.
During our work, thanks to the knowledge of some participants, we discovered new places that are important for Miechow’s history and worth commemorating. This was something to be added to the Wikipedia!
Seniors appreciated the workshops, found them useful and inspiring for their future activities.
Follow-up
After the workshops seniors still collect new information about places and people important for the local community and they plan further development of the Wikipedia content in this regard.