Commons:Commons Across Cultures

Commons Across Cultures

¡Welcome to the Wikimedia Commons Portal for the "Commons Across Cultures" campaign!

An online cultural exchange programme between Wikimedians from Peru and New Zealand

September 14-October 14 2026
Registration was closed on August 31st

Commons Across Cultures is an campaign organised by WikiAccion Peru and Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand. It encourages Wikimedians across both countries to participate in and exchange cultural experiences through the contributions of images and other media to Wikimedia Commons. Through this project we aim to increase the sense of belonging and increase the motivation and retention of young people within the Wikimedia movement as well as strengthen intercultural learning and the circulation of local knowledge.

Background and goals

The main idea of the project, Commons across Cultures, is directly inspired by the traditional practice of having a pen pal, which consisted of an exchange—usually through letters—between two people who didn't know each other beforehand, in order to establish a connection, exchange cultural experiences, and practice languages.

The project seeks to create a network of volunteer contributors from Peru and New Zealand who will connect through digital media and the support we provide from our organizations, with the goal of mutually sharing their journeys and experiences as volunteers in Wikimedia projects.

Our goal is to experiment with the use of Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia as platforms for individual expression and cultural exchange, exploring, strengthening and sharing local identity.

You can learn more about our organizing process in our meta page.

Who can participate?

We are looking to engage people aged 18 and over from Peru and New Zealand who are involved in some way with Wikimedia platforms such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata, whether as editors, campaign organisers or promoters of free knowledge.

Participants should demonstrate an interest in issues relating to ecology, gender equality and cultural diversity, as these will be the programme’s key themes.

Please note our Friendly Spaces Policy

How to participate

Registration phase (July/August)

Participants must have a Wikimedia account and a Userpage created on one of the Wikimedia projects, preferably Wikimedia Commons. During the registration phase, those who want to participate but who do not yet have a Wikimedia account can create one prior to signing up.

Those interested in taking part applied via a form, that asked for some basic demographic details, availability for occasional meetings, their Wikimedia Commons account, their preferred means of communication (social media, on Wiki, email, etc.) and their areas of interest (both inside and outside of Wikimedia).

Participants must have a Wikimedia account and a Userpage created on one of the Wikimedia projects, preferably Wikimedia Commons.

There will be a limit of 40 participants in total for this program.

Partner assignment phase in the exchange country (Early September)

Partners will be assigned based on shared interests, age range, and availability.

Exchange (September 14-October 14)

The exchange programme will last a total of four weeks. Each week, two prompts will be provided to guide contributions to Commons and the exchange. The prompts will be designed to match participants’ interests and experience with the platform.

Participants will follow the prompt and upload their content to Commons, add a proper title, descriptions, Categories and/or structured data that provide context to their contributions. Then, they will then send a message to their assigned partner on their chosen/agreed upon communications channel. For example, communication between participants could take place via the Talk pages on Wikimedia Commons; partners may decide together that they prefer to send emails or use a social media channel for their communications.

A series of online sessions will be held to provide guidance on using the Wikimedia Commons platform, in line with the programme’s objectives and editorial policies. These sessions will be supplemented by brief teaching materials—no more than one page in length—covering the key elements that each contribution to Commons should include.

The main format used during the programme will be images; however, there is also the option to upload audio and video files. Content will be uploaded in the participants preferred language. Descriptions on Commons should be translated into the partner’s language (English/Spanish), and participants could do this themselves or use Google Translate or some other machine translation.

Virtual closing meeting (Date to be set)

One, or if necessary due to scheduling issues, two virtual closing sessions will be organised to share with participants and gather their views and feedback on the programme. Upon completion of the programme, participants will receive a certificate of attendance as well as gifts from the participating organisations as a gesture of appreciation for taking part in the programme and for releasing content to Commons (T-shirts, notebooks, mugs, bags, posters, etc.). If possible, the organisers will arrange an exchange of gifts between the wikipals in both countries.

Nuestra línea gráfica

La línea gráfica de Commons Across Cultures parte de las aves como símbolo de movimiento, encuentro y transmisión de conocimientos. El colibrí representa a Perú, retomando su presencia en el imaginario y patrimonio visual peruano, mientras que el kereru, ave neozelandesa, representa Aotearoa New Zealand. Ambas se encuentran sobre una misma rama, acompañadas por montañas, naturaleza y corrientes de viento que atraviesan el paisaje y conectan ambos territorios. Los trazos ondulantes del viento simbolizan los caminos que recorren las personas, las imágenes, las memorias y los saberes, reforzando la idea de Wikimedia Commons como un espacio que permite compartir y conectar culturas más allá de las fronteras.

Organizers