About Wikimedia Belgium
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Wikimedia Belgium (in short: WMBE) was founded on 27 September 2014 (publication 8 October 2014) to promote the vision, mission and values of the Wikimedia Foundation. We exist to help collect, develop and distribute freely licensed knowledge and to support the worldwide movement we are part of. We do this by bringing the Wikimedia community in this region together, and by collaborating with Belgium-based cultural institutions, museums, libraries, universities, high schools, charities and other bodies. We also represent and support Wikimedians who live in and around Belgium and Luxembourg. Since we are a multi-language country, we seek collaboration with the Netherlands, Germany, and France. Any international member of the Wikimedia movement can participate to any of the Belgium activities.
Objectives
Wikimedia Belgium is committed to supporting Free Knowledge, within the broad framework and global objectives of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikimedia Belgium alone, or in partnership with other institutions, organisations, museums, libraries and archives, organises projects that promote Free Knowledge.
Wikimedia Belgium is committed to promoting free access to and sharing of all knowledge, especially focused on the regional, federal and European levels; contributing to social and cultural issues related to free data and free knowledge; encouraging consultation and responsible contribution to Wikimedia projects through presentations, books or other media. Its main goal is to encourage the collection, arrangement, enrichment, indexing, cataloguing and making available of free knowledge.
It can collaborate with other institutions, organisations, the government, and raise public awareness of the importance of free licences to obtain that human knowledge, heritage and related intangibles remain available to humanity in perpetuity. This includes digitising, describing and listing heritage through photography, audio and video and uploading on Wikimedia Commons.
Activities
Wikimedia Belgium is a non-profit association with the aim to create an environment for volunteers and organizations to collaborate and work on our common goals. We facilitate volunteers to work on projects for the improvement of free information; be it internal projects like Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikinews, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikiversity, Wikispecies, Wikimedia Commons, and MediaWiki, or external projects and associations like OpenStreetMap, Open Belgium, or Open Knowledge Belgium. The Wikimedia Foundation and the national organizations, such as Wikimedia Belgium, organize meetings, seminars and teaching materials. One of our current projects is Wiki Loves Heritage.
Budgets
We are supported entirely by voluntary donations, and project grants. We can receive donations with tax exemption through the Friends of Wikimedia Belgium Fund (recognized by the King Baudouin Foundation). Please note that we are a (legally) independent organization from the Wikimedia Foundation, and have no control over the content of Wikipedia or any other Wikimedia Foundation projects.
How to support Wikimedia Belgium?
- Support us financially
- Participate in a project
- Start a project
- Join Wikimedia Belgium
- Subscribe to our newsletter
See also
- To stay in touch, see our contact page