Open data and participation: Wikimuseums in Cesena

BAM!’s brainchild developed in partnership with Wikimedia Italia and the Dutch Embassy in Italy, Wikimuseums is a project that encourages the use of open data in museums to strengthen the link between citizens and cultural heritage.

First held in Naples in 2016, thanks to funding obtained through participation in the tender “Houses and studies of illustrious people from Emilia-Romagna” issued by the Cultural Heritage Department of the Regione Emilia-Romagna, Wikimuseums is returning in 2024 with a new edition in Cesena.

Wikimuseums is returning in 2024 and will be visiting Cesena with a special edition dedicated to the literary critic and writer Renato Serra from Cesena. Stemming from the collaboration between BAM! Strategie Culturali and the Comune di Cesena and with the patronage of Wikimedia Italia, the initiative is seeking the active participation of young students from the area.

The project aims to highlight museums and cultural heritage, rediscovering the public role of heritage and actively involving the community in defining its value and importance.

Wikimuseums Cesena – Open Renato Serra is taking place in various locations in the city (Casa Museo Renato Serra, the Biblioteca Malatestiana…) on 15, 21 and 23 March and aims to involve Cesena’s secondary school and university students.

BAM! is responsible for the organisation and promotion of the project, which focuses on three key components to celebrate Renato Serra and the house-museum dedicated to him:

• Education: a guided tour of the house museum by young secondary school guides and an online crash course led by experts from Wikimedia Italia and OpenStreetMap will provide methods and tools for digital participation.
• Editathon session: participants will become active Wikipedia contributors during an editathon led by BAM! Strategie Culturali and Wikimedia Italia, focused on editing encyclopaedic entries associated with Renato Serra
• Georeferencing and route creation: a mapping experience conducted with the support of BAM! Strategie Culturali and OpenStreetMap will allow the group to discover the monuments and heritage dedicated to Renato Serra in the city, identifying significant places that will then be documented on Wikipedia and made accessible through QR codes, thus creating an interactive digital route

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