How did Wikimedia participate in the programme during 2025?

One example is that we led a workshop together with the Swedish School of Library and Information Science during the Environmental Communication Day, organised by the programme.

What did the workshop focus on?

It focused on how to portray nature. What defines a good nature photograph, and what characterises a less successful one? What do pictures of nature convey, especially those of protected nature? People have very different perspectives and thoughts about what protected nature actually is, so what does it mean to portray protected nature in a meaningful way?

What do you think the workshop achieved?

We received many exciting and insightful comments from the broad spectrum of participants, who included people from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and documentary filmmakers. This gave us a range of perspectives, which we found very valuable. I felt that the workshop participants were enthusiastic about the topic and asked thought-provoking questions, so I returned home with plenty of new thoughts of my own.

Can you share one such thought?

One challenge we have identified is how difficult it can be to document protected nature areas, such as nature reserves. In the cultural heritage field, there is much discussion about what is required for a “complete documentation”: which architectural details and aspects of a building should be captured? But what is required for a “complete documentation” of protected nature areas? In my experience, discussions about that tend to be much more superficial – there is a lack of consensus about what to portray and demonstrate. You usually end up with a lot of pictures of generic sunsets, because that is a main go-to motive for people. It is a beautiful image, but the colours and perspective make different nature areas look the same when in reality, they are completely different.

Beyond the workshop, what did you personally take away from 2025?

We gained a large number of new contacts through the programme, which we have been able to make use of in various ways.

In what ways?

For instance, we have been collaborating with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s data experts for a long time on their public, freely accessible environmental and geographic data on topics such as air quality and protected nature areas. But it is a large agency, and during the Environmental Communication Day, we had the opportunity to meet people who work with communication at the agency. It was meaningful to be able to discuss communication with communicators, and share what some might find nerdy data issues with those who work with the public data portals. We have gained a deeper insight into how the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency works, and I believe they have a better understanding of the value of their public data and the ways it can be used.

This text was originally published in Mistra Environmental Communication Annual Report 2025.

Photo: 1. Karlheinz Klingbeil, CC BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 2. Lina Gustavsson. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fores_Eric_08.jpg, via Wikimedia Commons.