The Lokakarya Sarkarapraja (Sarkarapraja Workshop), held on 19 October 2025 at Rooms 625–627 of the Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, brought together Kalingga UGM (Keluarga Mahasiswa Linguistik Universitas Gadjah Mada) and the Wikimedia Community in Yogyakarta in a collaborative initiative to strengthen historical documentation efforts in Indonesia. Focused on editing and producing articles about the history of the sugar industry in Java, the workshop served as a platform for students to learn, create, and contribute to open-access knowledge.
The event was designed to introduce participants to editing tools on Indonesian Wikipedia, a key platform under the Wikimedia Foundation that supports public knowledge-sharing. Students were guided step by step through the process of writing a full article from scratch. Each participant received a specific historical topic, such as Pabrik Gula Kedungbanteng or Makam Jonkheer Hermanus Folkert Van Ingen along with relevant photo materials. These topics were selected for their significance in the development of Java’s early sugar industry, an industry that shaped the island’s economy, labor systems, and sociocultural landscapes for centuries.
Beyond improving writing and digital literacy skills, the workshop emphasized the importance of preserving local history. By producing well-researched Wikipedia entries, students helped safeguard narratives and discourse that are often overlooked in mainstream historical accounts. Their contributions enrich the collective memory of Java’s industrial past and ensure that future generations can access reliable information about the region’s sugar heritage.
Through this collaboration, participants not only enhanced historical documentation but also became active cultural custodians within the Indonesian Wikipedia community.