We were really excited to welcome such a fantastic crowd to our unconference, "Nodes on a Web: The Fediverse in/for Public Institutions", on 19/20 March 2026 at Marinebasis in Amsterdam.

At our first unconference , we were able to share some exciting sneak peeks of our research report on the EDPS pilot EU Voice/Video. The diverse audience—around 50 on the first day and 30 on the second—sparked lively discussions about the various aspects of the Fediverse integration process.

So, our report got (once again… ;) further enriched by insights recommendations and challenges from an overwhelming amount of discussions about the Fediverse integration process—from a broad range of different and challenging angles.

We’re currently preparing a NOAW unconference report… And starting to share chapters and interview stories from our EU Voice/Video report in stages to spark further discussion and prepare for upcoming unconferences. A first part will be online soon.. Woohoo..!

Conclusion: Collective efforts as experienced in our first unconference clearly show the encouragement and eager of public institutions and civic organisations to adopt decentralised and alternative social media.

Facilitating such a diverse and engaging audience of administrators, communication and content managers, developers, coders, maintainers, digital activists and open-source enthusiasts was a real pleasure. Thank you sponsors and participants for making this fantastic event possible. You all play a vital role in spreading and scaling our growing knowledge and reaching new audiences.

Keep on juggling the Fediverse!

Billie

NOAW is supported by the Chief Information Office (CIO-Rijk) (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations) of the Netherlands, the Digitalisation & Innovation Department of the City of Amsterdam, NLnet foundation, and SABOA foundation.

The Fediverse presents a chance to reshape social media around core values like privacy, data protection, and transparency. Across Europe, public institutions are increasingly looking for alternatives to corporate social platforms. The Fediverse, particularly the microblogging platform Mastodon, is gaining traction as various governments and public agencies launch their own instances. At the same time, development and initiatives within Europe have been primarily driven by volunteers, with some funding from initiatives such as NGI, which is nearing its end.

Our goal is to unite individuals involved in these initiatives and the wider Fediverse developer community. We want to share insights and ideas on how the Fediverse can thrive for public institutions in the long term. This includes developers, administrators, communication and content managers, coders, maintainers, digital activists, and open-source enthusiasts. Together, we will tackle questions such as:

• What is the future trajectory of the Fediverse?
• How can we best support the development and adoption of decentralized social media?

Our gathering will follow an unconference format. This means there won't be a fixed agenda; instead, participants will shape the content, often deciding on topics on the day of the event. It's all about openness, interaction, and collaboration. Our goal is to create a space for exploring ideas, sharing initiatives, and forming new partnerships.

We'll start with a keynote and offer a few pre-prepared workshops, but we mainly want to hear from you! Everyone is encouraged to propose their own topics, including workshops, presentations, joint roundtables, and informal discussions.

The main objective is to promote knowledge sharing in a relaxed atmosphere, allowing everyone to engage in meaningful conversations. Feel free to come prepared with a topic or join spontaneous discussions. We look forward to hearing what matters to you!

Potential topics include:

• Moderation techniques and tools
• Protocol and feature development
• Roadmaps
• Governance frameworks
• Engagement strategies
• Terms of service, codes of conduct, data protection assessments
• Funding
• Your topic?

For everyone who is already involved or interested in using alternative social media in the context of public institutions and administrations

This can include developers, administrators, communication and content managers, coders, maintainers, contributors, open-source folk who work for public institutions, and many more!

—Secure your spot. Please note that the participant number is limited!

Program for Thursday 19 March

• 09:30 Coffee & Registration
• 10:00 Opening, FediVariety report launch
• 10:30 Session intros, Breakout groups, Sessions
  ➔ Overview of the submitted session proposals...
• 13:00 Lunch break
• 13:45 Lightning talks
• 14:15 Keynote "Coding communities? On the possibilities of building open digital societies through public value algorithms."
  By Nikolaus Pöchhacker (https://digiones.org/), IDea_Lab at Uni Graz: https://idea-lab.uni-graz.at/en/specialist-areas/data-analysis/. His book, "Democratic Algorithms —Ethnography of a Public Recommender System" illustrates how a recommender system was built in a public broadcaster and questions on how we can imagine and design algorithms for a democratic society.
• 14:45 Coffee break, Session intros
• 15:00 Sessions
• 17:00 Short break
• 17:15 Open plenary
• 18:00 Networking dinner at Spirit Amsterdam (see further)

Program for Friday 20 March

• 09:30 Coffee & Registration
• 10:00 Session intros, Breakout groups, Sessions
• 12:00 Lunch break
• 12:45 Lightning talks
• 13:15 Sessions
• 14:30 Open plenary, Wrap-up

Venue Location

• ➔ Check the practical guide 'NOAW Getting There' for various options...
• Kattenburgerstraat 5, 1018 JA Amsterdam — building 027-S.
• Coordinates: 52.3736746, 4.9155272
• Marineterrein Amsterdam Info
• Detailed map of Marineterrein with venue location

Registration & Fees

• Participation is free for everyone, and we will provide lunch at no cost. And —woohoo!— in the mean while, we got the network dinner sponsored ;). However, we kindly encourage voluntary donations to help cover expenses. Your contributions will also assist those who may struggle to afford this experience.
• Participant number is limited.

Catering / Food

• Tea, coffee, snacks and a light lunch are foreseen.
• Networking dinner will be on Thursday, starting around ±19:00 at Spirit Amsterdam, Czaar Peterstraat 2a, 1018 PR Amsterdam, +31 (0)20 737 16 71

Language

• The main language of communication will be English. However, you can organise sessions in other languages, but please support each other with inclusion and translations.

Questions

• Ask Billie —our abfab office manager ~;)
• noaw@fedivariety.org