We are excited to invite you to our upcoming unconference, "Nodes on a Web: The Fediverse in/for Public Institutions", on 19/20 March 2026 at Marinebasis in Amsterdam.

Are you involved in Fediverse or ActivityPub development? Or are you part of a public institution already using the Fediverse for outreach? If so, this event is for you! The unconference offers a chance to meet, share experiences, and collaboratively strengthen the development of alternative social media for the long term.

At NOAW FediVariety will launch the report on the now-closed European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) pilot project, 'EU Voice/Video'. The EDPS pilot was one of the first to integrate self-hosted Fediverse instances into cross-institutional (EU) public administration. Insights and recommendations derived from our analysis will be a start for a discussion.

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.

—Please note that the number of participants is limited! We're closing soon!

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 submitted session proposals so far...
• 13:00 Lunch break
• 13:45 Lightning talks
• 14:15 Keynote
• 14:45 Coffee break, Session intros
• 15:00 Sessions
• 17:00 Short break
• 17:15 Open plenary
• 18:00 Networking dinner [location tba]

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

• 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

• You can register here. Please note that the participant number is limited.
• Participation is free for everyone, and we will provide lunch at no cost. (We're still looking to have 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.

Catering / Food

• Tea, coffee, snacks and a light lunch are foreseen.
• Networking dinner will be on Thursday, starting around ±20:00 at [location tba].

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