When people ask me what I’ve been working on lately, the answer usually involves students, professors, and open source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. contributions. Something has been quietly building in Poland on the WordPress education front, and I think it’s time to share what’s been happening.
I’ve been coordinating WordPress Educational Initiatives in the Central and Eastern Europe region for a while now, and Poland has become one of the most exciting places to watch. Here’s a look at what we’ve built so far.
Universities Joining the WP Credits Program
The WordPress Credits Program connects students with real open source contributions, and Polish universities have been embracing this in a genuine way. Students aren’t just learning WordPress as a tool; they’re becoming contributors to a project that powers a significant portion of the web. For many of them, it’s the first time they realize that open source is something they can actively participate in, not just consume.
Seeing students submit their first contributions, earn their credit badges, and start to understand how a global open source community actually works has been one of the most rewarding parts of this work. What makes the Polish context interesting is the strong technical culture in Polish higher education, students come in with solid foundations, and the Credits Program gives them a meaningful way to apply that to something real and lasting.
Campus Connect Events
Alongside the Credits Program, we’ve been running WordPress Campus Connect events in Poland. These are hands-on sessions that bring WordPress into the classroom in a direct, practical way, connecting students with the broader community and giving them a taste of what contributor culture looks and feels like.
The events have been a great bridge between academic learning and the open source world. For a lot of students, meeting people from the WordPress community, hearing how others got involved, and realizing they’re already contributing to something global is the moment things click.
High Schools Stepping In
One of the developments I’m most excited about is what’s been happening at the secondary school level. VIII LO, a high school in Krakow, has students actively working on WordPress-related projects. This mirrors a broader direction in the WP Credits Program to explore contributions beyond universities, and it’s been incredible to see younger students take it seriously.
These students aren’t just building websites. They’re engaging with real problems, thinking about users, and learning what it means to create something that others will actually use. And some of them will be presenting their work at WordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe 2026 in Krakow, which makes this particularly full-circle: they’re in the host city, they’re local students, and they’ll be sharing their WordPress journey with an international audience.
What’s Coming at WCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event. 2026
Speaking of WCEU: as part of the Education programming at WordCamp Europe this year, students from Krakow University of Technology, Krakow University of Economics, and VIII LO will be showcasing the projects they’ve built during their involvement in WordPress educational initiatives. Having local students present at a flagship WordPress event is a big deal, and it’s a testament to how far this work has come.
Why This Matters
Rita Robles wrote beautifully about what the WP Credits Program means to her in Costa Rica: seeing students go from never having heard of open source to becoming active contributors, building real portfolios, and connecting to a global community. I feel the same way about what’s happening in Poland.
The thing that keeps me going in those initiatives is the moment when a student stops thinking of themselves as someone who uses technology and starts seeing themselves as someone who builds it. That shift happens across cultures, in Krakow just as much as in Cartago.
We’re still building. More institutions are in conversation about joining the Credits Program, more Campus Connect events are in the pipeline, and the student showcase at WCEU is going to open some doors. Poland is very much in motion.
If you’re an educator in Poland or elsewhere in CEE and you’re curious about bringing WordPress into your institution, reach out. There’s a place for you in this program.
Maciej “Matt” Pilarski is a Community Wrangler Someone, usually a person part of event organizing team, who looks after certain things like budget or sponsors. at Automattic, coordinating WordPress Educational Initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia, part of the WCEU 2026 Local Team in Krakow.
#campus-connect, #education, #wpcredits
