Grants:Simple/Applications/Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia/2021

Application or grant stage: in progress

Applicant or grantee: Wikimedia UG Georgia

Amount requested: US$34,000.00

Amount granted: 29,800 USD

Funding period: 1 January 2021 - 31 December 2021

Midpoint report due: 15 July 2021

Final report due: 30 January 2022

Application

Background

Annual Plan

• Annual Plan for 2021

Budget Plan

• UG-GE Budget for 2021
• Proposed by UG-GE (October 2020)
• Approved by WMF (December 2020)
• Approved by WMF (March 2021)

Staffing Plan

• Staffing Plan for 2021

Strategic plan

• 2021-2023 Strategic Plan

Introduction

Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia is a user group of the Wikimedia Foundation, which is an officially registered non-profit (non-commercial) legal entity in Georgia representing, which created in 2015 by active members of Wikimedia contributors living in Georgia, who are interested in organizing and participating in outreach activities on a national level. It aims to promote and participate in the projects offered by the Wikimedia Foundation and to organize the Georgian community. One of its core missions is to aid and encourage people to collect, develop and disseminate knowledge and other educational, cultural and historic content in the public domain or other licenses that allows everyone to freely use the knowledge, and to distribute and modify said content for free.

The mission of Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia is to aid and encourage Georgians to collect, develop and disseminate knowledge and other educational, cultural and historic content in the public domain or other licenses that allows everyone to freely use the knowledge, and to distribute and modify said content for free. Also, promotion of Knowledge (initiation and stimulation of public interest in Knowledge and in means of creation, development and spreading of Knowledge and access to it), promote access to knowledge and education for all citizens, regardless of their social or other status, to organize such access, assist in the preparation of laws and other normative acts that promote knowledge creation, accumulation, development and dissemination.

Programs

Content Gap

Through various projects and programs, including through article contests, photography contests, contests aimed to improving the content of projects and marathons, Wikimedia UG Georgia tries to improve and develop Wikimedia projects in Georgian and other regional languages of the Caucasus. Contests and projects are both international and local. In 2020, Wikimedia UG Georgia held 8 such contests and marathon. Our experience for this year gives us the opportunity to assess the success we have received and plan such programs and projects for the future.

This programm is focused on bringing new content into Wikimedia projects. Both, new projects and long-standing contests, such as CEE Spring, Wiki Loves Caucasus and Wikipedia Asian Month, are given here.

Article Contests

Various thematic contests in Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia) in the direction of creating and improving the content of projects, one of the best ways to develop and increase content in projects, as well as a successful way to attract new contributors. Wikimedia UG Georgia has been conducting such thematic contests for 3 years in a row and very successfully. Until the end of October 2020, Wikimedia UG Georgia held 6 article contests at the local and international level, in total 1649 new articles were created and more than 200 articles in the Georgian Wikipedia were improved. In addition to this, over 767 new articles have been created internationally. In the first six months (January-June) 51 contributors took part in the contests, of which 20 were new contributors. These figures show the success of such projects.

In 2021, Wikimedia UG Georgia will add new thematic contests to existing long-standing contests such as CEE Spring, Wikipedia Asian Month and Wiki Loves Caucasus, as it was in 2020 (when thematic contests were held around gender, gastronomy, science, Nobel Prize, etc.). At the moment it's planned to hold a total of 8 contests, at the local and international level together.

Enhancing quality of content

Improving the content of Wikimedia projects and especially Wikipedia, Wikidata and Commons is a strategic task and challenge for us. It's very important to increase the quality of the content of Wikimedia projects. But to improve the content in projects such as Wikidata, you need to have the appropriate knowledge, so we aim, in addition to improving the content of the project, also improving the skills of contributors and those who are interested in working on the project. For this, we will conduct trainings and workshops with the help of experts and administrators of the projects themselves.

This project will run throughout the year and will contribute to both improving the content and improving the skills of contributors.

---

Program Objectives:

• Conducting and facilitating edit-a-thons and other types of contribution workshops to Wikimedia projects.
• To improve Wikipedia's coverage of topics that were prioritized by the community.
• Enhancing quality of content in Wikipedia, Wikidata and Commons.
• Organizing and participating in the International projects.
• Increasing the skills of editors of Wikimedia projects in Georgian language.

Program Metrics:

1. Number of contest: 8
2. Number of workshops: 4
3. Total participants: 80
4. Number of newly registered users: 30
5. New articles: 1000
6. Articles improved: 300

Timeline:

1. Women in Wikipedia: 8 February - 8 March
2. CEE Spring: 21 March - 31 May
3. Georgia Democratic Republic 103: 1-30 June
4. Tematic contest: July - August
5. Wiki Loves Caucasus 2021: 1-31 October
6. Wikipedia Asian Month: 1-30 November
7. Workshops for enhancing quality of content: all the year round

Increasing Participation

A key activity of Wikimedia UG Georgia is to attract new volunteers, editors and people to the initiative of the Wikimedia movement, to develop and improve Wikimedia projects. The increase of the number of participants in Wikimedia projects, primarily in the Georgian language, is strategic for us, since the growth of the Wikimedia content and the quality of the content created depend on the number of participants.

We seek to different groups and individuals, including under-represented in our community by supporting and organizing trainings aimed at increasing participation in the Wikimedia movement. We are working with our community to find opportunities to increase participation and improve the climate for newbies in Wikimedia projects. We will facilitate this with two main projects (WikiCamp and WikiClubs) and training sessions.

Wikicamp

Our experience of past projects tells us that one of the best ways to attract participants to Wikimedia project is to conduct WikiCamps. In March, 2019 we held the first such WikiCamp and its result prompted us to conduct such a WikiCamp in future. Also, the experience of our colleagues from Wikimedia Armenia and from other chapters of Wikimedia confirms this. The main goal of the camp, to attract more people to work in Wikimedia projects, which will contribute to the development of Wikimedia projects. During WikiCamp we will contribute to the diversity of the participants, where we want to contribute to the gender balance of volunteers and contributors, as it was in 2019 (where the gender of the participants was 50/50).

In 2020, we planned to hold two camps (local and regional), but unfortunately, due to the current situation caused by the pandemic, we had to cancel both camps. We hope that this year everything will pass without obstacles, which will be facilitated by a favorable state in the fight against the pandemic of Georgia.

During WikiCamp young people to acquire skills in Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. Young people will study the wiki-technology and then under the supervision of experienced WikiMedians will independently create and translate articles in Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. Both beginners and people who have minimal knowledge of working in Wikimedia projects will participate in the camp.

WikiClubs

One of the most important aspects of our activity is the development of regional WikiClubs throughout Georgia. Wikimedia UG Georgia currently has two active WikiClubs created in two regions of the country, from where one is also a tool for integrating national minorities of Georgia into the community, since it was created in the region of Georgia, where the sensible part of the population is an ethnic minority.

Clubs are a reliable tool for the acquisition and development of human potential for Wikimedia projects. In this way, we attract people to projects, give them the right resource to work on them, and set up a stable platform for developing their skills and for developing Wikimedia projects and the Wikimedia community.

We can also be proud that with these projects we are attracting more female contributors and by this we develop and increase the diversity in our community. We are going to increase the network of such clubs throughout Georgia and in 2021 we are going to open 3 more such WikiClubs, which we will help in the technical aspect and will also conduct trainings and workshops for them.

Training sessions

Wikimedia UG Georgia will conduct open training courses and workshops for all interested parties who want to contribute to the development of Wikimedia projects in Georgian. Trainings and workshops will be held both online (using remote channels) and in person.

Most people who use Wikipedia, and then show interest in working on Wikimedia projects, don't have sufficient knowledge and experience for this, and we also don't have enough online material for newcomers to work in Wikimedia projects. Therefore we decided to create a platform for training and workshops for such beginners. In addition, we will record our webinars and upload them to online resources so that everyone can use it, which will facilitate the work for beginners.

---

Program Objectives:

• Organizing offline and online training sessions to attract new editors to Wikipedia and its sister projects.
• Using contemporary online technologies to teach the general public how to edit Wikipedia.
• Conducting and enabling training sessions (physical or online) to contribute to Wikimedia projects.
• To engage more students by organising trainings & Camp.
• Development of WikiClub networks in Georgia.

Program Metrics:

1. Number of trainigs: 10
2. Number of workshops: 10
3. Total participants: 60
4. Number of new WikiClubs: 3
5. Number of WikiCamps: 1

Timeline:

1. WikiCamp: July 2021
2. Workshops and Trainigs: all the year round

Community Support, Development and Promoting Wikimedia

Community development, support and preservation of community sustainability is one of the most important goals of Wikimedia UG Georgia. Self-organized community of Wikimedia in Georgia continues to develop and Wikimedia UG Georgia helps them in their development and sustainable existence. This direction has long been part of the Organization's programmatic activities, and we will continue to use the proven ways of working with the WikiCommunity.

The support of the Wikimedia community in Georgia is important for us, as the community creates and develops the content of Wikimedia projects in Georgian and not only. Community support means sustainable development Wikimedia movement in Georgia.

Promoting, popularization and outreach of Wikimedia and Wikimedia projects is very important for Wikimedia UG Georgia and is an important aspect of the work of affiliation, since in Georgia Wikimedia and Wikipedia projects are not very popular and people know little about it.

One of our main goals is organizational development. At the moment, our organization is a User Group and our goal is to become an official Wikimedia chapter, which will also promote Wikimedia projects in Georgia on a larger scale. To achieve this, we will use different paths.

Community Events

Face-to-face meetings remain the best tool for discussions around Wikimedia projects and the Wikimedia movement. Such meetings are the best way to eliminate all misunderstandings and conflicts within projects and movements. Also, such meetings contribute to the establishment of close ties between contributors, which creates the basis for the sustainable development of the Wikimedia community.

We are going to conduct three types of such events:

1. Georgian WikiConference: and the Annual General Meeting are two main annual community events. The first such meeting was held in December 2018 and second in 2019. Besides this, Wikimedia UG Georgia will hold annual General Meetings with the participation of all members of our organization to address important issues of our organization. Such an annual event promotes the gathering of all contributors and enthusiasts to meet and exchange ideas. Also, Wikimedia UG Georgia informs everyone with its programs and news from the entire Wikimedia movement. On this event, we also create and develop a development direction for the future.
2. Periodic meetings: these are small meetings of the editors of Wikimedia projects, which began back in 2010 and we want to develop them.
3. Wikimedia Strategy workshops: this is a meeting of Wikimedia UG Georgia representatives with contributors and representatives of the Wikimedia community in Georgia, which is intended to discuss the development of the Wikimedia movement based on the recommendations developed by the Working Groups for the movement.

Outreach

An important part of our work will be the promotion of Wikimedia projects using media (Social, Online media and etc.). To achieve this, we will use social media as well as Wikimedia UG Georgia blogs. Our experience in 2020 has shown that social networks are a good tool for attracting new faces to Wikimedia projects, since the majority of the population of Georgia and our oriented audience actively use the network.

Also to popularize Wikimedia movement and projects, we will hold orientation meetings for the public and the media, which we are already actively conducting.

Scholarships

Providing scholarships for international events is an important part of community and organizational development and the promotion of knowledge sharing. Attending conferences and other events provides members of the local community with an opportunity to build and strengthen connections, gain new knowledge, and share it through their reports, notes, articles, photos, and social media posts. Since it is difficult for economic reasons for most Georgian citizens to afford expensive international travel, UG-GE scholarships are especially important to the community.

Unfortunately, due to the current situation, all Wikimedia events were canceled in 2020 and we hope that in 2021 we will be able to hold and attend them.

---

Program Objectives:

• To increase the community participation and skill level.
• To popularize Wikimedia projects and increase the number of volunteers in Wikimedia projects.
• Holding events for sharing experience between editors.
• Supporting participation of community representatives in international Wikimedia events for sharing experience and acquiring skills.
• Highlighting high quality work of Georgian contributors on the UG website, blog and social media.

Program Metrics:

1. Number of Community Events: 6
2. Number of promotions: 10
3. Total participants: 30
4. Number of international events: 3

Timeline:

1. Community Events: all the year round
2. Wikimania: August 2021
3. Outreach Events: all the year round

Grant Metrics Reporting

Required. Metrics, targets and results: grants metrics worksheet here.

Needs Request

No requests needed

• We confirm that at this stage we have no other needs, as we carry out limited projects and programs in the way of building larger programs and projects.

Midpoint report

This is a brief report on the grantee's progress during the midpoint reporting period: 1 January - 30 June 2021.

Program story

Please link to one program story that showcases your organization's achievements during the reporting period.

Program story

Progress

Please add text or a link to a page with details on your program progress. This should including reporting against each of the SMART objectives form your proposal.

Content Gap

Article Contests

• From February 15 to March 15, we held a contest – "Women in Wikipedia". The aim of the contest is to increase the number of articles about women in Georgian Wikipedia, as well as the total number of articles. Achieving and maintaining gender balance is a priority of the Wikimedia UG Georgia. In total, 535 new articles were created in Georgian Wikipedia during the contest by 22 users.

• From March 21 to May 31, we have joined a contest "CEE Spring 2021". Wikimedia CEE Spring is an article writing contest focused on Central and Eastern Europe, organised by volunteers from the communities of Wikimedia Central and Eastern Europe. The idea of Wikimedia CEE Spring is to join local forces of free knowledge to accumulate and distribute information about history, culture, traditions and people in every corner of the region (CEE) to support mutual acknowledgment and understanding, and to increase the quantity and quality of free knowledge available about the CEE region globally. In total, 264 new articles were created in Georgian Wikipedia during the contest by 15 users. 4 articles were improved.

Increasing Participation

WikiGap 2021

• On March 8, we have joined a WikiGap Challenge 2021. This was a public writing competition to create and improve articles to strengthen Wikipedia's coverage of women and related topics in Georgian Wikpedia. In total, 28 new articles were created in Georgian Wikipedia during this single day contest by 17 users.

• 

WikiClubs

At the moment, we have created and support three Wikiclubs in three regions of Georgia (Surami WikiClub, Marneuli WikiClub and Adigeni WikiClub). One of these clubs was created in a region where the ethnic minority of Georgia lives compactly and this club also plays an important role in the integration of the population.

• Technical assistance (computers) was provided to all three clubs and additional assistance will be provided in the coming months.

• From January to the end of June, more than 30 offline meetings (trainings) were held for each club. Representatives of Wikimedia UG Georgia made WikiEducational presentations for club members.

• Since the beginning of the year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the meetings have been and are being held online, using Zoom platform. Over 6 months in all clubs, over 30 online trainings and meetings were held. Participants created over 4000 articles and over 100 articles significantly improved.

• We provide participants with additional opportunities for participation and facilitate their problems, for example by paying their Internet costs.

• 
  Surami WikiClub

Training sessions

• throughout June, online trainings about Wikipedia editing have been going through Zoom platform. The trainings were open to any interested person who filled out a special form posted on the social media channels of Georgian Wikipedia and Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia. The trainings were conducted by active editors of Georgian Wikipedia, Jaba1977 and MIKHEIL. In total, 10 volunteers studied the basic principles of Wikipedia editing.

• 
• 
• 

Collaborate with GLAM, Universities and Educational Institutions

Cooperation with the Gastronomic Association of Georgia

• On April 8, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia and Gastronomic Association of Georgia. The purpose of the memorandum is to cooperate in all areas related to information and education within Wikimedia projects. According to the memorandum, Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia will be provided all necessary materials created, processed or protected by the Gastronomic Association in accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation license policy, and then, Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia will provide processing of this information and uploading to Wikimedia projects. In addition, the parties of the memorandum will provide trainings and meetings to provide joint projects in Wikipedia.

Cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia

• On April 14, A memorandum of cooperation was signed between Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia and The Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. The purpose of the memorandum is to cooperate in the Georgian language projects of Wikimedia, mainly in the direction of popularization and development of Wikipedia. Within the framework of the memorandum, several projects on various topics will be held in Georgian Wikipedia. Among them will be Kartvelian studies, Georgian scientists and etc. Wikimedia UG Georgia will provide trainings, in which potential participants will learn the basic principles of Wikipedia editing. Prizes for the winners of the competitions will be provided by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.

• 
• 
• 
• 

Spending

Please report your organization's total spending during the reporting period, or link to a financial document showing your total spending.

10,506.00 USD, detailed expenses here

Final report

Program story

• Full start during Covid

Learning story

• Learning story for Final report from Georgia

Programs Impact

Content Gap

Wikimedia UG Georgia, through various programs such as article contests, trainings, online trainings and workshops, edit-a-thons, tries to increase and improve the content of Wikimedia projects in Georgian. As well as by funding and facilitating international projects, it also tries to increase and improve the content of Wikimedia projects in other languages, mainly in the languages of the Caucasus region.

In 2020, Wikimedia UG Georgia held 8 such contests and marathon. Our experience for this year gives us the opportunity to assess the success we have received and plan such programs and projects for the future. This programm is focused on bringing new content into Wikimedia projects. Both, new projects and long-standing contests, such as CEE Spring, Wiki Loves Caucasus and Wikipedia Asian Month, are given here.

Our results, both locally and internationally, give us the opportunity to say that this is one of the best ways to increase and improve the content of Wikimedia projects by attracting more volunteers through these programs and projects.

Article Contests

Within the framework of this program, Wikimedia UG Georgia held 5 article contest in the Georgian Wikipedia, one of which was international, which was also held in the Russian, Azerbaijani, Ukrainian, Avar, Lezgi, Ossetian, Chechen and Tatar Wikipedias. In total, over 3,500 new articles have been created and over 80 articles have been improved during this program. Specifically:

Women in Wikipedia contest logo

1. Women in Wikipedia: The contest, which was held in Georgian Wikipedia for a month, from February 15 to March 15, organized by Wikimedia UG Georgia, ended on March 15. 22 users participated in the contest, a total of 535 new articles were created. The goal of the contest was to increase the number of articles about women in Georgian Wikipedia, as well as the total number of articles. Achieving and maintaining gender balance is a priority of Wikimedia UG Georgia.

2. CEE Spring: On May 31, international contest "CEE Spring" ended in Georgian Wikipedia, in which participants wrote articles about countries in the Central and Eastern European region. The local organizer of the contest was Wikimedia UG Georgia. The contest ran from March 21 to May 31 and 15 editors participating in it, who created 260 new articles and improved 4 existing articles.

3. Museums in Wikipedia: From September 1 to 30, the contest "Museums in Wikipedia" was held. The aim of the contest is to increase the number of articles about museums in Georgian Wikipedia, as well as the total number of articles. Writing articles on GLAM topic is a priority of the Wikimedia UG Georgia. 11 users participated in the contest, a total of 257 new articles were created. 5 winning editors were identified, who were awarded prizes determined in accordance with the contest rules.

4. Wiki Loves Caucasus 2021: From October 1 to October 31, the joint international contest "Wiki Loves Caucasus 2021" was held. The aim of the contest is to create new articles about the Caucasus in Caucasian language Wikipedias. The goal of the contest in Georgian Wikipedia is to increase the number and quality of articles about the Caucasus countries and regions in kawiki.

Wiki loves Caucasus contest logo

The contest, in addition to the Georgian Wikipedia, with the facilitation of regional partners, was also organized in the Russian, Azerbaijani, Ukrainian, Avar, Lezgi, Ossetian, Chechen and Tatar Wikipedias. In total, over 1,700 new Wikipedia articles were created. In addition, the contest was also held in other Wikimedia projects in Ukrainian language (Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wiktionary). A total of 64 editors took part in the contest.

Statistics of new articles by projects:

1. Georgian Wikipedia: 356
2. Azerbaijani Wikipedia: 716
3. Russian Wikipedia: 601
4. Ukrainian Wikipedia: 211
5. Chechen Wikipedia: 62
6. Tatar Wikipedia: 81
7. Avar Wikipedia: 15
8. Lezgi Wikipedia: 4
9. Ossetian Wikipedia: 96
10. Ukrainian Wikiquote: 20
11. Ukrainian Wikisource: 20
12. Ukrainian Wiktionary: 2

5. Wikipedia Asian Month: From November 1 to November 30, in Georgian Wikipedia was held the annual "Wikipedia Asian Month" marathon. The aim of the marathon is to increase the number and quality of articles about Asian countries in Georgian Wikipedia. Wikimedia UG Georgia has been running this marathon in the Georgian Wikipedia since 2016. This year, 9 users participated in the contest, a total of 279 new articles were created.

Edit-a-thon

Photo from the edit-a-thon online meeting

On March 8, International Women's Day, Georgian Wikipedia joined the international marathon – WikiGap. WikiGap is a partnership between Wikimedia organizations, Wikimedia Sweden and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the main goal of ensuring diversity of participation and eliminating gender inequality in the content of Wikimedia projects. A one-day contest (edit-a-thon) was organized by Wikimedia UG Georgia in Georgian Wikipedia. Within the framework of the edit-a-thon, 17 editors created 28 new articles about women in Georgian Wikipedia, a total of 499 edits were made.

At the end of the edit-a-thon day, an online meeting was held, where a discussion took place about the results of the one-day edit-a-thon, as well as the challenges of the Georgian Wikipedia. All the editors who took part in the edit-a-thon were given souvenirs.

Wikidata Trainings

On December 4-5, Wikimedia UG Georgia hosted Wikidata training days for Wikipedia editors. The training was designed for both novice and experienced Wikimedia projects editors who want to improve their knowledge of working on Wikidata. The training was led by local Wikidata enthusiasts and a Wikidata administrator from Turkey. The trainings were conducted in a combined format, which includes both in-person participation and online attendance.

Improving content in Wikimedia projects, especially in Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, is a strategic goal and challenge for Wikimedia UG Georgia. Improving the quality of content in projects such as Wikidata requires relevant knowledge. It's for this purpose that such events are held for all interested persons.

The event was carried out in compliance with all regulations imposed due to the epidemic. Only fully vaccinated or timely tested individuals participated. A total of 14 people participated in the trainings. It should be especially noted that the trainings were attended by participants of WikiClubs from different regions of Georgia, who subsequently, under the guidance of the coordinators of the WikiClubs, will share their knowledge gained during these trainings with all other members of the WikiClubs.

Images from Wikidata Training Days

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Increasing Participation

The volunteer culture that is not developed in the post-Soviet countries and needs support is a well-known fact. Georgia is no exception in this and where, as in other countries and communities, it needs help to encourage a culture of volunteering. Wikimedia UG Georgia has been actively trying to develop and improve the volunteering situation in the Georgian Wikimedia community for several years now, through various projects.

So far, Wikimedia UG Georgia, through the projects and programs listed below, has been able to change the difficult situation associated with volunteerism and attract more new volunteer editors to Wikimedia projects. We place the main emphasis on attracting young people who study in schools and universities as editors. Young people have great potential and enthusiasm to develop a volunteer culture that will help develop the Wikimedia movement in Georgia.

With active cooperation and work with our regional partners, we have been able to move forward and implement our programs.

WikiClubs

One of the most important aspects of our activity is the development of regional WikiClubs throughout Georgia. Clubs are a reliable tool for the acquisition and development of human potential for Wikimedia projects. In this way, we attract people to projects, give them the right resource to work on them, and set up a stable platform for developing their skills and for developing Wikimedia projects and the Wikimedia community.

At the moment, we have created and supported four Wikiclubs in four regions of Georgia (Surami WikiClub - Shida Kartli, Marneuli WikiClub - Kvemo Kartli, Arali WikiClub - Samtskhe-Javakheti and Baghdati WikiClub - Imereti). One of these clubs was created in a region where the ethnic minority of Georgia lives compactly and this club also plays an important role in the integration of ethnic minority.

• Wikimedia UG Georgia actively helps all WikiClubs on technical aspects, including both new and existing clubs. Technical assistance (computers) was provided to all four clubs and additional assistance will be provided in the future.

• From January to the end of December, more than 60 offline or online meetings (trainings) were held for each club. Representatives of Wikimedia UG Georgia made presentations for club members.

• Since the beginning of the year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the meetings have been held online, using the Zoom platform. Over a year in all four clubs, over 60 online trainings and meetings were held. Participants created over 4,000 articles and over 100 articles significantly improved.

• We provide participants with additional opportunities for participation and facilitate their problems, for example by paying their Internet costs.

Two of the four WikiClub were created in 2021.

Arali WikiClub

On July 17, 2021, Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia established another WikiClub on the base of Arali village public school, in Adigeni Municipality. The new club was opened by members of the organization, active editors of the Georgian Wikipedia, Jaba1977 and MIKHEIL. Wikimedia UG Georgia handed over two new laptops to the club.

The WikiClub aims to teach all interested persons in the village of Arali and surrounding settlements to work in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. WikiClub offers training on wiki technologies to anyone, after which they will be able to work independently on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.

Baghdati WikiClub

On October 10, 2021, Wikimedia UG Georgia established another WikiClub in Baghdati Municipality. The new club was opened by members of the organization, active editors of the Georgian Wikipedia, Jaba1977 and Anry.kiknavelidze. Wikimedia UG Georgia handed over two new laptops to the club.

The Wikiclub aims to teach all interested persons in the village of Alismereti and surrounding settlements to work in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Wikiclub offers training on wiki technologies to anyone, after which they will be able to work independently on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.

Images from Georgian WikiClubs

• 
  Surami WikiClub
• 
  Surami WikiClub
• 
  Surami WikiClub
• 
  Surami WikiClub
• 
  Arali WikiClub
• 
  Arali WikiClub
• 
  Arali WikiClub
• 
  Arali WikiClub
• 
  Baghdati WikiClub
• 
  Baghdati WikiClub
• 
  Baghdati WikiClub
• 
  Baghdati WikiClub

Training sessions

Throughout June, online trainings about Wikipedia editing have been going through Zoom platform. The trainings were open to any interested person who filled out a special form posted on the social media channels of Georgian Wikipedia and Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia. Active editors of Georgian Wikipedia conducted the trainings, Jaba1977 and MIKHEIL. In total, ten volunteers studied the basic principles of Wikipedia editing.

The most active participants of the online trainings were invited and trained intensively in the WikiCamp. This was the first and experimental method for us, which was not carried out and tested by us before. This was the first and experimental method for us, which was not carried out and tested by us before. But it worked and we will continue to implement it in the future.

• 
• 
• 

Wikipedia Workshops in Borjomi

From July 22 to July 26, 2021, Wikimedia UG Georgia members conducted Wikipedia workshops in Borjomi (WikiCamp). 16 students from different regions of Georgia spent four days studying the basic principles of editing Wikipedia. They acquired skills in working on Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. During the trainings, volunteers, under the supervision of experienced Wikimedia, independently created and translated articles into Georgian Wikipedia. The main goal of the training was to involve more young people in Georgian Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.

The WikiCamp was also attended by young people from WikiClubs, who, having undergone intensive training, gained enough experience to share this with other participants in their clubs.

The trainings were led by members of Wikimedia UG Georgia, active editors of the Georgian Wikipedia, Jaba1977, Mehman97, MIKHEIL, Nina1009 and Anry.kiknavelidze.

The Workshops were conducted in compliance with all the regulations established by the Ministry of Health of Georgia against the spread of Coronavirus. Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia provided PCR testing of all participants, and on-site training provided students with N95 masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer.

Images from Camp

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Community Support, Development & Promoting Wikimedia

In a country and community where the culture of volunteerism is not sufficiently developed or absent, special attention should be paid to the development and support of volunteerism. For this reason, Wikimedia UG Georgia pays special attention to this program and tries to support the community through its projects. Community development, support and preservation of community sustainability is one of the most important goals of Wikimedia UG Georgia. Self-organized community of Wikimedia in Georgia continues to develop and Wikimedia UG Georgia helps them in their development and sustainable existence.

The support of the Wikimedia community in Georgia is important for us, as the community creates and develops the content of Wikimedia projects in Georgian and not only. Community support means sustainable development Wikimedia movement in Georgia.

Despite the difficulties caused by the Cov-19 pandemic, we were able to carry out the maximum of what we had planned.

Community Events

Face-to-face meetings remain the best tool for discussions around Wikimedia projects and the Wikimedia movement. Such meetings are the best way to eliminate all misunderstandings and conflicts within projects and movements. Also, such meetings contribute to the establishment of close ties between contributors, which creates the basis for the sustainable development of the Wikimedia community.

This year we held several in-person meetings, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Health of Georgia during the pandemic.

Georgian WikiConference

This is the main meeting place for all members of Wikimedia UG Georgia, editors of Wikimedia projects and volunteers. The first such meeting was held in December 2018 and second in 2019. In 2020, the conference was organized online due to the Covid pandemic and after a break of a year, we were able to meet in-person again.

On December 26, conference was held in Tbilisi. The annual conference dedicated to the development of Wikimedia projects in Georgia. Problems related to the creation and dissemination of knowledge were discussed at the event.

The aim of the WikiConference is to facilitate the development of Wikimedia projects (including Georgian) in Georgia, by creating a sustainable discussion platform. Also, getting acquainted with the activities of the Wikimedia UG Georgia to the general public and making future plans and goals with all. Get acquainted with update from the Wikimedia Foundation and the international Wikimedia movement.

Representatives of Wikimedia UG Georgia, as well as our partners and all interested persons spoke at the conference.

Images from WikiConference

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Periodic meetings

In 2021, both online and in-person meetings were held for members of Wikimedia UG Georgia, editors of Wikimedia projects and volunteers. Such meetings serve the sustainable development of the Wikimedia movement in Georgia and overcoming existing issues in the community.

Wikimedia Strategy workshops

Unfortunately, this year the community was not able to hold a meeting dedicated to the strategy of the Wikimedia movement, because of the pandemic. But Wikimedia UG Georgia has been constantly informing the community about upcoming changes and progress in implementing the recommendations of the movement strategy.

Outreach

For the community and all people to be better aware, there needs to be an effective way to provide information so that everyone knows about it. To do this, we need to use modern platforms where a large audience and people actively use it. This is in our case social networks (such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Wikimedia UG Georgia has active accounts on all social networks that are actively used in Georgia.

Wikimedia UG Georgia actively announces its plans and programs with the help of social networks, as well as new contests held by the UG. This helps us reach a larger audience and has been able to attract new volunteers to the Wikimedia projects, which indicates the effectiveness of this strategy.

It should be noted that over the past year the number of subscribers to our channels in social networks has increased.

Collaborate with GLAM, Universities and Educational Institutions

Wikimedia UG Georgia actively cooperates with various educational institutions, especially with schools and specific representatives of educational institutions. The involvement of educational institutions in the development of Wikimedia projects is very important, as students and pupils are frequent users of the content of Wikimedia projects in Georgia. Also, students of educational institutions are an important resource in the development of the Wikimedia movement in Georgia, who are potential contributors to the Wikimedia project.

On the basis of cooperation between Wikimedia UG Georgia and various educational institutions, we were able to open new WikiClubs in different regions of Georgia. We continue to work in this direction to obtain more results.

Collaborate with Wikimedia and Non-Wikimedia organizations

Cooperation with the Gastronomic Association of Georgia

• On April 8, A memorandum of cooperation was signed between Wikimedia UG Georgia and Gastronomic Association of Georgia. The purpose of the memorandum is to cooperate in all areas related to information and education within Wikimedia projects. According to the memorandum, Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia will be provided all necessary materials created, processed, or protected by the Gastronomic Association in accordance with the Wikimedia Foundation license policy, and then, Wikimedia UG Georgia will provide processing of this information and uploading to Wikimedia projects. In addition, the parties of the memorandum will provide trainings and meetings to provide joint projects in Wikipedia.

This collaboration will provide an opportunity to increase and improve the content of Wikimedia projects on gastronomy and cultural topic.

Cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia

• On April 14, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia and the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. The purpose of the memorandum is to cooperate in the Georgian language projects of Wikimedia, mainly in the direction of popularization and development of Wikipedia. Within the memorandum framework, several projects on various topics was held in Georgian Wikipedia. Among them is Kartvelian studies, Georgian scientists in Wikipedia, etc. Wikimedia UG Georgia provided online training courses and workshops for potential participants to learn the basic principles of Wikipedia editing. Prizes for the winners of the contests was provided by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.

More about contests:

• Kartvelian studies in Wikipedia: The first contest, which was jointly held by Wikimedia UG Georgia and the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. The aim of the contest was to facilitate access to information about Kartvelian studies, Kartvelologist scholars and Georgian manuscripts and to raise awareness among the general public by supplementing the international online platform - Wikipedia - with materials based on credible sources. In total, 58 new articles were created during the contest and 18 articles were improved. More than 20 participants took part in the contest.

• Georgian Science in Wikipedia: In order to popularize Georgian science, within the program of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia - "Science Calendar 2021" - a contest of popular science articles "Georgian Science in Wikipedia" was announced. The aim of the contest was to facilitate access to information about Georgia's scientific fields, research institutions, their achievements and prominent representatives of Georgian science, and to raise public awareness by filling the international online platform - Wikipedia - with materials based on credible sources. The contest is implemented within the framework of the Memorandum of cooperation signed between the Ministry of Education and Science and the Wikimedia UG Georgia by the Korneli Kekelidze National Center for Manuscripts. In total, 24 new articles were created during the contest and 23 articles were improved. More than 10 participants took part in the contest.

• Georgian Science in English Wikipedia: The aim of the competition was to facilitate access to information about Georgian scientific fields, scientific research institutes, their achievements and prominent representatives of Georgian science in English and by translating materials based on wiki contests created within the framework of the Science Outreach Program of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. Raising awareness about the international community.

• 
• 
• 
• 

Spending update Final

Please link to a detailed financial report for your spending during the grant period. This should be in the same format as your detailed budget from your Simple APG application.

Report can be found here

Please include the total amount of Simple APG funds you spent during the grant period.

22,089.12 USD (66,930.033 GEL according to the weighted average exchange rate)

Grant Metrics Reporting Final

Metrics, targets and results: grants metrics worksheet here.