Wikimédia France/Démarche partenariale/en
Definition of a partnership
editWikimédia France is an association dedicated to the free sharing of knowledge. It acts to promote all forms of free knowledge. A partnership between any institution, company, association, organization and Wikimédia France is an agreement to collaborate and cooperate in order to achieve a common goal of knowledge. It is essential to the development of the association and the work of its members that we establish partnerships. They enable us to share financial, material, intellectual and human resources in order to achieve aims as part of a joint project. This joint project is born from the wishes, needs and challenges shared by Wikimédia France and its partners. Each partnership is therefore covered by an agreement which aims to establish the overall framework for the actions envisaged between the partners and the contributions that each will make to achieve these goals (cf. section 6 for further details).
Guiding principles for our partnerships
editThe principles forming the foundations of Wikimédia France’s partnership action are listed below for the purposes of clarity and showing evidence of transparency with regard to the rules, models and goals linked to any partnership with our organization:
- equality: each organization has a say in defining, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the project undertaken by the partners.
- support: each project is based on shared convictions, including that of contributing to common goods.
- autonomy: each partner is autonomous within the framework of a project and contributes its own expertise and resources towards a profitable partnership experience. Partners do not have the right to interfere in Wikimédia France’s internal affairs, and vice-versa. Respect for the partner’s integrity and operating methods is essential.
- goodwill: most of the association’s partnership actions are coordinated and implemented by competent, devoted volunteer members.
Wikimédia France wishes to see its partnership actions carried out in a climate of goodwill and an assumption of trust.
We believe that it is essential for any partner wishing to sign a partnership agreement to support these principles.
Our values
editWhat one should know about free knowledge.
The role of the free knowledge community is to create and share information resources and cultural works in full compliance with the copyright laws. However, by offering their research or their works, their creators are guaranteeing five types of freedom: freedom to use, freedom to study, freedom to copy, freedom to redistribute and freedom to improve the research or works in question. Authors, artists, photographers, researchers and others from all over the world who have joined the free knowledge community are committed to these freedoms and, in their turn, produce media that hundreds of millions of people can use. The result is free licence material that is invaluable for education, companies, technology, science and culture worldwide. The people who have created the free knowledge community are in fact copyright holders, just like the people who have created the media industry, but unlike what happens in most industries, the people who have created the free knowledge community wish to encourage progress and innovation by placing their work under free licence and therefore making it freely available to everyone. Wikimédia France is keen to promote the free circulation of knowledge, preferring to use free, open systems and defending common goods: Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia and its sister-projects) are based on the free culture philosophy.
The commitment to collaboration and sharing is central to the free knowledge movement. Today, the Internet should facilitate ongoing innovation based on works under free licence or belonging to the public domain: in the end, it’s a tool aimed at facilitating significant interaction, communication and collaboration, which will stimulate innovation and promote the free circulation of knowledge.
To find out more:
- Pages dedicated to free content and free licences on Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%92uvrelibre and https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licencelibre
- Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/
Wikimédia France activities are based on the philosophical values of the free culture, which are set out in our association charter.
They are summarized below:
- Sharing of knowledge: We wish to give people the opportunity to collect and develop educational content that is under free licence or in the public domain and distribute this content effectively and globally. As often as possible, intellectual production is published under free licence and we use open formats and free software.
- Voluntary work: Volunteers are the essence of the organization and their involvement is a central concern. A project will never get off the ground if it is not supported by volunteers. The association’s employee structure is there to support this voluntary work, but it can never replace the work of volunteer members.
- Transparency: Wikimédia France communicates openly about its work. The Executive Board holds its discussions in full view of all members and reports on its activities unless prevented from doing so by exceptional circumstances.
- Support for the community: Wikimédia France is a chapter in the Wikimedia movement. Its main role is to facilitate the progress of Wikimedia projects in France, in French and the languages of France. This involves offering permanent support as directly as possible to its members and contributor communities.
- Part of a global movement: The other entities that make up the movement are partners, which is why Wikimédia France makes every effort to ensure that its work is accessible to an international audience.
- Responsibility: Wikimédia France is mainly financed by donations and subsidies and appeals to public generosity. The funds are used responsibly and always in the interests of the goals of the association and the Wikimedia movement.
- Supporting local groups: Wikimédia France makes every effort to give proper consideration to local action and to support the regions in which members or non-members seek to implement actions. Local roots are essential in giving an impetus to the movement in France and raising awareness of the work of the association and the movement, all with a concern for proximity, which is a key factor in the success of the actions we undertake with our partners.
- Joint creation: Wikimédia France wishes to broaden its horizons and expects its partners to offer a level of commitment, not only in material terms but also in terms of the actual planning of the actions to be carried out, with the aim of innovating together and sharing ownership of common projects. It is essential for each of the partners to share its goals in complete openness and for the level of commitment to be the same from start to finish of the action.
- Transformation: It is vital to measure the impact of the programmes implemented by Wikimédia France members in order to assess the potential of these actions and work with partners to introduce any required improvements and seek ways of achieving a greater impact on a wider scale.
- Expansion: Wikimédia France would like to see its partners not only become pioneers, working together on new challenges to achieve a transformation and provide access to knowledge for all, but also become ambassadors for this transformation and pass on the benefits to other stakeholders who, in their turn, will raise awareness among others.
- Perseverance: Most partnership initiatives go through the same life cycle: a false start, a period of adjustment and a happy ending. These stages are perfectly normal: Wikimédia France would like to work with its partners with the idea of repeating actions. We wish to persevere together to achieve satisfactory results in the respective tasks and goals of the action we have carried out.
Goals
editThe goals of a partnership initiative with Wikimédia France are very varied and generally linked to one of the strategic priorities of our 2014-2015 action plan:
- Priority 1 – Increase the number of contributors and add to content, by raising awareness among and training different target audiences
- Secondary and higher education
- GLAM
- Cultural associations and groups
- Research
- Sport
- Social and solidarity economy
- Priority 2 – Provide local support to facilitate member involvement and creativity
- Develop an organization in each region
- Fund local projects
- Encourage links between the regions
- Promote regional languages
- Priority 3 - Encourage international links
- Relations with the Wikimedia movement abroad
- Support actions linked to Francophone countries and Africa in particular
- Priority 4 – Improve the tools available in the wiki environment
- Facilitate production by members
- Offer content production assistance services
- Contribute to the development of tools to meet our needs
- Priority 5 – Broaden the scope of the association
- Develop strategic management tools
- Diversify sources of funding
- Make the various communication tools coherent
- Priority 6 – Create a favourable environment for Wikimedia projects
- Raise awareness of the Wikimedia projects and free culture
- Raise awareness of public domain issues
Types of contribution
edit| Type of activity | Definition | Type of partner | Wikimedia France contribution | Partner contribution | Reciprocal commitments | Formalized through... | Implementation period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edit-a-thon | An event aimed at enriching Wikimedia projects linked to one or more given themes. Participants (Wikimedia France members, Wikipedians, groups identifies by the partner...) contribute over a period of time, from several hours to several days at a venue that provides sources |
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Partnership agreement | 2 to 3 months |
| Conference | Participation of a Wikimedia France member in a conference, debate or theme-based working group |
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Cover travel expenses for Wikimedia France stakeholders + accommodation and meals where necessary |
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Actionsheet | 1 month |
| Awareness session | Awareness session run by a Wikimedia France stakeholder to inform audiences of the areas of action of the association (licences, free software, free sharing of knowledge, education and digital technology...) or the movement (presentation of Wikimedia France, Wikimedia projects, associative commitment...) |
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Actionsheet | 1 month |
| Training | Single training session or cycle of training sessions for different audiences (cf. Training catalogue, work in progress) |
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Invoices drawn up for the requesting organization at the rates in force | Evaluation of the action |
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1 to 2 months |
| Content upload | Content upload to Wikimedia projects by Wikimedia France members or by the organization seeking to promote its contents |
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Mobilize one or more Wikimedia France stakeholders to carry out the upload or support the partner | Membership fee (100€ min.) |
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Partnership agreement | 1 to 2 months |
| Wikipermanence (Local "office hours") | Physical meeting between Wikimedians and new or future Wikimedians looking to acquire knowledge and advice about how Wikipedia or another Wikimedia project works, with the objective of answering questions, offering help with the first steps, monitoring actions... |
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Provide a venue and the required equipment |
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1 month |
| Wikipedia off-line | Technical deployment used to consult Wikipedia without an Internet connection (awareness, training and technical support) |
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Partnership agreement | 2 months |
| Operation "Free" or Public Domain Day | Organization and set-up of an awareness event focusing on the public domain and related issues |
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Provide a venue |
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Partnership agreement | 2 to 3 months |
| Wikipedian in residence | Presence of a Wikipedian in an organization with the aim of identifying and developing its content on the different Wikimedia projects |
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Depending on the legal status of the Wikipedian in residence, taking charge of administrative aspects |
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| Wikipedia in town | Installation of interactive signs containing a QR Code directing the public to Wikimedia projects and aiming to promote a city, its public spaces and monuments |
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Cover the cost of the signs and printing |
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Partnership agreement | 2 to 3 months |
| Wikitech lunches | Organization of breakfasts or lunches to present the technical projects of Wikimedia or Wikimedia France association: Wikidata, Semanticpedia... |
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Provide a venue |
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Partnership agreement | 1 month |
Partnership structure
editAs mentioned above, every partnership between Wikimédia France and another organization is covered by a partnership agreement.
Why this document?
The partnership agreement is used to establish the partners’ respective commitments to ensure that the partnership runs smoothly. Cooperation is not ordained. It’s a process: sometimes a long one. While thinking about the content of the agreement, the parties have an opportunity to raise certain questions of an administrative, political or legal nature and explore the constraints of each organization in complete openness, particularly those aspects linked to the organizations’ responsibility for contributing content.
Finally, the agreement formalizes the relationship between the partners and commits them.
Why is it important for Wikimédia France?
It allows Wikimédia France to oversee the work of its volunteers and protect them against all forms of risk (injury, equipment damage, insurance, etc.), to promote the work of volunteers throughout the country and sustain the associative project (to retrace the history of the relationship between two organizations, e.g. if there is a change to the employee team).
Typical content of a partnership agreement:
- Names of the parties and their representatives
- Preamble (brief presentation of the parties and a general reminder of the partnership project)
- Purpose of the partnership (financial arrangements, provision of human, material and document resources)Implementation arrangements (e.g. writing an additional clause for each new action, stating the purpose, how it will be run, the timetable and the means used)
- Evaluation of the partnership (each party agrees to carry out an evaluation of past actions and to share it with the other party)
- Duration of the partnership
- Experimentation (an initial phase may be run in order to learn lessons very quickly; the project can then be adapted if necessary)
- Means used (rooms made available, computers, documentation and sources, staff...)
- Special focus on free licences (used as part of Wikimedia projects)
- Membership (the partner may join the Wikimédia France association as a legal entity for the sum of €100) / Not compulsory
- Disputes and termination (arrangements for settling disputes)
Other types of partnerships may be considered:
- sponsorship
- patronage through the offer of expertise
- patronage in kind
Who can be a partner?
editAny organization interested in working for free access to all human knowledge can become a Wikimédia France partner. Historically, the heritage institutions (grouped under the acronym GLAM - Galleries - Libraries - Archives - Museums) have been special partners, along with members of the educational world.
In its 2014-2015 project, Wikimédia France is seeking to maintain and develop existing relations with this type of partners and to work with them to create a stronger and more wide-ranging impact to prompt a real transformation in their customs and practices.
Wikimédia France is also looking to widen its horizons and meet other organizations from such sectors as the social and solidarity economy, sport, culture, local authorities, etc.
Wikimédia France aims to use this more open approach to forge large-scale partnerships with networks and communities that are already formed and recognized in their own field in order to maximize the impact of the actions they have devised together and bring communities together whose interests are often similar but who have not yet worked together.
Section 9 lists the different types of partners who work with or have worked with the association.
Evaluating a partnership
editWikimédia France would like to be able to jointly evaluate its actions with its partners, along with the partnerships themselves, to determine:
- whether the objectives decided with its partners are relevant and have been accomplished and, where relevant, who are the beneficiaries of the programmes
- how efficient the actions have been and thus optimize the use of the human, material and financial resources mobilized
- the effectiveness of these actions, i.e. measure any variances from the defined objectives in order to maximize the chances of success in the future
- the impact of the actions carried out as part of the partnership: what effects and consequences at several levels
- the sustainability of these actions: are they viable, not necessarily from a financial point of view but more from the point of view of giving greater autonomy to the partner and the people trained, of whether they attracted or retained contributors, etc.
- the quality of the relationship with its partners: the strengths and weaknesses of the partnership, the parties’ contributions, the quality of the interactions, the percentage of synergies
A few examples of questions used to evaluate a partnership:
| Item | Question | Quality approach-related indicators | Measurement means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effectiveness | 1. Quantitative analysis (measure the variances between the results obtained and the defined objectives) 2. What level of progress have we reached after action X compared to the defined objectives? |
Number of contributions in the main space Quality of the photographic content People made aware |
Data collection (separating imports carried out by members and partners to compare before / after) Number of high-quality images and percentage of photos reused on the projects Difference between the number of people to train and the number of people actually trained |
| Efficiency | 1. Could we have done what we did differently and at a lower cost? e.g. search for sponsorship, need to bring in a third party to fund an action 2. Time put in / number of volunteers involved compared to the scope of the action |
Number of volunteer and employee hours compared to the results obtained | Internal reporting and volunteer evaluation grid |
| Replication or sustainability | 1. Could what we have done be carried on autonomously? (To determine how much knowledge has been transferred from Wikimedia France to the partner organization, for example) 2. What means are used to ensure that the action is monitored and sustained? |
Increase in the expertise of the participating audiences Instructor training introduced? |
Special questionnaire at the end of the action and/or training session New events on the partner’s initiative Agreement formalized after a pilot action, etc. |
| Relevance | 1. Does what we have done fit in with the priorities defined by the beneficiaries? (Were the beneficiaries involved in defining the objectives?) |
Increase in the expertise of the participating audiences | Satisfaction questionnaire for participants |
| Promoting the partnership | 1. Number of mentions in the major media concerning the action or partnership 2. Number of mentions in the local and web press concerning the action or partnership |
Media coverage | Press / web monitoring |
| Quality of the relationship with the partner | 1. Quality of interactions 2. Global satisfaction with the partnership 3. Parties’ respect for their commitments 4. Problem areas and areas for improvement |
Partner satisfaction | Satisfaction questionnaire for participants |
A list of some of Wikimédia France’s former and current partners
edit- Archives
- French National Archives
- Cultural groups or networks
- Avignon Festival
- Amaury Sports Organization
- Association of museums and centres for the development of scientific, technical and industrial culture (AMCSTI)
- Libraries
- French National Library (BNF)
- Local authorities
- Toulouse City Council
- Loire-Atlantique Departmental Council
- Bordeaux City Council
- Multidisciplinary cultural establishments
- Centre Pompidou
- Cité de l’Architecture and du Patrimoine (Architecture and Heritage)
- Palais de la Decouverte, Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (Science and Industry)
- Company Foundations
- L’Oreal Company Foundation
- Galeries Lafayette Foundation
- Museums
- Sèvres, “Cité de la Céramique” (Ceramics)
- Musée national du Moyen-Âge (Middle Ages)
- Musée de la Haute-Saône
- Musée du quai Branly
- Château de Versailles
- Government organizations
- Ministry of Culture and Communication
- The French Institute
- “Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie” (agency for French-speaking communities)
- Universities and research institutes
- “Communauté d’universités et d’Etablissements Lille Nord de France” (universities and educational establishments)
- “Cité internationale universitaire”, Paris
- University of Rennes I
- The National Institute for Research into Computers and Automated Systems (INRIA)