Wikimedia España/Plan Anual/2021

Introduction

Wikimedia España is a Spanish non-profit organization, recognized by the Wikimedia Foundation as the chapter of Wikimedia in Spain. It was officially approved by the Wikimedia Foundation on February 7, 2011 and that same month was registered in the National Register of Associations of the Ministry of the Interior. In May 2011, an agreement was signed with the Valladolid City Council whereby the association's headquarters would be located in a municipal agency.

Although from the beginning of the organization the level of activity was intense, it was from 2015, the year in which Wikipedia won the Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, when the demand for activities and projects throughout the country increased. Therefore, in 2016, we applied for a Simple Annual Plan Grant (APG) that included hiring our first employee, a Program Coordinator. The following year, also within the APG, we applied for a second employee to be responsible for communications and community. All this involved a significant growth in activity and we realized the organization needed to re-define its structure and processes. For this reason, at the end of 2017 we started an internal process to define our strategy for the 2019-2021 period.

Thus, through different actions (Wikimedia Spain Conference, online survey and two weekend meetings involving board, staff and volunteers), a final document was written and approved in 2018. This strategy focuses on continuing working around the four areas we have been prioritising in recent years: diversity, education, GLAM and multimedia content, re-structured now in three new programmes and laid the foundations to reach a better and more effective management of our work.

However, throughout 2019, already with the new strategic plan implemented, we realized that with such a distribution of programs there were initiatives that did not fit them, but equally were interesting from the point of view of improving content and community participation. As a consequence some efforts could stay almost invisible. For example, this year we carried out a notable number of actions in the field of the defence of digital rights, with campaigns such as the new EU Copyright Directive, which did not fit such a strategy either; therefore, those actions were more difficult to measure and assess.. Therefore, in June 2019 we held a weekend meeting in Zaragoza, again involving board, staff and volunteers. There, after an analysis of our activity and a mapping of how other affiliates are organised, we decided to reorganize our programmes, in this same strategy, to three: content, community and institutional relations and public policy.

We believe that 2020 has consolidated the beginning of a period of growth for our organization in aspects such as the inclusion of diverse voices, the development of training materials or our presence as an agent for the defense of digital rights, offering us the opportunity to reach more and more people and organizations. We want to obtain new funds, and to facilitate this we are waiting to obtain the Declaration of Public Utility, a process in which we are still immersed. This would open doors for us to actively look for new funders (as it is more fiscally attractive). For fundraising we will have to establish a fundraising strategy.

Our current WMES strategy ends in 2021, so during this year we will have to work hard on our next one, which should cover 2022-2024.

Programs

Content

Why

Our first program aims to develop projects and activities that encourage the diversification of the contents of Wikimedia projects, including voices that are normally not present in society or are underrepresented, and to improve the quality, reliability and neutrality of the existing contents.

How

This program is developed through five lines of work. Gender gap, around themes or commemorations such as Women Writers' Day, International Women's Day, Women and Girls in Science Day and women composers. Spanish culture, focusing on cultural content, both photographic and textual, related to monuments, museums, festivals or libraries. Rural heritage, mainly through photographic documentation of natural areas and municipalities without photographs. Encounter between cultures, around geographical areas not very represented, such as Asia, Africa and Oceania, the history of humanity or the Camino de Santiago. Quality, through the #1lib1ref campaign, the work with Lingua Libre and the improvement of the essential articles of Wikipedia in Spanish.

Editathons
Writing Challenges
Photo contests
Photographic documentation projects
Recording audio and video files

Objectives

Decrease the knowledge gaps about gender gap, rural areas and Spain and geographical areas typically not well covered in the languages of Spain
Increase the diversity of multimedia content, like audio and video files in several languages and infographics, on Wikimedia Commons
Release materials from various GLAM institutions under a free license

Metrics

At least 1200 Wikipedia articles related to knowledge gaps (eg. rural world, women)
At least 800 audio/video files on Wikimedia Commons
Release free material from two different GLAM institutions that was not previously available on the Wikimedia projects

Community

Why

The second program aims to strengthen our community through two aspects; on the one hand, supporting our members, both financially and in terms of training, and on the other hand, diversifying our community so that different voices can contribute their vision and experience to the growth and strengthening of the Wikimedia movement.

How

Our plan revolves around three areas of work: training, support and diversity. Training is focused on the organization of training sessions, for volunteers and staff of institutions, which will be supported by previously developed materials. We support volunteers to attend international events, such as Wikimania and the various thematic events, and we hold our annual conferences, where the local community plays a leading role. Finally, the editathons and similar events offer the possibility of increasing the number of collaborators from underrepresented communities, with training and networking sessions, with the collaboration of various institutions, such as the Swedish Embassy or the National Library.

Objectives

Increase the number of contributors from under-represented communities in Wikimedia projects, like older people, women and people from rural areas
Broaden the training and experience of members and institutions through the development of training programms

Metrics

250 contributors from under-represented communities.
100 people participating in training sessions.
At least 75% of satisfaction after training session among participants.

Public Policy & Institutional Relations

Why

Our 3rd program focuses on shaping and promoting favorable policies to nurture and preserve free knowledge. It also aims at expanding the scope of the Wikimedia projects by getting more support and resources for our community and our chapter’s activities. In the development of this program we merge our advocacy and public policy efforts with our work to help partner institutions embrace free knowledge and open practices.

How

The activities under this program target the following audiences: general public, media, partners, policy makers and potential donors. Having in mind actual social discussions around themes like access to information and knowledge, authorship or net neutrality, we are planning to focus on the 3 following working lines:

Shaping EU Copyright Transposition in Spain and EU Advocacy work. Advocating for free knowledge within the Spanish and European public policy and legislative field. Fighting disinformation. Designing meetings, content and actions to fight desinformation on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects. Supporting the Spanish Speaking Movement and target organizations. Helping advocate for or embrace open policies and practices, facilitating changes towards free knowledge.

Objectives

Building partnerships with institutions, participating in major events and working on advocacy to raise awareness and dissemination of free knowledge.
Increase awareness and support for our public policy agenda.
Working in coordination with partners to identify the largest barriers to producing and accessing free knowledge and contributing to create changes in policy and practice that support the vision of the Wikimedia Movement.

Metrics

Participation in at least 9 meetings with lawmakers, allies, media and other stakeholders, with the aim of enforcing Wikimedia’s values within public policy conversations or expanding free knowledge opportunities.
Setting up a Spanish coalition with at least 2 other organizations to support our work on the national transposition of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive.