CIS-A2K/Reports/CIS-A2K Report 2023-24/Community Engagement
In 2024, CIS-A2K strategically adopted a more collaborative model of community engagement, moving away from areas of work like outreach, content development contestants, edit-athons etc., that communities have been able to take up on their own. CIS-A2K’s focus shifted to capacity building and leadership development. This shift prioritised co-creation, to achieve a win-win scenario for both CIS-A2K and the communities involved. Proposals for collaborations were regularly submitted through the Community Collaboration Meta Page, ensuring transparency and inclusivity.
To ensure meaningful and well-planned initiatives, CIS-A2K scheduled preparatory calls with community representatives. During these discussions, both parties refined the proposals to better align with shared objectives. This approach ensured that the resulting initiatives were impactful and sustainable. Below are some notable collaborations that highlight the diversity and success of this model:
Community Strategy and Planning
[edit]CIS-A2K collaborated with Wikimedia communities to help communities reflect on their projects & activities, initiate dialogue with open knowledge activists in their languages, learn skills & capabilities, celebrate the work they are doing and create actionable work plans:
Telugu Community Conference 2024
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The Telugu Wikimedia community celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Wikipedia from January 26-28, 2024, at the Dolphin Hotel in Visakhapatnam, with support from CIS-A2K. This event, named Tewiki Pandaga (Telugu Wikimedia Festival), was co-organized by CIS-A2K and Telugu Wikimedians, who contributed to the program planning and execution while providing support to all participants. The conference focused on building strategies for the community, facilitating external reviews of projects and activities, and honoring community leaders through the publication of a commemorative book.
The celebration commenced on January 26 with a city heritage tour and various social activities. On January 27, attendees participated in speeches and guest discussions centered around content creation in Telugu. Presentations highlighted the evolution of Wikipedia, culminating in the release of the book titled Endaro Wikipedianlu, which featured audio snippets from over 30 Wikimedians. The day concluded with a cake-cutting ceremony and distribution of T-shirts.
On January 28, reviews of Telugu Wikipedia programs were presented, and future strategies were discussed. A notable output was the development of a strategic plan during a session where Wikimedians shared their experiences and insights on the platform's growth. The event wrapped up with the distribution of anniversary calendars and copies of Endaro Wikipedianlu, along with a note of gratitude from the program committee. CIS-A2K also created a review report documenting the ten-year journey of the Telugu community, further emphasizing its commitment to fostering open knowledge in South Asia.
Santali Community Conference 2024
[edit]CIS-A2K collaborated with Santali Wikimedians to support the planning, execution, and overall success of the Santali community's first-ever conference, providing valuable contributions throughout the process. Initially, CIS-A2K offered drafting support for the community's conference grant proposals, which unfortunately were not funded. Recognizing the significance of this initiative, we co-organized the Santali Wiki Conference 2024, which took place from September 13-15, 2024, in Kolkata, with active participation from 20 core members of the Santali community.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, CIS-A2K has been dedicated to supporting the Santali community by reviving activities and fostering new collaborations. The journey leading to this conference involved a series of community calls to discuss challenges and explore solutions, including specialized training sessions on Wikidata. As engagement within the community grew, there was a strong desire for an in-person gathering, culminating in the inaugural Santali Wiki Conference.
The event aimed to strengthen the community, build skills, and explore strategies for advancing Santali language projects on Wikimedia platforms. Through a series of interactive sessions, discussions, and activities, participants had the opportunity to share experiences, address challenges, and plan for future growth and partnerships. This conference marks a significant milestone in enhancing collaboration and content development for the Santali language within the Wikimedia movement.
Tamil Wikipedia Edit-a-thon in Chennai
[edit]CIS-A2K collaborated with the Tamil community to organize a successful Tamil Wikipedia Edit-a-thon in Chennai, providing programmatic assistance and resources for the activity. A2K was involved in the initial discussions even before submitting the collaborative proposal. The event saw participation from a group of 14 users, including four students, who attended in person.
Dr. Sobha L., Program Director at AU-KBC Research Centre, delivered the inaugural speech, followed by Neechalkaran, who discussed potential collaborations with the AU-KBC Research Centre. M. Selvasivagurunathan explained the purpose of the Edit-a-thon event, emphasizing its focus on curating and improving articles. After the inaugural session, participants began working on article enhancements, making decisions through discussions as needed. The event concluded at 5 PM, with three active users also participating online.
This Edit-a-thon was part of multiple outreach activities conducted by Tamil Wikipedians across locations such as Tirunelveli, Madurai, and Chennai. The performance of users during this special month was illustrated in a graph that showcased their contributions. The collaboration with the Tamil community is still going strong and A2K and the community have long-term plans to work together.
The collaborative efforts of CIS-A2K and the Tamil community aim to strengthen content development on Tamil Wikipedia and foster ongoing engagement among active contributors.
Wikimedia Commons and Visual Documentation
[edit]CIS-A2K collaborated with various communities to enhance Wikimedia Commons as a repository for visual content by conducting workshops and photo walks. A2K employs a structured framework to divide responsibilities in visual documentation: while A2K focuses on program planning, strategic coordination, and necessary support, communities manage on-ground activities such as outreach and photo walks. This collaborative model has enriched Wikimedia Commons with high-quality media, documented heritage, and empowered communities to lead future projects, ensuring sustainability and long-term impact.
We have made strategic efforts to support emerging community leaders like iMahesh (from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) and Santosh Notagar (from Mangalore) in testing strategies to expand the Commons community by tapping into networks of photographers. Our aim is to further support these community leaders in scaling up this program. More details can be found here.
Some of the activities we supported:
Wiki Loves Mangaluru
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This photography competition aimed to document Mangaluru’s cultural heritage through planning, programmatic support, human resources, and other necessary assistance. Following the success of the Train the Trainer 2023 initiative, Santosh Notagar, a member of the Karavali Wikimedians, developed a project in collaboration with A2K focused on Wikimedia Commons. Wiki Loves Mangalore 2024 encouraged participants to capture diverse and high-quality images representing Mangalore's cultural and natural heritage. The competition ran from May 10, 2024, to June 17, 2024, with results announced on June 30, 2024. The initiative aims to enrich Wikimedia Commons with media content for educational and informational purposes, enhancing the online representation of Mangalore.
Commons Workshop and Photowalk in Hyderabad in collaboration with 24HourProject
[edit]CIS-A2K provided programmatic and logistical support for this collaborative event. Planned from July 6 to July 14, 2024, the Wikimedia Commons Workshop and Photowalk aimed to encourage more photographers to contribute quality content related to Hyderabad. Proposed by users IM3847, Ramesh Kumar, and Pranayraj1985, the event began with an introduction session on Wikimedia Commons, licenses, and photography principles. A photowalk on July 7 allowed participants to explore nearby cultural heritage sites. The workshop aimed to assist local photographers in uploading their images to Wikimedia Commons. The event is expected to attract around 80 attendees and generate approximately 200 high-quality images along with the creation of 20-30 new Commons user accounts.
Commons Workshop at Visakhapatnam
[edit]More: Commons Workshop at Visakhapatnam
CIS-A2K provided programmatic support for this activity. The event started with an introduction to Wikimedia Projects followed by a session on Wikimedia Commons, its contests, and the use of Upload Wizards. Participants learned about Quality Images, Valued Images, and Featured Pictures—key concepts that set standards for excellence in Wikimedia Commons. A workshop allowed interested photographers to upload their images directly to Wikimedia Commons while a subsequent session focused on nominating images for quality recognition. Interactions with
experienced Commons users provided valuable insights and guidance. The expected outcomes included adding at least 100 high-quality images to Wikimedia Commons and establishing a functioning Commons community in Visakhapatnam to enhance outreach in nearby tribal areas.
Photowalk at Adilabad
[edit]More: Photowalk at Adilabad
CIS-A2K collaborated with organizers to provide planning support for this activity. The Photowalk at Adilabad (Commons Education Project: Adilabad) took place from October 13 to November 13, 2024, aiming to document the Bandari-Gussadi festival on Wikimedia platforms. This tribal festival occurs in Adilabad during Diwali but had limited representation on Wikimedia; only basic details were available on Telugu Wikipedia along with images of a replicated dance performance at Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad. Organized by iMahesh, Mpamidimarthi, and Pranayraj1985, the event involved budding photographers from a college in Hyderabad alongside a skilled street photographer from the city. The photowalk served as both a documentation effort for the festival and an educational workshop where students learned street photography techniques from professionals. Activities included documenting the festival alongside a two-hour session on October 20 led by Diego Delso (User:Poco a poco) about Quality Images and Featured Pictures. The expected outcomes included engaging three new college photographers contributing to Wikimedia Commons while enhancing their understanding of quality image standards.
Photowalk at Bhadrachalam
[edit]More: Photowalk at Bhadrachalam
CIS-A2K collaborated with a group of Wikimedians on ideation and planning for this event. Held from April 14 to May 14, 2024, the Photowalk at Bhadrachalam aimed to engage local photographers from Telangana in Wikimedia projects while generating quality content about significant places in the region. Proposed by IM3847 and Pranayraj1985, activities began with an interaction session with photographers in Hyderabad on March 14 before participants traveled to Bhadrachalam for a photowalk in Kinnerasani Wildlife Sanctuary on March 15. The group documented various locations around Bhadrachalam before capturing Ram Navami celebrations on March 17-18 before returning to Hyderabad on March 19. An online interaction session held on April 28 reviewed progress while final uploads of quality content were due by May 14. The event aimed for each attendee to contribute between 200-300 images with a total goal of producing 50-100 quality images related to Bhadrachalam.
Image Description Month in India
[edit]The "Image Description Month in India" was a successful collaborative initiative that engaged 21 contributors in a month-long edit-a-thon. The campaign primarily focused on enhancing image descriptions across Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata. Thanks to the participants' efforts, 22 new images were added, and 2 existing images on Wikidata were updated. This initiative showcased the community's collective commitment to improving content accessibility and enriching Wikimedia projects, underscoring the importance of detailed image descriptions in fostering a more inclusive and informative platform. The focused Wikimedia projects for this activity included Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. Additionally, one training session was conducted as part of this campaign, which provided Wikimedians with insights into structured data, demonstrating its crucial role and functionality in editing.
Enhancing Indic Oral Culture on Wikimedia Projects
[edit]More: Enhancing Indic Oral Culture on Wikimedia Projects
CIS-A2K has provided assistance with participant outreach, events, and overall thought partnership for the Oral Culture Project—a series of initiatives encompassing various projects, training sessions, activities, and community engagement efforts active over the past three years. Over the last year, CIS-A2K has supported this project by engaging with the community and advising on its implementation processes. As the project nears completion, A2K is focused on organizing in-person workshops for dedicated participants designed to empower those who have been actively involved throughout the project. Ultimately concluding after several calls and training sessions ensures that final stages are executed smoothly while continuing our commitment to knowledge sharing, community growth, and skill-building within oral culture initiatives.
Digitization and Relicensing Collaborations
[edit]CIS-A2K supported efforts to preserve and share knowledge through digitization and relicensing initiatives:
Supporting Incubation of Tulu Wikisource
[edit]More: Incubation of Tulu Wikisource
CIS-A2K provided consistent support to the community leader through on-ground capacity-building workshops, cross-community collaborations, and online training sessions. Wikisource has been a significant focus for CIS-A2K, with various initiatives aimed at boosting visibility and attracting new volunteers to the platform. In collaboration with Tulu Wikimedians, CIS-A2K worked on building content for Tulu Wikisource, organizing activities, and involving community members in this effort. User Kavitha G. Kana, who participated in the Train the Trainer (TTT) program in 2023, played a key role in these initiatives. During TTT, she contributed to discussions on relicensing and the digitization of Tulu language texts. After returning from the program, Kavitha continued her efforts with CIS-A2K's support, focusing on relicensing and digitalization.
The digitization and relicensing support for community members by A2K began in 2023, leading to a collaboration with Govinda Dasa College, Surathkal where Kavitha organized a workshop for Kannada Wikisource to engage the local community and encourage participation in the Wikisource editing initiative. Following these activities, Kavitha initiated discussions with CIS-A2K about developing a multilingual Wikisource project. In response, CIS-A2K created an engagement plan and identified a potential trainer with incubator experience and expertise in Wikisource processes, furthering the growth of this multilingual initiative. As a result of these efforts, Tulu Wikisource went live!
Collaboration with West Bengal Wikimedians User Group
[edit]More: Facilitating User Group's Partnerships in West Bengal
CIS-A2K has been collaborating with the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group (WBG) to advance Wikisource and GLAM projects in West Bengal and the northeastern region. During a visit from July 24 to July 31, Subodh Kulkarni facilitated partnerships with institutions such as Visva-Bharati University and Jadavpur University, as well as community organizations like the Ghosaldanga Bishnubati Adibasi Trust. Proposed projects include workshops on Wikidata and Wikisource, documentation of the Santali food festival and cultural heritage, and digitization efforts at Rammohan Library in Kolkata. This collaboration aims to enhance content creation, relicensing, and linguistic documentation through joint initiatives by CIS-A2K, WBG, and Santali Wikimedians.
Awareness Events Focused on Digitization and Bangla Wikisource
[edit]More: Awareness events for digitization, relicensing and Bangla Wikisource in north-east India
CIS-A2K was involved at the ideation level in awareness events focused on digitization in northeast India in collaboration with the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group. The Promulgation and Encouragement of Digitization and Relicensing in North-East India event took place on September 20-21, 2024, in collaboration with the Bengali Department at Assam University in Silchar, Assam. The outreach program included a seminar, discussions, and a short workshop aimed at addressing the preservation of cultural texts and historical documents in Bangla that are often kept in local libraries across northeast India. The event emphasized the importance of digitization to attract authorities who could assist in this process.
A key goal was to inspire writers and scholars by highlighting Dr. Tapodhir Bhattacharjee's example—former Vice-Chancellor of Assam University—who made the decision to relicense his books. The event also sought to motivate other language scholars and writers in the region to consider digitization and relicensing. Led by Dr. Bir and supported by 1-2 active members of WBG, the program provided literary organizations with a platform to familiarize themselves with digitization rules and regulations while encouraging writers to follow Dr. Bhattacharjee’s example.
Provision of CZur Scanner and Laptop for Digitization Project
[edit]To continue supporting the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group's efforts, CIS-A2K provided a CZur 18 Pro scanner (or a newer model) along with a laptop for a digitization project at Rammohan Library in Kolkata. This project aims to digitize copyright-free books starting in November 2024 for upload to Wikimedia Commons, facilitating transcription on Wikisource. The request for equipment was made after discussions with A2K staff and reiterated via email as per management’s instructions.
Proposed by Amitabha Gupta, who coordinated with Wiki-in-Residence (WiR) SubhayanDG—a potential WiR—and Bodhisattwa—who provided an overview of the initiative—the expected outcome is to digitize a significant number of copyright-free books for upload to Commons and transcription on Wikisource. The project anticipates engaging at least three attendees to kick-start this work, with digitization continuing over the coming years.
Bridging the Gender Gap
[edit]She Leads Program
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CIS-A2K has initiated the She Leads program to tackle the barriers that women Wikimedians face in stepping into leadership roles within Indian Wikimedia communities. This initiative aims to empower women by providing them with the necessary resources and support to organize their own competitions, edit-a-thons, or workshops. By focusing on women from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, A2K facilitates their involvement in Wikimedia projects through comprehensive assistance, including planning, programmatic guidance, financial backing, and organizational support. This ongoing commitment not only helps women initiate their projects but also integrates them into a broader network of activities within the Wikimedia community.
- Pan Indian Tribal Culture Photography Competition: Organized by Shakuntala Marndi, this competition highlights the rich and diverse tribal cultures across India. It encourages participants to document and share visual narratives that celebrate indigenous heritage. This initiative fosters a deeper understanding of tribal communities and promotes awareness of their unique cultural practices through photography, thereby enriching Wikimedia's content related to these often underrepresented groups.
- Women’s Day Celebration and Edit-a-thon: Bhuvana Meenakshi spearheaded an edit-a-thon centered around women's health and wellness, coinciding with International Women’s Day. This event was particularly impactful as it included outreach activities at women's colleges, where participants were educated on how to edit Wikipedia. The initiative not only raised awareness about critical health issues but also empowered women to contribute to online knowledge platforms, thus enhancing representation in topics that affect them directly.
- Tulu and Kannada Outreach Activity: Babita Shetty conducted outreach focused on female students in collaboration with a local college. This initiative aimed to engage young women in Tulu and Kannada-speaking communities, encouraging them to participate in Wikimedia projects. By fostering an environment that promotes digital literacy and content creation among female students, this outreach effort contributes significantly to bridging the gender gap in these linguistic communities.
- Documenting Rural Women at Work: A project led by Priyanka Choudhari, Komal Sambhudas, and Priyanka Jadhav involved interviewing rural women about their daily work lives. This initiative not only documents their contributions but also amplifies their voices within the Wikimedia platform. By highlighting the experiences of rural women, this project enriches the representation of women's roles in various sectors, thereby addressing content gaps on Wikipedia.
- Edit-a-thon on Punjabi Wikipedia: Dugal Harpreet and Gill Jassu organized an edit-a-thon specifically aimed at bridging content gaps on Punjabi Wikipedia. During this event, they convened Punjabi Wikimedians for discussions on important community topics. The latter part of the day was dedicated to encouraging participants to create new content for Wikimedia projects, particularly focusing on enhancing Punjabi Wikipedia's offerings.
- Outreach Activities in Assam: Pranamika Adhikary conducted an outreach activity at Nowgong College in Assam, while Rumi Bora and Jyoti Chiring organized a similar event at Lakhimpur Girls' College. These initiatives aimed to engage female students in Wikimedia projects, fostering a sense of community and encouraging them to contribute their knowledge to online platforms.
- Wiki Club Jamia Outreach for Female Wikimedians: Humaira Ali and Bloomingbibliophile facilitated outreach activities aimed at supporting female Wikimedians through the Wiki Club Jamia. This initiative provided a platform for women to connect, collaborate, and enhance their skills in contributing to Wikimedia projects.
- Kannada Wikisource Workshop: Kavitha Ganesh led a workshop at a college where she invited community members as resource persons to conduct training sessions on Wikisource. This workshop aimed at equipping students with the skills necessary for contributing to this specific Wikimedia project, thereby promoting greater participation from diverse backgrounds.
- Wikipedia Outreach Activity in Pune: An outreach activity focused on female students was organized by User:Eloquent Insan in Pune. This event sought to raise awareness about Wikipedia editing among young women, encouraging them to become active contributors.
- Bangla Wikipedia and Wikisource Outreach Activity: Nettime Sujatha organized outreach activities targeting female contributors for Bangla Wikipedia and Wikisource. These initiatives aimed at increasing participation from women in Bengali-speaking regions by providing them with the tools and knowledge needed for effective contribution.
- Folk-a-thon: Preservation of Tulu Folklore: Vinoda Kumari documented Tulu folklore through her Folk-a-thon project, which involved collecting traditional stories and uploading them onto Wikimedia Commons. This initiative not only preserves cultural heritage but also enhances the representation of Tulu culture within global knowledge repositories.
The collective efforts of these initiatives illustrate CIS-A2K’s commitment towards bridging the gender gap within Wikimedia projects across India. By empowering women through targeted support and resources, CIS-A2K is fostering a more inclusive environment that values diverse contributions and perspectives within the Wikimedia community