Wikimedia CH/Grant apply/Wiki Loves Folklore 2024

Infodata

Name of the project: Wiki Loves Folklore 2024
Amount requested:5000 Euros
Type of grantee:Individual or the group of Individuals
Name of the contact: Tiven2240 (Primary), Joy N. Y Agyepong (Secondary)
Contact:wikilovesfolkloregmail.com, supportwikilovesfolklore.org
Website: www.wikilovesfolklore.org Commons:Wiki_Loves_Folklore_2024
Project Page:Wiki Loves Folklore 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.

In case of questions, please write to grantwikimedia.ch

The problem and the context

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

The vision of the project is to bridge the local folklore and cultural gap around the world on Wikimedia commons in free license.

Wiki Loves Folklore 2024 is the sixth iteration of this international photography competition. Participants are invited to share media—photos, videos, and audio—that showcases their regional folk traditions on Wikimedia Commons. These free-license submissions can then be used on Wikipedia and other platforms, provided proper credit is given. The contest highlights various facets of folk culture, including dances, music, activities, games, food, attire, legends, traditional performances, rituals, arts, religious beliefs, myths, and more.

A writing competition titled Feminism and Folklore is being hosted on Wikipedia to enhance the representation of women in folklore, encompassing various aspects of intangible cultural heritage from diverse regions. This includes folk dances, music, activities, games, food, attire, stories, traditions, and much more. The initiative aims to document the world's invaluable cultural traditions. "Wiki Loves Folklore" invites both Wikimedians and non-Wikimedians, especially local folklore enthusiasts and preservationists, to share and freely provide access to their local customs, dances, attire, and songs on the Wikimedia Commons. This endeavor will bolster the broader Wikimedia community's efforts to enrich its content about various cultures and previously unrecorded forms of heritage under a free license.

As part of an ongoing effort to enhance the collection and visibility of cultural heritage media on Wikimedia Commons and its affiliated platforms, we focus on routine tasks like documentation, managing the Central Notice infrastructure, and overseeing the international jury. However, we're also looking to innovate and strategically plan for the competition each year. Beyond these standard elements, we aim to improve in specific areas such as offering proactive support to national organizers and new campaigns. While established affiliate-backed campaigns often don't need much help, many do benefit from regular check-ins and help with setting up the essential framework. Participation has traditionally been from countries that host national competitions, involving a coordinated effort from volunteer teams. Unfortunately, countries without national competitions currently have no avenue to participate, even if they have relevant media to contribute.

What is your solution to this problem (please explain the context and the solution)?

Context: Wiki Loves Folklore is committed to providing a holistic representation of cultural heritage media, but there's a noted absence of participation from countries without existing national competitions. This absence means a lack of documentation and awareness of the rich cultural traditions and heritages from these countries on Wikimedia Commons and other platforms. Furthermore, the Feminism and Folklore campaign specifically aims to address the gaps in cultural and gender representation, focusing on the roles of women and queer personalities in folklore professions and mythologies.

Solution

Local Organizer Empowerment: A pivotal part of our solution is to train local organizers, especially those from emerging nations. By equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge, they can effectively coordinate the campaign in their respective locales. This involves:
1. Offering workshops and training sessions on how to run the campaign, build regional partnerships, and coordinate photowalks.
2. Establishing connections between these organizers and heritage bodies in their regions. This will enhance the campaign's visibility and make it more impactful.
Broadening Participation with Photowalks and Partnerships: By promoting local photowalks and forging partnerships with regional heritage bodies, we can garner a more extensive range of photographs and documentation. This ensures that traditions from even the most remote or lesser-known regions get spotlighted.
Content Contribution and Sharing: The campaign isn't just about collecting content but also sharing it. Local photographers can capture and share a plethora of cultural facets, from oral traditions to crafts. By contributing to Wikimedia Commons, they are:
1. Preserving essential elements of their heritage.
2. Offering content under a free license, which makes it accessible for research, education, and general appreciation.
Feminism and Folklore - Wikipedia Campaign Expansion: Operating in parallel to the photographic campaign, this initiative runs from 1 February to 31 March. Its main focus is to fill the cultural and gender gaps, specifically highlighting women and queer personalities in folklore roles. By extending the duration and providing adequate resources, we can ensure the comprehensive coverage of these themes.

By implementing this solution, we aim to foster a more inclusive and diverse representation of cultures on Wikimedia Commons and related platforms. The “intangible cultural heritage” is manifested inter alia in the following domains:

(a) oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage;

(b) performing arts;

(c) social practices, rituals and festive events;

(d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;

(e) traditional craftsmanship.

Links

Project goals

Project Goals

Global Participation and Inclusion:
1. To provide a platform for photographers worldwide, with a special emphasis on areas where the Wikimedia community has a limited or no organized presence.
2. To prioritize regions, especially tribal and indigenous areas in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which lack online documentation.
Empowerment of Local Photographers:
1. Instead of relying on external individuals to visit and document regions, this project will enable local photographers who come across the contest to actively participate.
2. They can share and document the wealth of their community's oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, traditional knowledge, practices, and crafts.
Contribution to Wikimedia Commons:
1. By enabling locals to contribute, we ensure a genuine representation of their culture.
2. The content, once uploaded, isn't just for documentation. By being under a free license, it serves the broader purpose of being accessible for academic research, education, and general cultural appreciation.
Infrastructure and Framework Creation:
1. Country Coordinators Framework: Set up a structured process allowing country coordinators to organize the "Wiki Loves Folklore" event at a local level.
2. Safe Photowalks: Given the ongoing pandemic, guidelines will be established to ensure that photowalks are conducted safely, respecting health protocols.
3. Training Modules: Creation of textual and video training content will be provided to guide participating photographers on:
  1. How to upload photos, videos, and audios to Commons.
  2. Understanding the licensing agreements and implications.
4. Article Illustration: The project will also facilitate the use of the contributed photos, videos, and audios to illustrate relevant articles, further enhancing the richness of content on Wikimedia platforms.

In essence, this project seeks to create a more holistic, authentic, and inclusive representation of global cultures on Wikimedia platforms, simultaneously providing tools and guidance for contributors and organizers.

Unique Achievements and Participation Overview:

1. Engaging Underrepresented Communities:

The project's distinctive achievement lies in its structure that enables marginalized and underrepresented communities, including indigenous tribes, to document and share their rich cultural heritage. This is critical in a world where many cultures are at risk of being forgotten or overshadowed. Despite their limited resources, these communities possess a deep well of cultural and historical treasures. By allowing them to document and share these treasures, we not only preserve their legacy but also enrich global knowledge.

2. Expanding Geographic Reach:

A testament to the project's impact is its ability to engage individuals from diverse and often overlooked regions. The inclusion of tribes and indigenous cultures from countries such as Oman, Tajikistan, Serbia, and more, showcases the project's vast reach and its commitment to diversity. These regions often lack a formal Wikimedia presence or any organized campaigns, further highlighting the significance of this achievement.

3. Empowerment Through Resources:

Recognizing the challenges new users might face, the project offers toolkits and tutorials. This ensures even those unfamiliar with the Wikimedia platform can register, log in, and upload media without a hitch during the campaign.

Project impact

How will you know if you have met your goals?

We will utilize a range of tools such as "Uploader in Cat", Fountain, Dashboard, Wikimedia Commons tracking categories, and the Wiki Loves Campaigns dashboard. Additionally, we'll measure our progress against the objectives outlined in our grant.

Do you have any goals or metrics around participation or content?

Goals for Success in 2024:

Increased Country Participation:
1. Aim for the active involvement of at least 20 country teams in the competition.
2. Measure success based on their activities, campaigns, and overall contributions.
3. Outreach and sign up of 10 new country editions
Image Submissions:
1. Target the submission of at least 5,000 images during 2024 from national activities.
2. This will enrich the collection and enhance regional representation on Wikimedia platforms.
Feminism and Folklore Competition Engagement:
1. Aim to have at least 10 local teams actively participate in the Feminism and Folklore competition.
2. Measure success by tracking the activities, campaigns, and initiatives taken by these teams.
Content Creation:
1. Aspiration to generate at least 500 new articles in various languages in 2024.
2. This will further the project's goals of comprehensive documentation and representation.
Reuse of Content:
1. Strive for a reuse rate of at least 10% for the contributed content on other Wikimedia projects within a year (12 months) of its submission.
2. This indicates the relevance and utility of the submitted content within the broader Wikimedia ecosystem.
Feedback and Analysis:
1. Conduct a comprehensive survey involving team organizers, competition winners, and jury members.
2. This will help assess the effectiveness of the campaign and gather insights for future improvements.
Documentation and Training:
1. Curate and document best practices, especially for the Feminism and Folklore initiative.
2. Develop and provide training modules along with a toolkit to empower participants and organizers.
Transparency and Reporting:
1. Publish a final report detailing the activities, achievements, challenges, and learnings from the year's campaign.
2. Making it available to the general public will uphold the project's commitment to transparency and community engagement.
3. Achieving these goals will not only reflect the success of the project in 2024 but will also lay a robust foundation for continued growth and impact in subsequent years.

Project plan

Activities

Key Activities for "Wiki Loves Folklore 2024" and "Feminism and Folklore":

Research and Gap Analysis:
1. Conduct thorough research to identify content gaps concerning intangible heritage.
2. Create comprehensive lists based on this research to guide contributors and teams.
Partnership Development:
1. Foster relationships and partnerships with local country organizers to enhance regional participation and content.
Communication Management:
1. Oversee and streamline communication before, during, and after the competition.
2. Ensure participants, organizers, and stakeholders are well-informed at all stages.
Social Media Engagement:
1. Drive awareness and participation through active social media campaigns.
Prize Administration:
1. Manage the selection, procurement, and distribution of prizes to winners.
Support and Mentorship:
1. Offer coaching, mentorship, and continuous support to local groups, helping them navigate challenges and maximize their contributions.
Post-Contest Activities:
1. Coordinate with volunteers for post-contest cleanup.
2. Oversee the categorization of contributions and nominate quality images.
Jury Management:
1. Coordinate the jury selection process, facilitate their deliberations, and announce contest results.
Documentation:
1. Prepare comprehensive reports detailing activities, achievements, and feedback.
Technical Tools & Platforms:
1. Develop and maintain Project pages, Templates, Uploadwizard, Sitenotice, Centralnotice, Dashboard, and the Fountain tool tailored for the project.
Outreach and Promotions;
1. Use various channels like mass messaging, mailing lists, paid and organic social media campaigns, blogs, media partnerships (including internet, mass media, and radio) to invite more language coordinators and National organizers.
Communication Materials:
1. Create or oversee the creation of communication materials and toolkits for national organizations, ensuring they have standardized resources to promote the event.
Digital Updates:
1. Regularly update social media channels and the official website with relevant information about the project, ensuring that all stakeholders have access to up-to-date details.

By strategically executing these activities, the "Wiki Loves Folklore 2024" and "Feminism and Folklore" campaigns can achieve their goals, maximize participation, and continue to enrich the Wikimedia platform with diverse and valuable content.

Additionally, the role of the Project Administrator will address general administrative work such as a liaison with the coordinator on the activities and project plan is accomplished while providing strategic planning and outreach in different capacities.

Budget

Project Administrator Stipend for 6 months (10 hours per week): 3000 Euros
Hardware needs for Project Administrator (Repair of faulty laptop and internet central modem) - 750 Euros
Internet support for (2) interns - (100 dollars every 2 months) - 400 Euros
Internet support for translation of the toolkit and office hours - (100 each for 2 months) 100*3= 300 Euros
Fiscal sponsor to manage finances (Kiwix) fees of 10% = 500 Euros
Bank fees: 50 Euros
Total: 5000 Euros

Community engagement

Wikimedia CH response

After reviewing Wiki Loves Folklore's grant request, Wikimedia CH decided to fund it partially. We will cover your material and internet connection expenses, as well as a percentage of staff costs. Our grant guidelines state "Project based staff costs until 20% of the total budget". Therefore, we could offer 290 Euros for staff costs, but no more.

Here is the detail of the funding we will be giving Wiki Loves Folklore :

Hardware needs for Project Administrator (Repair of faulty laptop and internet central modem) - 750 Euros
Internet support for 2 interns - (100 dollars every 2 months) - 400 Euros
Internet support for translation of the toolkit and office hours - (100 each for 2 months) 100*3= 300 Euros
Staff costs = 290 Euros (ie 20% of the sum of the above total)
Fiscal sponsor to manage finances (Kiwix) fees of 10% = 175 Euros
Bank fees: 50 Euros
TOTAL : 1965 EUROS