Overview

If you want to make a difference, you have to know where you want to go.

We want Wikimedia Germany to drive social change and have a lasting effect. And we want Wikimedia Germany to be able to confidently position itself in a changing environment - not only to react, but to actively shape it. We don't want to be surprised by changes and be passive, but to move things together with our partners on our own initiative.

In 2017, In a large-scale, global strategy process "Wikimedia 2030", Wikimedians, readers and donors as well as many external partner organisations were asked about the future of Wikimedia. A new strategic orientation for the entire international Wikimedia movement was developed from these diverse perspectives and accompanying research and analysis. For the first time, Wikimedia is committed to being a social movement that wants to have an impact on society far beyond the boundaries of the encyclopedia: we want to become the essential infrastructure in the ecosystem of free knowledge. Anyone who shares our vision can join us.

The members of Wikimedia Germany decided at the 21st general assembly in November 2017 to support this new strategic direction. It thus governs future activities with which we will actively participate in the further development of the global movement strategy. We also want to look very concretely, and with a special focus to our work here in Germany, in which direction we want to move in the future and how we must set the course today in order to achieve our goals.

2018 as starting point

In 2018, we are therefore intently thinking about the future with a structured approach. Supported by the Agentur Upgrade Organisationsentwicklungspartner, we are on our way to explore the future.

How is the world around us changing and what do we have to do to remain relevant in the future and to further promote Free Knowledge?
What does free knowledge actually mean in the future?
And how do we now have to set the course to actively shape this future?

We are not interested in predicting the future, but rather in testing ways in which we can establish and implement long-term strategic planning. In the Zukunftsprozess we want to develop and test formats in which we deal with such future topics in a structured way - not just once, but regularly.

What are we taking with us?

When we deal with questions of the future, we do not do so without context. Each of our activities as an organization is subject to the imperatives of our Statutes. In addition, we have existing fields of action, topics and goals to which we are already committed - partly with a longer time perspective into the future, partly in association with other organizations or institutions. The current ones you can find in our goals and the economic plan for 2018. We also have existing products and processes that are relevant to the Zukunftsprozess and interact with it. On the one hand this is the international strategy process for the Wikimedia movement which continues in parallel. On the other hand, there are our reports in which we share our experiences and insights from our current work with the international Wikimedia movement and the world. All of this flows into our assessment of future trends, the strategic questions that we ask ourselves, and the paths that we design for the future work of Wikimedia Germany.

How do we get there? - The Zukunftsprozess at a glance

The Zukunftsprozess accompanies us throughout 2018 and can be roughly divided into four phases:

1st analysis: Identification of future trends and their implications for Wikimedia Germany and the Wikimedia projects. Derivation of strategic questions.

This phase was concluded at the 22nd General Assembly May 26, 2018 in Karlsruhe, Germany, where we presented the current status of our trend analysis and shared and discussed first results with our members.

2nd Exploration: Where and how could we focus our efforts in the future? What are the options?

On the basis of the top prioritized strategic questions, the focus is on the elaboration of strategic options for future work. These prepare the strategic work of the board at the Strategy Workshop in July.

3. strategy development: Based on the strategic options, the outcomes of the analysis phase and our previous activities, strategies are developed for each field of action.

During a multi-day strategy workshop, the results of the analyses and the developed options are discussed and strategies for the future work of the association are developed.

4. implementation: from strategies to long-term planning. How do we create the basis for stable and reliable navigation in the long run?

The strategies influence the development of objectives and economic planning for the coming year. At the same time, with their longer horizon beyond 2019, they form the basis and starting point for long-term planning and strategy work. The same applies to the formats and products developed within the process, such as the trend book or the strategy workshop.

You will find further information on the individual stations of our "journey" and our intermediate results under the tab "Stations".

The strategies developed in the course of the Zukunftsprozess can be found at "Strategies".