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Wikimedia European Affiliates Cooperation/European Regional Event November 2021/Summary

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General Summary

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This meeting provided a platform for a constructive discussion on the opportunities and challenges of hubs, not only for the European affiliates but also for the rest of our movement. Seven movement-wide initiatives were introduced by their “hubbers” and presented in our World Tour of hubs. While some hubbers engaged in a peer-exchange, the European affiliates discussed needs and concerns for a European regional hub. A group of people agreed to further explore this idea and signed up for follow-up work meetings. Affiliates also discussed the new regional grantmaking approach and exchanged their experiences and practices to help improve the process.

World Tour of Hubs

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Screenshot of the conceptboard world map (please enter as a guest to edit)

We created a conceptboard world map with information on hub initiatives we were aware of. The following initiatives were introduced by their hubbers:

Every hubber was asked to present answers to the following questions:

  • What are your reasons and motivation for creating a hub? What problem does it solve and which opportunity does it address?
  • Where are you at right now? What is the status of your hub?
  • What have you learned so far?
  • Please share any requests for support or ways to get involved with your initiative

Their answers can be found in the conceptboard. We invite hubbers and participants to keep the world tour of hubs updated and add further initiatives as new ideas and projects emerge. (Please enter the board as a guest. If you have difficulties navigating the board or adding information, please reach out to Eva Martin via eva.martin@wikimedia.de.)

Global Hubs Exchange

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Hubbers shared their experiences and discussed the following points:

  • Interlinkages between Regional and thematic hubs.
  • Needs for regional hubs to provide support for smaller language communities.
  • Balance of volunteer engagement and paid staff pushing things forward
  • What's the problem we are trying to solve with a Hub?
  • How can we best define regions?
  • How can hubs work together in the future?
  • How does the grant application process work?
  • How could substantial grants be organised?
  • Formal registration process for hubs

Hubbers agreed that they need support in the following areas for the next stage of their hub development:

  • Governance & Leadership capacity building
  • Project management capacity building

Discussion on a European regional hub

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Screenshot of the conceptboard used for the discussion on the Regional european hub (please don't edit)

People discussed the following questions in small groups and presented their results in the main room:

  • Why do we need a European regional Hub? Why not?
  • How do we set up a European regional hub? And how not to?
  • What would a European regional hub do? And what would it not?

Collection of participants’ statements and questions from the conversation:

Governance:

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  • Can only those who have a legal entity become members of the new hub
  • Relationship between WMF and regional hubs: We should collaborate instead of competing with each other.

Scope and Support:

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  • Create the hub for the affiliates/communities that don't have a chapter. Support communities to create partnerships.
  • Someone has to do the work. Many people are already overwhelmed with work, so it's probably not bad to do the work. You cannot do this on the side, but need a dedicated person for this. If we all do it on the side, no one will do it, or WMDE would do it, but that would politically not be the desired solution.
  • FKAGEU is a good practice that we can look into and agree on what the hub does and what we want.

Bureaucracy:

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  • We don't want to create extra bureaucracy but a structure to make it easier to collaborate

Funding and Funds distribution:

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  • WMF can't fund projects in particular countries because of their status as a US organization. Hubs as an independent organization can decide who to fund and where to work and collaborate.
  • Wikimedia Europe might look at how to redistribute resources among affiliates in Europe.
  • Needs clarification with WMF  

Get Going:

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  • We should start with a general idea of what this hub's tasks should be and not get lost into discussion on details.
  • Reference to video of Lukasz at CEE meeting. Inaction. Let's not have a chewing gum discussion but decide whether we do it or not.
  • How can we avoid this being a three year discussion? Suggestion that some affiliates are coming together and starting this thing, it is not a closed shop. Some can initiate it and others can first observe before they decide to join. This can be a new way to develop in the Wikiverse, because usually we are doing it differently. Let's do it!
  • There is nothing which stops us from doing things right now! Definitely not the charter.

At the end of the conversation, participants were asked to indicate whether they liked to continue discussing and moving the European Regional Hub idea forward. 16 people signed up for it.

New Regional Grants process

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Affiliates from the Western Northern Europe region shared their experiences with the new grant process.

Work in progress - more information will follow soon

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