Wikimedia UG Georgia/Annual Plan for 2020

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Annual Plan for 2020

Tbilisi, Georgia
2019

Introduction

Annual Plan for 2020 of Wikimedia UG Georgia is an annual action plan that builds on the organization’s strategic plan for 2020.

Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia is a user group of the Wikimedia Foundation, an U.S.-based non-profit organization that operates and manages the Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia Community User Group Georgia (Georgian: ვიკიმედიის მომხმარებელთა საქართველოს ჯგუფი) created in 2015 by active members of Wikimedia contributors living in Georgia, who are interested in organizing and participating in outreach activities on a national level.

In addition to the fact that Wikimedia UG Georgia contributes to the development of Wikimedia projects in Georgia and the Georgian language, Wikimedia UG Georgia has set a goal to develop Wikimedia projects in the languages of the region (Caucasus), so in our plan there will be projects that will contribute to this.

Strategy

This Strategic Plan defines the programs of Wikimedia UG Georgia divided into five main goals: 1) Content Gap, 2) Increasing Participation, 3) Community Support, Development & Promoting Wikimedia, 4) Collaborate with GLAM, Universities, Educational Institutions and other Wikimedia and Non-Wikimedia organizations. All of these programs are designed to develop Wikimedia projects in Georgian and other Wikimedia languages.

Over the past two years (since 2017), Wikimedia UG Georgia has begun to actively promote Wikimedia projects in Georgia and to develop community wikis in Georgia. We believe that with the help of the programs listed below we will be able to more actively develop Wikimedia projects in Georgia and the region (Caucasus), as well as attract more volunteers to Wikimedia.

Annual Plan

The annual plan is based on three programs, which are as follows:

Content Gap.
Increasing Participation.
Community Support, Development & Promoting Wikimedia.

Content Gap

One of the main goals of Wikimedia UG Georgia is to increase the content of Wikimedia projects (the most important Wikipedia) in Georgian language. To achieve this goal, Wikimedia UG Georgia will hold various competitions (Article Contests, Photography Contests, Wikimarathon, Wikicamp) on the Georgian Wikipedia. Contests are both international and local. In 2019, Wikimedia UG Georgia held 5 such contests. In addition to existing projects, Wikimedia UG Georgia will carry out new projects.

This programm is focused on bringing new content into Wikimedia projects. Various online contests and field expeditions are designed for reaching this goal. While there are long-lasting projects like WLM and WLE photo contests.

Article Contests

The open competition proved to be one of the best ways to lessen content gaps that are identified, bring new content on specific topic and new editors into Wikiprojects. They also attract those users who are not interested in pressing Edit button until getting the motivation and appeal to write on the topic they care or know about.

We hold contests on topics such as physics, chemistry, biology, etc. which are not finalized or do not exist at all on Georgian Wikipedia. This is a unique chance to increase Wikipedia content on difficult topics, as well as attract more volunteers to Wikimedia projects by providing them with opportunities.

In 2020 we will continue organising article writing contests. We have already agreed to hold contests on the topic of gender, culture, art, music, and other long-lasting contests.

Photography Contests

We plan to bring again one photo contest, Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Georgia, that we organised in previous years. Each year cultural heritage sites under state protection get more and more images to illustrate articles but there are still significant gaps, such as entire districts without a single photo.

Wiki Loves Monuments photo contest is an important part of our activities, as we run it since 2016 and get significant results in terms of number of photos and participants and outreach (significant attention from partners and general public).

Wikidata For Georgia

Our news for this year is that, with the help of professionals from the Wikimedia Foundation and from Wikidata, we want to teach new skills in working out in Wikidata for the Georgian WikiCommunity, for this we are going to arrange training in work out in Wikidata for enthusiasts of the Georgian WikiCommunity. Trainings will be conducted by invitations guests from Wikimedia Foundation and Administrators of Wikidata.

Program Objectives:

to improve Wikipedia's coverage of topics that were prioritized by the community.
to increase the quality and quantity of photographic content about protected nature sites, cultural heritage sites.
to ensure photo contest content is used to illustrate Wikimedia projects through organising an on-wiki collaboration.
Organizing and participating in the International projects.
Increasing the skills of editors of Wikimedia projects in Georgian language.

Program Metrics:

Metric	Target
Number of contest	6
Total participants	90
Number of newly registered users	30
New articles	500
Articles improved	100

Timeline:

February 8 – March 8: Women from Georgia article contest
1 July – 31 August: Wikipedia Science Month article contest
September 1 – 30: Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 in Georgia photo contest
August: Wikidata For Georgia
October 2 – 31: Wiki Loves Caucasus article contest
November 1 – 30: Wikipedia Asian Month article contest

Increasing Participation

One of the main goals of Wikimedia UG Georgia is to increase the volunteers of Wikimedia project editors. The increase of the number of participants in Wikimedia projects, primarily in the Georgian language, is strategic for us, since the growth of the Wikimedia content and the quality of the content created depend on the number of participants.

We seek to different groups and individuals, including under-represented in our community by supporting and organising trainings aimed at increasing participation in the Wikimedia movement. We are working with our community to find opportunities to increase participation and improve the climate for newbies in Wikimedia projects. This is done through outreach activities, partnerships with particular outreach institutions, on-wiki initiatives (such as Wikimarathons and Article contests). These activities have parallel aims of improving content and attracting more participation from the target groups.

To attract new volunteers and participants in the Wikimedia project in Georgia, we will carry out the following projects:

We will conduct active trainings and workshops in educational institutions and for interested parties.
We will conduct thematic competitions and wikimarathons.
We will organize local and regional WikiCamps.

Wikimarathon

In honor of the 102nd anniversary of the Georgian Democratic Republic, from May 1 to May 31, 2020, Wikimedia UG Georgia will organize a marathon in Georgian Wikipedia, the purpose of which will be to increase the content and quality of articles on Georgian Wikipedia.

Wikicamps

Our experience of past projects tells us that one of the best ways to attract participants to Wikimedia project is to conduct WikiCamps. In March, 2019 we held the first such WikiCamp and its result prompted us to conduct such a WikiCamp for both participants from Georgia and abroad, mainly for participants in projects from our region (Caucasus). The experience of our colleagues from Wikimedia Armenia and from other chapters of Wikimedia confirms this. The main goal of the camp, to attract more people to work in Wikimedia projects, which will contribute to the development of Wikimedia projects.

In 2020, Wikimedia UG Georgia will hold two WikiCamps, one of which will be local and another regional. specifically:

The first camp will be held in April 2020 for young people. During WikiCamp young people to acquire skills in Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. Young people will study the wiki-technology and then under the supervision of experienced WikiMedians will independently create and translate articles in Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. Both beginners and people who have minimal knowledge of working in Wikimedia projects will participate in the camp.
The second WikiCamp will be regional, where representatives of the Wikimedia movement from Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey will take part, it will be held in the month of June 2020. WikiCamp are educational camps, the main goal of which is the education of participants through Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and other Wikimedia projects. During Wikicamps participants contribute and enrich one or more of Wikimedia projects with the help of more experienced Wikimedians. WikiCampers improve their editing, writing, speaking, translation, communication, cultural and computer skills. WikiCamp will also help bring together Wikimedia movement representatives of the region.

Program Objectives:

to engage more students by organising trainings & Camp.
education of people from region (Caucasus) through Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and other Wikimedia projects.
increase the content of Wikimedia projects in Georgian language through online Wikimarathons.

Program Metrics:

Metric	Target
Number of Camps	1
Total participants of Camp	90
Number of newly registered users	45
New articles	100

Timeline:

May 1 – May 31: Wikimarathon
June: Regional WikiCamp in Tbilisi

Community Support, Development & Promoting Wikimedia

In 2020, Wikimedia UG Georgia will establish a framework for the creation of regional and local groups of Wikimedia UG Georgia, called "WikiClubs", across the country. The UG will enable those groups to carry out their own projects by providing logistical, material and financial support. This goal also encompasses support to individual contributors and volunteers in Georgia.

The UG will publish a formal framework including policies and guidelines for the creation of regional and local groups of Wikimedia UG Georgia. These groups will be formed around a city, or a geographical or cultural region, but can also be formed around a specific thematic to create a thematic group inside Georgia as part of Wikimedia UG Georgia.

It should be noted that activists and Members of the Wikimedia UG Georgia have been creating such small local groups in their cities since 2016 to support Wikimedia projects in the Georgian language, but unfortunately there are no logistic and material resources for the development of these WikiClubs. We, through our program, will facilitate their support and the creation of new WikiClubs.

One of our main goals is organizational development. At the moment, our organization is a User Group and our goal is to become an official Wikimedia chapter, which will also promote Wikimedia projects in Georgia as a user group. To achieve this, we will use different paths.

Community Events

Organizing face-to-face meet-ups is important for both UG-GE members and the whole WikiCommunity in Georgia. They allow to enhance online cooperation, boost useful networking connections among volunteers, and facilitate knowledge sharing in the format of presentations, discussions, and personal meetings. Bringing volunteers together is especially crucial for community development in Georgia because of the geographical vastness of our country. Organizing conferences and other events in regions also helps boost and increase local communities.

The Georgian WikiConference and the Annual General Meeting are two main annual community events. The first such meeting was held in December 2018, and the second will be held in December 2019. Besides this, Wikimedia UG Georgia will hold annual General Meetings with the participation of all members of our organization to address important issues of our organization.

Scholarships

Providing scholarships for international events is an important part of community and organizational development and the promotion of knowledge sharing. Attending conferences and other events provides members of the local community with an opportunity to build and strengthen connections, gain new knowledge, and share it through their reports, notes, articles, photos, and social media posts. Since it is difficult for economic reasons for most Georgian citizens to afford expensive international travel, UG-GE scholarships are especially important to the community.

We want to provide for the first time three scholarships (one for a member of the UG and two for representatives of the Georgian WikiCommunity) for Wikimania 2020, as well as scholarships for representatives of the UG to different international and regional Wikimedia meetings.

WikiClubs

One of the most important aspects of our activity is the development of regional WikiClubs throughout Georgia. At the first stage, we want to organize a regional WikiClub for representatives of ethnic minorities in Georgia for their integration into the Wikimedia movement.

This project will contribute to the development of the Wikimedia movement among the Georgian peoples, as well as to popularize Wikimedia projects, as well as increase the number of volunteers in Wikimedia projects.

At the first stage of WikiClub development, we will support them with technical equipment and training of WikiClub volunteers.

Program Objectives:

to increase the community participation and skill level
to empower users with the techniques and skills that needed for Wikimedia projects
to popularize Wikimedia projects and increase the number of volunteers in Wikimedia projects.

Program Metrics:

Metric	Target
Number of Community Events	4-5
Number of WikiClubs	2
Total participants of WikiClubs	45
Number of trainings	10
Number of newly registered users	30
New articles	90

Timeline:

August: Wikimania 2020
All the year round: Community Events
All the year round: Trainings for Volunteers