Wikipedia & Education User Group/Working Groups

The Wikipedia & Education User Group has established as of 2025 working groups (WGs) and an advisory committee to foster clearer roles, promote decentralized leadership, and build a resilient foundation for the EduWiki movement. WGs reflect the UG’s initial governance structure and aim to support how we deliver core services to the global education community.

WGs are part of a participatory effort to develop a next-generation collaboration model. They are part of a drive to enhance service delivery in the EduWiki Movement, taking into account the global needs and the EduWiki Theory of Change. In addition, WGs are aligned with the governance expectations in the hub guidelines.

The UG Board will retain ownership of the hub-like pilot while collaborating with the wider advisory committee divided into working groups directly linked to providing services to the global EduWiki Movement. The WGs and advisory committee will receive support from the staff eventually hired by the UG.

Working groups

Four initial main working groups have been established.

The Outreach and Engagement Working Group is responsible for supporting efforts to expand the visibility and impact of EduWiki initiatives by helping build and maintain partnerships, manage communication channels, and promote education programs within and beyond the Wikimedia ecosystem.
The Resource Curation and Development Working Group is responsible for supporting the curation, creation, organization, and localization of high-quality resources (ie, teaching materials, toolkits, and documentation) that assist with the implementation and scaling of Wikimedia and education programs around the world.
The Technical Infrastructure Working Group is responsible for supporting strategies to address the technical needs of the EduWiki community, including assistance with the development, maintenance, and integration of tools, platforms, and metrics dashboards that facilitate program delivery.
The Capacity Building and Volunteer Support Working Group is responsible for supporting the organization of training programs, mentorship opportunities, and peer learning spaces, as well as contributing to the ongoing development and well-being of volunteers and education leaders across diverse regions and contexts.

These four WGs reflect to some extent the UG’s initial governance structure. As the movement evolves, additional working groups may be established through a participatory process, ensuring alignment with community expectations and the long-term sustainability and inclusivity of EduWiki’s global impact.

Participation

WGs are designed to be participatory and inclusive, encouraging broad representation across regions, languages, and experiences. They are formed through open community calls, with a particular focus on including Wikimedia affiliates’ education program officers.

Each group aims to have a manageable and functional size, tentatively between 5 and 7 members, to allow for effective collaboration while maintaining broad input. Members are expected to commit to regular participation and contribute actively to the group’s support role. WG members should expect a time commitment of two to three hours of activities per month.

WG members will serve terms of two years, with the possibility of renewal, rotation, or reconfiguration based on evolving community needs and strategic direction. While initial governance structures are being piloted, all aspects remain open to refinement through community consultation, including membership criteria, term limits, roles and responsibilities and decision-making processes.

At least one member of the Wikipedia & Education UG board will join each WG to ensure alignment with the User Group’s mission, provide continuity, and facilitate coordination across stakeholders in the broader EduWiki Movement.

Each WG will remain autonomous in determining its own ways of working, including how it communicates, organizes meetings, documents discussions, and collaborates asynchronously. This flexibility will allow each group to adapt to the preferences, capacities, and time zones of its members, while fostering a sense of ownership and shared responsibility. Although general expectations for participation and coordination exist across all WGs, each group is encouraged to establish its own norms, tools, and workflows that best support its specific focus area and membership.

This tentative model is meant to ensure transparency, accountability, and adaptability as the EduWiki movement moves toward a more sustainable and decentralized collaboration framework.

Joining

Joining an EduWiki Working Group (WG) is open to anyone in the Wikimedia and education communities who is committed to contributing to the goals of the EduWiki movement. Yet, priority is given to paid staff, particularly affiliate program officers and employees of educational institutions, as they are more likely to have dedicated time for participation and can represent the perspectives and needs of their affiliate organizations within the Working Groups.

The following procedure outlines the current (tentative) steps to join:

Open Call for Participation: When new positions are available or a new WG is being formed, an open call will be announced across community channels (such as Meta, mailing lists, and social media). The call will include details about the group's focus, expected responsibilities, term length, and time commitment.
Expression of Interest: Interested individuals will be invited to complete a short application or expression of interest form. This may include questions about their background, involvement in Wikimedia and/or education, relevant experience, and motivation for joining the group. The form is yet to be created.
Review and Selection: A small coordination team (possibly including existing WG members or representatives from the UG Board) will review submissions with the aim of ensuring diversity and effectiveness.
Onboarding and Orientation: Selected members will be invited to an onboarding session to clarify the WG’s scope, working style, and communication norms, as well as to abide to the Friendly Space Policy.

Expressions of interest will be collected on this subpage.

Advisory Committee

The combined membership of all working groups will constitute an advisory committee, which will convene quarterly to guide overall governance, monitor progress of service provision, and support the strategic planning of the EduWiki hub-like infrastructure, in coordination with the Wikipedia & Education User Group board.

Advisory committee meetings are yet to be scheduled and will be communicated in a timely manner.