Grants:Project/Free Knowledge Africa
This project is funded by a Project Grant
| proposal | people | timeline & progress | finances | midpoint report | final report |
Project idea edit
What is the problem you're trying to solve? edit
What problem are you trying to solve by doing this project? This problem should be small enough that you expect it to be completely or mostly resolved by the end of this project. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
There exists a huge gap about African destinations on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage without any significant attempt at carrying out a complete overhaul and improvement. We are attempting to bridge the knowledge gap on travel information on the African continent and within African countries on Wikivoyage. Our overall goal is to reduce the knowledge gap of travel information available on the English Wikivoyage for Nigerian destinations (States, Cities and Towns) and highlighting the tourism potential in the various destinations. We also intend to update and improve the quality of existing articles on the English Wikipedia, and position the English Wikivoyage as a reliable travel advisory for traveling in Nigeria.
This is in line with the Wikimedia movement 2030 strategy recommendation of identifying topics for impact, and the following initiatives: list of high-impact topics, bridging content gaps and content initiatives in underrepresented communities.
What is your solution? edit
For the problem you identified in the previous section, briefly describe your how you would like to address this problem. We recognize that there are many ways to solve a problem. We’d like to understand why you chose this particular solution, and why you think it is worth pursuing. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
Our solution is primarily to raise awareness about Wikivoyage while also leveraging on Wikipedia and the possibilities it offers to promoting tourism, knowledge, integration, cultural heritage and development in Nigeria and the huge knowledge gap that exists about travel information on Wikivoyage, with a call to action via a contest/campaign to bridge the gap.
We plan to create short instructional and small sized (to overcome the challenges of poor internet) videos that will explain and highlight the process of editing and creating articles on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage.
We intend to organize training sessions for participants and build a community that will promote and coordinate collaboration to create new articles and improve existing articles about Nigeria/Africa on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage.
We intend to also use pictures from past photo contests and campaign such as Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Monument, Wiki Loves Africa etc on Wikipedia and Wikivoyage articles and creating articles about some of this destinations.
This project seeks to generate momentum, excitement and interest amongst Nigerians to actively contribute to the Wikipedia and Wikivoyage project. This will be sustained in the coming years by building on the impacts and results of this year's activities by expanding the scope of the project to the entire African continent.
Nigeria is the world's 32nd-largest country by land size with and 6th largest country in terms of population, and most populated African/black country in the world (est. population is 203 million people). Nigeria is an emerging economy with prime destinations in various parts of the country for both business and leisure and a wealth of culture, history and wildlife, fantastic regional cuisines and amazing geographic diversity which is yet to be fully explored.
The standard of many highly visible articles about Nigerian destinations is very poor, with poor copyediting, incorrect capitalization, spacing, punctuation, grammar and usage; irregular formatting; long lists of random and useless bulleted entries (including lists of "Cities" and "Other destinations" in non-bottom-level region articles that are way longer than the Wikivoyage standard of 9) with insufficient and outdated information to be useful to a traveller; touting; and sometimes, even poor comprehensibility.
Project goals edit
What are your goals for this project? Your goals should describe the top two or three benefits that will come out of your project. These should be benefits to the Wikimedia projects or Wikimedia communities. They should not be benefits to you individually. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
- To promote the use and contributions to Wikivoyage and Wikipedia by Nigerians.
- To create new and improve existing Wikipedia and Wikivoyage articles on African travel, geographic information, sports, cultural and tourist sites.
- To partner with organizations and bodies involved in African culture, travel and tourism towards showcasing, generating and promoting free knowledge about African culture, travel and tourism.
Project impact edit
How will you know if you have met your goals? edit
For each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:
- During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? (These are your outputs.)
- Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects? (These are your outcomes.)
For each of your answers, think about how you will capture this information. Will you capture it with a survey? With a story? Will you measure it with a number? Remember, if you plan to measure a number, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (e.g. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 scanned documents). Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
| Goals | Impacts (outcomes) | Result (measurement) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | We will raise awareness about Wikivoyage as a travel advisory in Nigeria. |
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| 2 | We will create new and improve existing Wikipedia and Wikivoyage articles on African travel, geographic information, sports, cultural and tourist sites. |
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| 3.1 | Partner with organizations and bodies involved in African culture, travel and tourism towards showcasing, generating and promoting free knowledge about African culture, travel and tourism. | These exercises will
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Do you have any goals around participation or content? edit
Are any of your goals related to increasing participation within the Wikimedia movement, or increasing/improving the content on Wikimedia projects? If so, we ask that you look through these three metrics, and include any that are relevant to your project. Please set a numeric target against the metrics, if applicable. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
- Engage and bring onboard at least 100 newbies to Wikimedia projects.
- Train at least 60 professionals within the travel and tourism industry in Nigeria.
- Create at least 300 articles on topics about Nigerian town, cities, tourist sites, heritage sites etc.
- Create awareness of articles on Wikipedia/Wikivoyage about tourism, travel, settlements, heritage sites etc.
- Upload at least 200 photos to Wikimedia Commons about tourism, travel, settlements, heritage sites etc.
- Add photos to Wikipedia/Wikivoyage articles about tourism, travel, settlements, heritage sites etc. lacking photos.
Project plan edit
Activities edit
Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing? What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
GOAL 1: INCREASE THE AWARENESS ABOUT WIKIPEDIA/WIKIVOYAGE AND THE WIKIMEDIA MOVEMENT
- * Development of new editing guides in Wikipedia and contribution to Wikimedia, as well as improvement of the resources developed during our previous events.
- * Development of a communication campaign on social networks to promote all activities and results of the project.
- * Creation of a website dedicated to the project, in which we will report our progress and record our learnings.
GOAL 2: RECRUIT AND INCREASE SKILLS OF NEW EDITORS/ADD AND IMPROVE CONTENT IN WIKIMEDIA PROJECTS
- * Organization of two onboarding online orientation workshops
- * Organization of training sessions during the project
- * Organization of three training sessions per month
- * We will organize the 1st edition of the Wiki Loves Places edit-a-thon/contest in September 2021, dedicated to creating content about Nigeria's town/cities, travel, tourism sites and cultural heritage on Wikipedia/Wikivoyage, increasing the number of editors in Nigeria and promoting tourism, travel and cultural heritage.
- * Awards will be given to the best editors in different categories, including some to best images uploaded to Commons.
GOAL 3: CREATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS FROM THE TRANSPORT AND TOURISM SECTORS
- * Reaching out to various governmental and non-governmental organisations.
- * Image upload to Wikimedia Commons.
- * Organization of two webinars on travel/tourism projects in Nigeria with representatives from various organisations and communicating the lessons learned of the pilots.
- Other
- * We will keep a record and control of those registered and participants in the activities.
- * During the development of the project, we will invite enthusiastic participants to join the organization of the activities according to their availability.
- * We will track the editions of the participants during and after each activity, so that we can track metrics and provide support and advice. We have experiencied using the Outreach Dashboard software, and we'll use to record the metrics during the editing events.
Budget edit
How you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. (You can create a table later if needed.) Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!
| ITEM | UNIT PRICE USD | QUANTITY | TOTAL USD | NOTES |
| Internet | 1000 | 1000 | Internet support and logistics for project organizers | |
| Online meeting platform | 20 | 12 | 240 | Zoom platform for meeting for one year |
| Website for the project | 300 | Create a website/landing page that will be easily relatable (better user experience) and understandable to newcomers. | ||
| Social media promotions | 260 | Promoting awareness about the project and getting new participants onboard | ||
| Internet data support to participants | 50 | 40 | 2000 | Internet support to participants to promote participation |
| Prizes for contest winners | 1200 | Prizes to be issued out to the various contest winners | ||
| Total | 5000 | |||
| Miscellaneous | 500 | 10% of total budget expense | ||
| Amount requested | 5500 |
Commitment To The Project From Organiser's edit
- Project Manager
- Social Media/Communications Manager
- Participants onboarding
- Contest jury
- Develop training videos
Community engagement edit
Community input and participation helps make projects successful. How will you let others in your community know about your project? Why are you targeting a specific audience? How will you engage the community you’re aiming to serve during your project?
We will share with some of the existing Wikimedia mailing lists and also create a mailing list and a page on meta to inform people who sign up to follow the project's progress. The page will also allow us to seek input and feedback from the community along the way. We will also share this project on our social media pages to encourage participation.
We are targeting existing editors, new editors and individuals who are willing to share their experiences and not actively edit.
Get involved edit
Participants edit
Please use this section to tell us more about who is working on this project. For each member of the team, please describe any project-related skills, experience, or other background you have that might help contribute to making this idea a success.
- Timmylegend - (Project and Campaign Lead) - I am an experienced Wikipedian, and the current lead of the Wikimedia Fan Club, University of Ilorin. I have organised various campaigns at the University of Ilorin Wikimedia community such as 1Lib1Ref, Art+Feminism, Wiki Loves Africa, and Wikipedia pages wanting photos. I was a participant at Wiki Indaba 2019 conference. I will be facilitating the creation of instructional videos/materials, virtual meetings and selection of speakers/trainers on virtual training workshops for new members.
- Haylad - (Coordinator) - He has previously led the Wikimedia Fan Club, University of Ilorin, organized multiple meetups and Wiki loves Africa photo walks/event at the University Club in Ilorin and Ado-Ekiti in 2019 and 2020 respectively. He will be in charge of recruiting and onboarding new members during the process.
- Bilijin - (Panelist) - She is an experienced Wikimedian with a knack for prudence, she and her team will be in charge of result collation and disclosure of Winners. She is a board member (Vice Chair) of the Wikimedia Nigeria Foundation Inc/Wikimedia User Group Nigeria.
- James Moore200 - (Communications and Publicity) - He is an experienced Wikimedian and a winner of the Wiki Loves SDGs 2020, organized by project everyone. He is highly skilled in social media engagements, publicity, and strategic communications.
Community notification edit
Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. You are responsible for notifying relevant communities of your proposal, so that they can help you! Depending on your project, notification may be most appropriate on a Village Pump, talk page, mailing list, etc. Need notification tips?
Discussions have been initiated on the travellers pub on the English wikivoyage. [1]
Which have resulted in the creation of the proposed African Expedition to bridge the gap on the travel information available on Africa and also update the existing information. [2]
However, we will be commencing with the Nigerian Expedition for a start.
Endorsements edit
Do you think this project should be selected for a Project Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project below! (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the discussion page).
- This is indeed a sustainable solution to one of the challenges the continent of Africa is facing on the internet. I believe the actualization of this project will help to catalyze the wide gap concerning Africa on the world's most visited encyclopedia, Wikipedia and Wikivoyage. I can't wait to witness its impact! James Moore200 (talk) 15:32, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
- This project will help improve available information about the African continent and in turn help to overcome the illiteracy about Africa. It's a great initiative which should definitely be selected for a Project Grant Bilijin (talk) 16:13, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
- Project like this is something we need to see more of in order for contents about Nigeria to be put out there. So I fully support this. Godstime Elijah (talk) 16:52, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
- This is a good project that would contribute greatly to filling the knowledge gaps on travel information on African continent on wikivoyage, and also pointing out the tourism potential in Nigeria and African continent at large. I have great interest in this project, therefore I’m endorsing.OTim75 (talk) 18:06, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
- This is a laudable project, Nigeria is the most populated African nation, unfortunately, her geographical aesthetics have been poorly represented on the internet. A project (such as this) that is aimed at bridging that gap has my full support. I look forward to it.Victour25 (talk) 20:09, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
Support, This is a land mark project, really looking forward to how the Nigerian youthful populace will embrace contributing to Wikivoyage and Wikipedia.Haylad (talk) 22:20, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
Strong support We can't afford not to go places, it's an essential aspect of our lives. Then what's more rewarding than investing in travel guides for different destinations. This project has my full support. Osenibabalola0 (talk) 02:23, 13 February 2021 (UTC)- Support Many tourists find it difficult to navigate places in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, Nigeria 36 states, 774 local government, thousands of provinces and hundreds of ethnic groups living in the most remote places in the country. Despite the economic and cultural riches of these places they are not seen or heard of. This is a great idea. Well done to the team behind this.Tomori Uriel (talk) 05:34, 13 February 2021 (UTC)
- Strong support Nigeria is richly blessed with diverse cultures and exciting places but a large percentage of the population are unaware of this. A project like this wanting to educate and better inform the people about exciting places, people and culture that are around them certainly has my backing.Deegeetz (talk) 07:45, 13 February 2021 (UTC)
- Strong support Nigeria is a treasure that is yet to be completely discovered, there are awesome attractions that the world knows nothing about. This project will bring them to the attention of everyone through the internet. I fully see how important this project is and I fully endorse it. Damy399 (talk) 12:28, 14 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support A focus on Wikivoyage is fresh, and it certainly would help in bridging content gap within the movement.--Jamie Tubers (talk) 13:22, 14 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support Personally, i think this project will be educational yet fun to tourists and the general public. Knowing Timmy, i know the aims of this project will be achieved. Obiorah Precious Oby (talk) 03:43, 16 February 2021 (UTC)
