Grants:Project/Rapid/Piyacitta21/WikiMapping Civil Society in Croatia

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Piyacitta21/WikiMapping Civil Society in Croatia

Despite their very fruitful and engaging work in peace, green, feminist, human rights and LGBT+ initiatives in Croatia over the past 30+ years, civil society organizations in Croatia and their activities and key stakeholders are under-represented in the mainstream media, and almost non-existing or inadequately presented in Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. The aim of the project is to start addressing these issues and the content gap, providing reliable data for both international and Croatian general public, scholars and activists, but also increasing visibility of Wikidata and Commons in Croatia.

Documenta (Croatian NGO) finds it even more important bearing in mind controversies around Croatian Wikipedia, known for its historic revisionism and dominance of right wing admins and editors. The long-term goal of this effort is to spread Wikimedia values among Croatian academics and activists, and motivate them to start publishing more significantly again on all Wikimedia projects especially in the wake of changes with Universal Code of Conduct and priorities of Community Strategy for 2030.

Vesna Jankovic (together with Z. Blace and Miroslav Ambrus Kis), would join Documenta (Nikola is working internally as archivist) to work as WiR in extending the reach of Wikimedia values and methods of work into Documenta and other NGOs, as well as access to Documenta's and other archives for Wikimedia projects and communities in Croatia.

targetMeta, Commons, Wikidata, Wikipedia HR/SH/ENG likely also Wikispore, which is an experimental project

start dateAs soon as available *(there are no material costs that can not be delayed for a few weeks), but ideally before December 1st (to connect it to December 5th and 10th Int. Volunteer Day and Human Rights Day)

end dateFebruary 28th

budget (USD)USD 2000

grant typeGroup

non-profit statusYES

grantee• Piyacitta21

contact(s)• jankovic.vesna81

gmail.com• georgwilhem@gmail.com

organization (if applicable)• Documenta - Center for Dealing with the Past

website (if applicable)• https://documenta.hr/en/

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Project Goal

Outreach, inform, educate and inspire individuals (activists/academics) to work with archives and become wiki and commons contributors.
Provide content guidance, mentoring and support by more experienced Wikimedia editors to be able to investigate, compile, document, publish and translate information on unrepresented Croatian NGOs using the civil society archives.
Promote Wikimedia values and methods of work (and other related infrastructure like Commons and Archive.org) among Croatian NGOs.
Encourage community participation both in local, thematic and global activities related to Volunteering and Human Rights (which are celebrated in December).

Project Plan

Activities

1) What is your plan?

pioneering Wikimedia Foundation support for civil society NGOs and their activities in Croatia via WiR (Vesna Jankovic) at host DOCUMENTA.hr (contact Nikola Mokrovic)
pre-mapping: research on Wikis to determine the content gap and later analysis/presentation
recruiting volunteers interested in the project via direct outreach, through invitation sent to selected NGOs and through the add published in social media
research, selection, scanning and publishing of relevant documents on different wiki platforms (wiki commons, wiki data, wikipedia)
producing at least 3 exemplary wikipedia HR/SH and ENG articles (1 event: First International Human Rights Day in Croatia – social context and the way it was introduced and celebrated in Croatia; 1 organization: Arkzin publishing house; 1 activist biography: Vesna Kesic, famous journalist and feminist activist)
public promotion of the project on December 10th, International Human Rights Day
Wikimedia promotion with a list of articles to translate in CEE SPRING where this kind of civil society content was missing
on-line volunteer training (at least 2 on-line sessions)
providing at least bi-weekly mentoring opportunity for volunteers
planning follow-up and scaling-up work for 2021

2) How will you let your community know about the project?

we have informed WREN, Wikispore lists and chat channels of different WM groups so far.
we will use different social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram...)
announcements in at least four community media portals and one mainstream media outlet
we would try to connect the two to PR on December 5th and 10th as Int. Volunteer Day and Human Rights Day

3) Do you have any experience in promoting Wikimedia projects either online or offline?
Were you involved in a similar project in the past? Do you have any other experience related to online/offline promotion?

Individually 2 team members do have some experience, another two are learning in shared activities

4) What is your post-promotion plan?
What do you plan to do after your campaign ends?

we hope to keep in touch with everyone involved during 2020 and follow up with promotion over 20 years of Wikipedia and Creative Commons
creation of a community of thematic/topical activists, academics who are wiki editors-contributors for environmental, feminist, peace-reconciliation and LGBTI+ groups
we hope to have new content presented on the Wikimedia CEE Spring lists for translation to other languages in the region and beyond
we are aiming for ripple effect: attract more volunteers interested in gaining knowledge about Wikimedia and willing to continue working on the project of documenting the history and activities of socially progressive Croatian NGOs

5) Are you running any in-person events or activities? If so, you will need to complete the steps outlined on the Risk Assessment protocol related to COVID-19. When you have completed these steps, please provide a link to your completed copy of the risk assessment tool below:

we don't plan to organize any in-person events

6) Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?

If this pilot promo activity starts the project we have next chance to look for local support already in February through Clubture network.
DOCUMENTA.hr uses MediaWiki software internally for many years already, but without dedicated person it has not been maintained and used to its full potential

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets and feel free to add more:

Number of people reached: directly 30, indirectly via media cca 10.000
Number of participants: minimum 10 (4 organizers + 6 workshop participants)
Increase in pageviews for a Wikimedia project: increase of involvement on Meta, but also Wikipedia/Commons/Wikidata and Outreach

2 online education workshops held
6-8 volunteers educated in basic wiki-skills
at least 2 experienced wiki-editors monitor and support wiki-newbies
at least 3 exemplary wikipedia articles produced and issues documented for a case-study on Civil Society content
media promotion organized via community media projects and one mainstream media outlet

Resources

What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

We have

combined knowledge and expertise in the content, wikimedia practices, outreach and promotion methods
social capital: all team members are long-term activists and therefore are well acquainted with the progressive civil scene in Croatia, and have numerous personal and organizational contacts
access to the archives of Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past, Center for Peace Studies Zagreb, Center for Women Studies Zagreb, Mi2/Mama – Multimedia Institut Zagreb (also scanner and streaming infrastructure)
initial experiments done on WikiSpore https://wikispore.wmflabs.org/wiki/Civil_Society_Spore

Project team

Vesna Jankovic, sociologist and long-term activist, former editor-in-chief of Arkzin (anti-war magazine published during the 1990ies), contributor of several independent media projects (H-alter.org, 04 printed zine), also author of several books analysing and documenting women's and peace initiatives in Croatia. Role in the project: coordination, pre-mapping, networking, PR, Wikimedia work, translation;

Nikola Mokrovic, member of Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past and author of several books/publications documenting peace and human rights activism in Croatia. Role in the project: access to archives, documents selection, networking;

Z. Blace, Wikimedian-in-residence, cultural worker, media researcher/educator, community organizer. Role in the project: education, content guidance, mentoring and support, networking, PR;

Miroslav Ambrus Kis, personal computing and DTP pioneer, journalist, green activist, Wiki-contributor. Role in the project: content guidance, mentoring and support, PR.

Budget

project coordination and PR work: 20 hours x 25$ = 500$ (WiR Zblace and Vesna Jankovic)
pre-mapping (research & analysis): 10 hours x 10$ = 100$ (WiR Zblace and Vesna Jankovic)
education (2 on-line workshops): 2x8 hours x 25$ = 400$ (WiR Zblace and Vesna Jankovic)
ongoing mentoring and support: 16 hours x 25$ = 400$ (WiR Zblace)
scanning of materials and graphic work : 10 hours x 10$ = 100$
translation of materials into English (for CEE Spring edit lists): 20 pages x 15 = 300$ (WiR Vesna Jankovic)
advertising banner on at least 1 civil society focused website: 100$
misc. costs like admin and losses in bank transactions/conversions: 100$

Total: USD 2000

We assume that there will be a need for many more working hours in order to successfully launch the project, and we are willing to invest some of our volunteer time and energy for free to get this project off the ground. We will look for other funding options to scale up in 2021 as we hope to gain traction in work in DOCUMENTA.hr and Croatian Civil Sector with Wikimedia ecosystem (including the Foundation) via individuals that can mediate between these.

Endorsements

Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!

I am happy to support and promote this project as participant Zblace (talk) 20:55, 15 November 2020 (UTC)
Nikola Mokrovic (talk) 08:10, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
This project made me return to contributing to Wikipedia, so I'll give my best to support and push this project. Mak13 (talk) 09:40, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
Would be a good step forward to reaching a more levelled approach within Croatia and the Wikimedia projects Braveheart (talk) 12:30, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
Academic research of Vesna Jankovic on "rooted cosmopolitanism" among peace activists in ex-Yugoslav countries in the 1990s is excellent and deserves broader recognition. I never met her, online or otherwise, but I am a fan of her work. If she is involved in this initiative, I am convinced it deserves full support. NaucnicaCG (talk) 13:32, 17 November 2020 (CET)
I am happy to endorse this project as it will fill an important lacuna in the historical record of wartime and transition-era Croatia, with direct relevance to broader political issues then and now. Some of the most intriguing, important, and intelligent perspectives about how we can and should understand the world and act to better it I have encountered while involved in various Croatian civil society initiatives from 1990s onward. We will all benefit from documenting this work in the public venue of Wikimedia projects. Miranche (talk) 21:47, 17 November 2020 (UTC)
I support this project because it is highly needed to mobilize and engage civil society, archivists, and activist groups in Croatia as wiki contributors in local languages. Further, the history of feminist, LGBTQI+, and anti-war activist work and some of the pioneers (which is mostly erased within the dominant discourses) will be made more visible and accessible by the general public. It's a wonderful and inspiring initiative of community knowledge mapping, creating and sharing! Azaresist (talk) 11:07, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
I support this project as I see it as an important civic and historical record and also a means to provide visibility and access to information maybe not included in dominant discourses. Community knowledge is so important and I think this project could provide considerations and opportunities for other similar projects in the future. Best of luck! Jamie-NAL (talk) 14:26, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
Documenta is the largest archive of civil rights activism in Croatia and has both aggregated and digitised valuable archival materials from the last three decades. It also has a long history working with researchers focusing on civil rights, anti-war movement and truth and reconciliation. Bringing some of these materials and some of that expertise to bear on Croatian Wikipedia would fill some of the glaring gaps in its content, resulting largely from it's chauvinist nationalist bias. Multimedijalni institut (talk) 14:30, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
I support this project because of its dedication to shed a light on the underrepresented topics that are supposed to be well-researched. I also think that Croatian Wikipedia and other wikis would benefit greatly from the work of these proactive volunteers, and that it will serve as a starting point towards further broadening in the research of civil societies and its objective presenting. Good luck with the project! Mickey Mystique (talk) 13:37, 22 November 2020 (UTC)
I support this topic, because it aims at enlargening articles about activist and civil society history of Croatia, which has been largely underrepresented on Wikimedia projects so far. Would love to participate in some way as well. --Shikeishu (talk) 16:00, 7 December 2020 (UTC)
Great project! Good luck Sorora e.V (talk) 16:48, 24 February 2021 (UTC)