Grants:Simple/Applications/Amical Wikimedia/2021/Midpoint report
- Application or grant stage: grant in progress
- Applicant or grantee: Amical Wikimedia
- Amount requested: 67.800,00 € (75.684,92 $)
- Amount granted: 67,800,00 EUR (77,154 USD)
- Funding period: 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021
- Application created: 20 October 2020
- Recommended application date: 1 November 2020
- Midpoint report due: 15 July 2021
- Final report due: 30 January 2022
Application edit
Background edit
Link to these documents, for the upcoming funding period, only if you have them.
- Link to your organization's staffing plan, for the upcoming funding period. Staffing Plan 2021 (NO FET)
- Link to your annual plan, for the upcoming funding period. Activities Plan 2021
- Link to your strategic plan, which includes the upcoming funding period. Strategic Plan 2019-24
Please add your grants metrics to this sheet. Note that requirements for shared metrics have changed for grants starting 1 January 2017 or later.
Please visit this worksheet to view global metrics targets and progress.
Full list of Amical Wikimedia metrics, segregated by activity (NO FET)
Programs edit
Please describe any changes to your programs for the upcoming funding period, including the addition of new programs or any programs you are no longer doing. Include your rationale for any major changes to your programs here.
Please use the templates provided to add information about each program you are planning for the upcoming funding period.
The organization
Amical Wikimedia, also known as Amical, is one of the two thematic organisations in the Wikimedia movement. Instead of a territorial scope, ours is cultural: we promote the Catalan language and culture. We are a community-based, strategy-led organisation since we believe in the communities as the main force of the whole movement. Our main focus is to help people from our cultural scope but also from other groups. For example, we run our own writing challenges, but also try our best to help the other communities with translations or by being a test wiki (Flow, Visual Editor, Content Translator...). We actively promote multilingualism as one of the key factors of our movement, that's why we've run several multilingual writing challenges (eg 288 Languages Challenge, Catalan Culture Challenge -CCC, Trace of Soul). Community, diversity and multilingualism will keep being some of the core values of our program this year while trying to knit our diverse communities together.
The 2021 proposal
Community
- Progress towards our objectives
- Before being elected, the members of the new board worked hard contacting many of our members in to get people to vote. The elections brought a big change as our association had an unstable situation with an interim board since mid 2020, and as a result people voted in larger numbers than in the previous elections.
- We have been working closely with the youth group (Grup de Joves); even though most of them are not members of Amical yet, the communication between the two structures is excellent. After they created masks with a Wikipedia design, we took charge of sending them to any Wikipedians who asked for them and also made them available through our Wikipedia challenges. With the help of Marc Celeiro, a member of that group, we created a short video celebrating our Wikipedia's 20th anniversary.
- We have established or consolidated contacts with diverse groups of Wikipedians. Besides the aforementioned Grup de Joves, substantial and strong contacts have been made with Gustau Navarro (Wikipedian and Delegate of the Generalitat) in order to foster contributions to the Wikipedia, and also introduce Amical Wikimedia to the Italian town of l'Alguer/Alghero (Sardinia), where we will shortly be going as well to shore up ties and to host a Wikimarathon during an International Catalan Folk and Popular Culture Gathering (Aplec Internacional de Cultura Popular i Tradicional Catalana). After renewed communication (via videocall and messages), a few members of Amical from Catalonia participated at a meeting in València in order to strengthen our bonds with the Valencian Wikipedians.
- We had to switch to another provider for Amical's websites since Softcatalà could not provide its service any more. The process was somewhat shaky and took a lot of time but the people in charge (our tech Board member Mikicat with Joan Creus' great help) finally managed to have it working well and it seems to be functioning properly right now.
- A Signal group of Amical's members was created in order to promote communication and exchange, not just between the Board and the members, but between each and everyone of us.
- As it had been required by the Foundation previously, we have been working on developing a Code of Conduct. We thus contacted an association, Fil a l'agulla, which specializes in improving relationships and communication within groups or organizations. Many sessions have been conducted so far in order to better understand the context of last year's conflicts and how to solve such issues effectively and efficiently. The elaboration of the Code is still in progress though.
- We are in regular contact with several Wikipedians, Amical members, and institutions of Andorra and also in Northern Catalonia where we plan to hold the next Viquitrobada (Wikimeet).
- While it should not precisely be defined as mistakes nor missteps, due to the inexperience of the new board, the pandemic, and many processes affecting the banks, our board has lost lots of time dealing with administrative issues instead of focusing more on the community.
- We haven't yet succeeded in creating a strong activity and exchange within the Signal group. Getting the community interested is still quite difficult unfortunately.
- Highlighted activities
-
Some members of the Board, meeting and working with our Valencian Amical members. -
Quelet, one of our members, listening to the organizers of the Viquimarató Carmelina Sánchez-Cutillas. -
The training webinars stand out for the diversity of the speakers and for their public acceptance. -
Creation of the youth group and meet-ups.
- Community program against its targeted metrics
| Objective | Description | Midpoint status | Final expected status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidate 12 very active members (leading more than 5 activities per year). | Five activities might sound unrealistic given the current circumstances. Even though, we have had enough members who have lead more than 2,5-ish activities during the period. | 40% |
60% |
| Get 3 new members or existing ones under 30 years old to increase their activity in Amical Wikimedia and ensure a generational handover. | Few people joined during the first semester of this year because of the internal turmoil Amical Wikimedia went through and the volunteer crisis. | 60% |
100% |
| Get at least 3 women members to join Amical Wikimedia. | None | 0% |
33% |
| Bring together and provide basics insights to our members in the Balearic Islands and Andorra meeting face to face at least once; in order to create the nucleus of 2 active member hubs. | Due to the pandemic, most of the events were canceled or postponed as on-line training activities, thus nearly no face-to-face meetings took place.. | 50% |
50% |
| Hold personal or phone meetings and conversations with at least >50% of Amical Wikimedia's cohort. | There has been an interaction between partners that covers more than 50% of the community. | 60% |
100% |
| Facilitate at least 2 events aimed at the youngest segment of the community (under 25s). | We held an online meeting with young people in April and a second one in May. | 100% |
100% |
| One specific workshop for newcomers of Amical Wikimedia (our team, our ethics, our discourse, our how-to). | We held it in the framework of the series of webinars. More debates about the specifics of our ethics are prepared. | 60% |
100% |
Education
- Progress towards our objectives
- Round Table (June 7th) about the Viquipèdia and Free Knowledge at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), with Vicenç Alluè, Àlex Hinojo and Anna Costa, together with Xavier Dengra.
- This year we've also held a ViquiPAU contest, in order to foster the improvement of articles that students often need to consult when preparing for university access exams.
- In spite of the pandemic, our members in València have been extremely active. They organized and promoted various projects, such as the Wikiproject Muixeranga in May and June, and the Carmelina Sánchez Cutillas Wikiproject, about the Valencian writer Carmelina Sánchez Cutillas over the course of the year, with the collaboration of Wikimedia España.
- Support for the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - UPC), regarding how to place technology at the service of the Wikipedia.
- A UAB course was cancelled regarding how to foster free academic content in the framework of university education and teaching.
- Due to onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, our usual activities have decreased, both in terms of contacts and projects that were normally held every year.
- Highlighted activities
-
Biochemistry Wikiprojecte at the University of Barcelona: 11 years and still going strong -
Open Education Week 2021 at the Autonomous University of Barcelona -
ViquiPAU Wikiproject, helping secondary school students prepare for university entrance exams
- Education program against its targeted metrics
| Objective | Description | Midpoint status | Final expected status |
|---|---|---|---|
| At least 3 educational collaborations (wikiprojects or other) with secondary schools (teenager-oriented) | Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, there were no activities with secondary schools. | 0% |
50% |
| Mantain 75% of the wikiprojects started in 2020 as stabilisation and long-term preparedness for teachers (XX projects were registered in partnership with Amical during the 2020 Academic Year) | FALTA | 60% |
60% |
| At least one new official agreement with an educational institution | Due the recent Board change and its adaptation period, there were no official agreements with educational institutions. | 0% |
100% |
| At least 3 university educational collaborations outside the area of Barcelona (preferably outside Catalonia) | Although we collaborated with universities this year on various occasions, it was not for educational purposes. | 0% |
25% |
GLAM & Sister projects
- Progress towards our objectives
- During the celebration of Sant Jordi, we held a contest seeking to promote participation in Viquitexts, the Catalan version of Wikisource.
- Concurs del punt volat al Viccionari - Interpunct Contest on Viccionari (the Catalan Wiktionary).
- In association with many Catalan organizations and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Amical participated to the Campaign "Donants de veu" aimed to build a network of 100 people giving their voices to audiobooks.
- Since Amical's board changed at the beginning of the year, added to the previous instability caused by the resignation of many members of the previous boards in 2019 and 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fact that it takes a while to get acquainted with every aspect of the organization, Amical will need extra time in order to achieve more satisfying and thus better levels of activity.
- Highlighted activities
-
1Lib1Ref was a huge success this year with unprecedented results. -
The Sant Jordi (Saint George) competition was another successful online event —it even got news coverage. -
The Donants de Veu campaign aiming at the creation of audiobooks.
- GLAM & Culture program against its targeted metrics
| Objective | Description | Midpoint status | Final expected status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detect and quantify stable or transitional community growth in the Catalan sister projects (currently active users in Wikisource: 3-4; Wikiquote: 1; Wiktionary: 2-3; Wikibooks: 0; Wikinews: 0-1) | No survey has been done. However, the figures may remain stable or have slightly changed. | 0% |
30% |
| At least three projects focused on three sister projects, and three activities or events to promote these projects | This year, as is traditional, the Wiktionary held the "Punt volat" or Interpunct Contest, to make entries with words containing the "l·l". Also, the Sant Jordi wikiproject was mainly based on Wikisource. Participants had the chance to transcribe and validate original Catalan classical literature. At the same time we started Donants de Veu (Voice Volunteers), a project to create audiobooks of the aforementioned works and make them available on Wikimedia Commons. | 100% |
100% |
| Updated status of #bibliowikis document | Not done yet. | 0% |
50% |
| Updated document with renewed proposals for libraries and/or museums | Not done yet. | 0% |
50% |
| At least 4 self-organised GLAMwiki projects or events | First, we have to highlight the wikiproject Els 10.000 to achieve the best quality in the 10.000 essential articles on Wikipedia. We also carried out 2 feminist projects: Dones independents and Viquidones de la Casa Masó. | 75% |
100% |
| At least 2 projects involving archives from the Catalan-speaking area | Not done yet. | 0% |
50% |
| At least 2 projects involving content (i.e. picture) donation | During the first half of the year, the wikiproject Muixeranga was held, its second part consisting of a photo contest to foster people's contributing pictures. | 50% |
50% |
| Establish alliances with at least 2 institutions that are based outside Catalan-speaking territories and have a scope which is aligned with Amical's mission or projects | Not done yet. | 0% |
50% |
Communication & Outreach
- Progress towards our objectives
- DavidPar has taken control of Amical's Twitter account and given it a much better pace and visibility, more audience and more daily content. He is also in charge of the weekly account of all the activities Amical and its members are organizing and all the events related to the Wikipedia/Wikimedia sphere.
- Contacts have been made with several institutions in l'Alguer/Alghero (Sardinia, Italy) in order to promote the Viquipèdia during the Adifolk Festival that will take place there from Sept. 24th to the 26th.
- With DavidPar's help, we also participated in a specific initiative (against TERREG) together with Wikimedia France and Wikimedia Deutschland, and renewed contacts with the lobby our organizations have in Brussels. Communication with Naphsica Papanicolaou, the advocacy officer of Wikimedia France, was intense in order to have Amical Wikimedia participate in that initiative. We are now following the information we get from Brussels and our partners so as to participate in the next actions and events.
- Highlighted activities
-
Our twitter accounts have been receiving good feedback and have increased their number of followers. -
Amical Wikimedia's letter to the Catalan Members of European Parliament (MEPs) requesting their support in the initiative against TERREG.
- Communication & Outreach program against its targeted metrics
| Objective | Description | Midpoint status | Final expected status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publish at least 12 relevant blog posts in one year. This includes blog posts about Wikimedia events or activities where community members or staff participated | Done. A decrease in activity due to the Board changes but a regular pace has been reached lately. | 80% |
100% |
| Increase our impact in Twitter up to 25K followers in @Viquipedia as one of the most relevant "influencer" accounts in Catalan | Currently, more than 26.700 followers. | 100% |
> 100% |
| Content and style redesign of Amical Wikimedia website | The forced change of Amical Wikimedia website has initiated some improvement of its design. | 30% |
75% |
| Establishment and publication of a regular newsletter | This was done after the Board finally reached a steadier pace, and it is working well and regularly now. | 85% |
> 100% |
| Evaluate feasibility and establish a university student internship for some communication tasks | Thus far, te community hasn't clearly agreed to this, so it might be cancelled. | 0% |
50% |
| Attendance and presentation of our projects in 5 national or international events about Wikimedia, tech, digital advocacy, or free knowledge during the course of the year | Covid made it difficult to attend any event, however we have tried to participate in most of the important Wikimedia events since April-May and even had a good level of involvement in the Free Knowledge Advocacy (Brussels). | 40% |
85% |
Staff and contractors edit
Please describe any changes to your staffing plan for the upcoming funding period. These should include increases in staff or contractor hours, new staff positions, or staff positions you are removing. Include your rationale for any staffing changes here.
- We had a project coordinator, Esther Solé i Martí (user ESM), for Amical Wikimedia until mid 2020. As stated previously, Amical dismissed her, an action that created internal issues and led to Amical's instability. Our current board (elected in January) is considering hiring a person soon.
For each new staff or contractor position, please use the template provided to add information about each new staff or contractor you are planning for the upcoming funding period (or to describe significant increases in hours or changes in job descriptions for existing staff). You are not required to provide this information for existing staff where no changes are required.
So far, there is no staff member yet.
Budget and resource plan edit
Link to a detailed budget for the upcoming funding period. This budget should include all of your organizations expenses. Please specify which expenses will be covered from your APG.