Grants:TPS/Shyamal/Himalayan workshop

This Wikimedia Participation Support request was funded in the fiscal year 2014-15. A report is available.

statusfunded

Travel & Participation Support

Himalayan workshop

summaryConduct a series of workshops on Wikimedia projects, ways in which to contribute including conducting photo-walks, media uploading, editing workshops.

event locationMunsiyari, Uttarakhand, India

event websitehttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_workshop

event date(s)16 May 2016 to 21 May 2016

amount requestedUSD 356

home countryIndia

creator• Shyamal

submitted on14:56, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Create your report

Learn about reporting

Proposed participation

I have been contributing to the English Wikipedia and Commons for a little more than a decade. The organizers of this event invited me as they know me and my long-standing interest in the outdoors and natural history. We decided that it should not be just me but open to any others and we have therefore announced the event to others who might be interested. At the moment only I have been able to commit to participating and it is quite critical that I am available. I have visited the region in 2008 and things have changed a lot since. The region is now better connected to the Internet and many people have access to mobile phone cameras. Our aim is primarily to create interest that will last beyond the period of the workshop and to create links with those who live in the region and can contribute media on request to support other Wikimedians. The hosting grassroots organization Himal Prakriti have resource people who are especially valuable in the longer run to help in increased local participation.

Goal and expected impact

• Introduce attendees to the value of Wikipedia projects for their local context
  • Demonstrate the potential value of a locally hosted Mediawiki server to support an information infrastructure for the local community
• Demonstrate the value of contributions from ordinary residents of the region to the knowledge commons - particularly via Wikimedia projects
• Obtain photographs for Commons for some fairly common Himalayan flora and fauna, cultural artefacts and pictures of geographical interest

Participant diversity and numbers: We expect a large number of visitors at the fair who will probably only have a passing interest. Even with a few participants attending, the expectation is that they will spread the word to others and future visitors to the region. The location has considerable potential as it is a major terminus for mountaineering and trekking groups from across the world. We expect that there will be continued interest in developing content and contributing media well after our workshops.

Budget breakdown

• Travel
  • round trip airfare from Bangalore to Delhi: (INR 6000 x 2)= INR 12000
  • local transport at Bangalore and Delhi INR 200 x 4 = INR 800
  • train between Delhi to Haldwani INR 720 x 2 = INR 1440
  • shared taxi between Haldwani and Munsiyari INR 500 x 2 = INR 1000
• Stay - INR 1500 x 6 nights = INR 9000

TOTAL : INR 24240 which comes to USD 356 (@ 1 USD = 68 INR)

Endorsements

• This workshop might prove to be an important one. I have been thinking for some time that North India is required to be explored for Wikimedia projects as we are a lot behind than the South Indian languages. I support Shyamal for volunteering for this workshop. Satdeep Gill (talk) 12:24, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Thank you Satdeep. I wish you could have made it to the event. Shyamal (talk) 05:50, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

• To me, Shyamal is one of the most respected Wikipedians from India. His extensive knowledge on biodiversity, plant-animal taxonomy & characteristics, geography and geology, (especially pertaining to India) are to be considered as precious assets to the entire Wikipedia mission. I had noticed his Wikipedia presence, value and thoroughness after watching his wonderful presentation on the biodiversity during Wikimedia India Conference held in Mumbai, 2011. Ever since, I (and several highly active Wikipedians from Malayalam - and perhaps most other Indic / English Wikipedians who deal with related topics) have remained ardent followers of his works in Wikipedia and elsewhere. Very often, he is our guide and final word in matters of ambiguity while refining articles on such topics. He is also the staunchest advocate I have ever met in the Wikimedia circles, for the need of perfect citations and reliable third party sources to establish Wikipedia as the most authentic entity on the net.. His beautiful sessions on these topics have helped many a Wikipedians, both during 'Train the trainer' and other outreach programs as well os on-wiki. I endorse my whole-hearted support to this grant request. It will be of great value for money to involve Shyamal to any such exploratory missions, not to mention the very special and worthy itinerary like a Himalayan terrain itself in particular. ViswaPrabhaവിശ്വപ്രഭ^talk 09:48, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

• Shyamal is imho one of the foremost editors on Indian Natural History and a significant contributor on Science and History. His entire photographic output is placed by him on Commons under CC BY-SA licenses. He has also digitised hundreds of natural history images from old public domain sources, often rare resources. He has created a large library of vector natural history svgs for use on Wikipedia. He has been a stickler for proper scientific temper and high quality referencing. He is an administrator on English Wikipedia as well as a teacher of Wikipedia editting especially to those studying biology. I rate his integrity the highest amongst editors I know. I'm confident that :-
  • He will deliver what he promises, and most probably more.
  • Do it in a manner true to Wikipedian principles.

I strongly endorse that he gets this grant. AshLin (talk) 13:27, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

• I have attended Shyamal's workshop on Wikipedia editing and would rate it as the best. He has a clear focus and strongly advocates for cost-effective programs. I am very confident that this trip will benefit the Wikimedia community. Ravi (talk) 15:01, 7 March 2016 (UTC)

• Shyamal is one of the best persons to spread the idea that is Wikipedia. His contributions are almost as old as Wikipedia itself. Every penny spent on this mission on Shyamal will have qualitative as well as qualitative long term returns. Just going through his Wikipedia and Commons pages is sufficient enough to finalize this grant request.--Vinayaraj (talk) 16:35, 7 March 2016 (UTC)
• Shyamal is one of the best persons to spread the idea that is Wikipedia,Vijayakumarblathur

Thank you @Vinayaraj:, @AshLin:, @Ravidreams:, @Vijayakumarblathur: and @Viswaprabha: for your support. I hope I will have enough material to offer after the visit for use in ta and ml wikis as well. Shyamal (talk) 03:51, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

• I wholeheartedly support Shyamal & would want to wish him all the best for the workshop Yohannvt (talk) 10:53, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

oops, I just saw that the grant has been funded. Anyways, best of luck to you Shyamal Yohannvt (talk) 10:56, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

• فلسطین 37.153.186.59 00:58, 3 April 2016 (UTC)