Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/Youth Conference 2025

Feedback on your proposal

Dear @Klára Joklová (WMCZ):

Thank you so much for your proposal for the “Youth Conference 2025.” I’m very delighted to see an event being planned with a focus on youth engagement, which has the potential to strengthen the current momentum on youth participation within the Wikimedia movement. It’s great to see that you are actively considering this event as a launch pad for broader and more extensive engagement, aiming to build consensus on shared priorities for working with young people. I’ve consulted with a few WMF colleagues, including Masana, Sanda, Simona, and Natalia, and have incorporated their points into this feedback:

Understandably, the conference is only one piece of the broader strategy for attracting young people to Wikimedia. Another crucial aspect is how to ensure that young people continue to return to our movement and trust our work. Is this something you have explored within your affiliate, and would you be able to share your insights? Have you developed a “theory of change” or something similar that could help us better understand how this conference fits into your broader strategy for engaging young people?

If I understand correctly, you’ve expanded the age range beyond 18–26 to include participants up to 30. It would be helpful if you could elaborate on this decision, as this wider age range includes individuals with diverse motivations and needs, which could potentially dilute the event’s effectiveness. Narrowing the focus to a more specific range, such as 18–24, could enhance the relevance of the programming and ensure a more meaningful impact. Additionally, including younger participants (18–20) in the event would require robust safeguarding practices. The Human Rights Team at the Wikimedia Foundation is available to work with you on developing a safety plan for participants and managing potential risks.

Regarding the focus and activities, prioritizing peer-to-peer learning and capacity building makes a lot of sense and aligns well with the goal of empowering young organizers in the CEE region and beyond. So far, the proposal doesn’t mention any external partnerships for this event. While this is not necessarily negative, youth events often benefit from collaborations with organizations specializing in youth programming. For example, partnering with UNESCO Education could provide valuable mentorship to the organizers.

One key challenge that my colleagues and I identified is ensuring a clear pathway for youth participants to transition their excitement from the event into ongoing involvement with Wikimedia projects. Without a structured follow-up plan, there’s a risk that the initial enthusiasm generated by the event may not lead to sustained engagement in the movement. This could result in missed opportunities to build long-term connections with young contributors and strengthen their involvement in Wikimedia initiatives.

In terms of logistics and budget, the proposal looks very promising. Based on your past experience in organizing events, as well as the strong support from the CEE Hub, I’m confident that you’ll be able to organize the event smoothly. However, since the Wikimedia Movement has not yet held a youth-focused event of this size, I would recommend you to work with WMF’s teams for program design and facilitation support to ensure the event's success and relevance to its target audience.

As you are aiming to provide scholarships to international participants, it would be helpful to know if you have experience in assisting conference participants with obtaining visas for the Czech Republic. We all know how challenging the process of obtaining a visa for an EU member state can be, so it might be useful to plan well ahead to mitigate any risks in this area.

Lastly, I’d like to commend your efforts to plan and organize this conference in a more ecologically sustainable way. I look forward to working with you on this, and hopefully, your event can serve as a case study and example for other organizers in the Wikimedia movement.

It would be great if you could add some details and elaborate on the points mentioned above, and resubmit your proposal with these changes on Fluxx (the proposal is now open for editing). The deadline for submission is September 30, after which it will be reviewed by the volunteer Conference Fund Committee, with a final decision expected by mid to late October.

Best regards, --Cornelius Kibelka (WMF) (talk to me) 13:40, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

Dear Cornelius,

Thank you for discussing our intent with your team. I specified the answers to the points mentioned in the application, but I was struggling with lack of space, so I tried to be as concise as possible. Of course, the preparation phase of the event is to eventually iron out all the details.

Regards Klára Joklová (WMCZ) (talk) 18:20, 3 October 2024 (UTC)

PS: I've forgot to add two minor suggestions to the proposed budget, made by my colleague Erin from WMF Travel:

• Please add the budget iteam "Travel Agency Fees" to your budget (80 x 50 USD = 4000 USD)
• Have you budget your accommodation with single or double rooms? If single rooms, the value might be a bit low (please confirm), and we'd suggest to increase to 150 USD/night.

Cheers, --Cornelius Kibelka (WMF) (talk to me) 20:55, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing out the budget adjustment, I was counting on mostly double rooms so I didn't adjust this item. Details are available in the budget comments.

Best Klára Joklová (WMCZ) (talk) 18:21, 3 October 2024 (UTC)

@Klára Joklová (WMCZ): I don't see any comments in the budget? Are we talking about the same document (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_qUS9whkUfXMIUDo1OQnWXU66jEvjfTpI7LBMSZ_kvk/edit?gid=0#gid=0)? Cornelius Kibelka (WMF) (talk to me) 01:18, 4 October 2024 (UTC)

In column D, these are the comments after hovering over the box. Klára Joklová (WMCZ) (talk) 12:24, 4 October 2024 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I can't see any. Are we talking about the same spreadsheet? Cornelius Kibelka (WMF) (talk to me) 12:31, 4 October 2024 (UTC)