Wikimedia CH/Grant apply/Wikipedia for Peace 2025

Infodata

Name of the project: Wikipedia for Peace 2025
Amount requested: 17’949,50 CHF

Type of grantee: ORGANIZATION
Name of the contact:Hannah Egger (SCI Switzerland)
Contact: hannah.egger scich.org

In case of questions, please write to grant wikimedia.ch

The problem and the context

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

Wikipedia for Peace has been going on since 2015 as a project to get new editors and new target groups (youth, activists, people from marginalized groups) to write about peace and social justice on Wikipedia. Since 2018, Wikimedia Switzerland supports the project annually by making camps in Switzerland and online possible. SCI Switzerland organised 6 camps in person in Switzerland and 6 online camps with the support of Wikimedia Switzerland. Close to 300 people from all around the world have participated in the project so far, writing and improving countless articles on a variety of topics ranging from climate justice and climate journalism, queer rights to antimilitarism. Wikipedia for Peace projects design and prepare volunteering editing programs which advocate for urgent topics and react to current events and pressing social matters. The project engages among others especially also marginalized and underrepresented groups such as youth, asylum seekers and refugees and queer people and provides a safer space to express one's opinions, debate and also learn new things through a nonformal learning approach.

However, not so many people who have participated in the project have become regular editors. Most of our camps are project-based and lack a long-term and ongoing structure to support newcomers also after an intense camp, emotionally, intellectually and in terms of technical support. A follow-up stage (online meetings after the workcamps) was prepared in 2024 for the first time to sustain the motivation gained during the camps as well as to boost their capacity and develop technical skills to edit Wikipedia on a more regular basis. Therefore, there is a pending need to continue with well-structured and well-designed stages of Wikipedia for Peace. It will foster a stronger sense of community of people who have been involved in the project and want to keep being active around peace on Wikipedia.

Nevertheless, the project has a tendency to stall a bit because of its project-based funding structure. We need to continue to develop a proper volunteer retention structure in order to develop the project, meet the needs of the participants. While several people were involved in organising the project over the years, only two people (Thomas Schallhart and Bogumila Hladki) are initiating new camps and the project heavily relies on their involvement alone. This is the reason why we see a strong need for the follow-up stage. We plan to have between 3-4 online meetings in 2025 to support not only the motivation and commitment of participants in editing Wikipedia, but also to get more people to become organisers as well.

What is your solution to this problem (please explain the context and the solution)?

For 2025, we are planning to organise one offline editing camp and several follow-up online meetings:

Carrying-out the project: In 2025, we plan to organise an editing camp to edit and advocate around the topic genocide prevention. This topic has gained a lot of attraction in past years due to its political relevance (e.g. in relation to Ukraine, Artsakh, Darfur, Congo, Gaza, Uyghurs, Rohingya) and content on it from the angle of genocide prevention on Wikipedia is sparse. Important institutions and scholars working on genocide studies are still missing in many languages. Genocide prevention has also been the main focus of the new SCI working group No More War, which will co-organise this project and provide educational input.

The camp will take place from 6-13 September 2025 in Köniz (close to Bern) in a scouts center that SCI Switzerland has a lot of experience with.

Engaging new volunteers: We would like to enable 15 participants to join the project and to provide the support, experience and expertise from two trainers. As every year, the project attracts newcomers who would like to start editing Wikipedia. In 2025, we want to also try to have more participants from previous years re-join in order to build up more continuity and to have a stronger base for the project overall. We will make sure that 70% of the group travels by sustainable means to the project (i.e. train or bus instead of plane) and, while the call for participants will be published worldwide, we will also have several participants residing in Switzerland. As always, we make sure to include people from different backgrounds as participants and to have a high number of participants from groups that are underrepresented on Wikipedia (women, queer people, youth, refugees and asylum seekers).

Volunteer Retention: Monthly Zoom calls from September 2025 similar to the follow-up calls we did in 2024 in order to continue engaging the acquired volunteers. These calls will include editing together, but also socializing and giving input on a specific topic. Each call will have a thematic focus with some article suggestions, it will include helping people with technical questions around editing as well as giving emotional support to each other when writing articles (e.g. celebrating successes together, giving space for talking about conflicts on Wikipedia) and involving new people in the strategic envisioning and organising of the Wikipedia for Peace project. In order for Wikipedia for Peace to expand, we are also looking for other sources of funding or co-funding for our editing projects. In case SCI Switzerland gets other (co-)funding, SCI CH would approach WMCH in order to discuss together on how to adapt/use the budget from WMCH.

Project goals

We want to get more newcomers from groups that are underrepresented in the Wikiverse (young people, activists and people from marginalized groups) from around the world to get active on Wikipedia around peace and social justice issues.
We want them to get to know each other in an intercultural and international setting, build a small community within the structure of a volunteering camp, where they learn how to edit, and we want them to stay active also afterwards.
We want to continue building up an ongoing international editing group on peace and antimilitarism within the Wikiverse, as a collaboration between SCI and Wikimedia.
Through this and continuing our tradition of doing annual volunteering camps, we want to also improve content on peace and social justice issues on Wikipedia in multiple languages.
We want to develop the project structurally, thinking about new funding possibilities and ways we can improve and expand the project.

Project impact

How will you know if you have met your goals?

A volunteering camp will have taken place, with at least 15 participants
New editors from underrepresented groups (youth, activists, marginalized groups) are trained in editing Wikipedia and publish their articles
Articles on genocide prevention in several languages have been written, translated or improved
Higher volunteer retention ratio than in previous Wikipedia for Peace projects
Involving at least 3 asylum seeking people living in Switzerland in participating in the project
Carrying-out between 3-4 online follow-up meetings with volunteers to support their commitment after the offline project

Do you have any goals or metrics around participation or content?

1 offline workcamp of Wikipedia for Peace for 2025
15 participants in in-person camp
125 new or improved articles
25 new files on Commons
75 new or improved Wikidata items
3-4 Monthly Support Group calls have taken place by the end of 2025

Project plan

Activities

Several working meetings between Bogumila, Thomas and SCI Switzerland as well according to the current need with Wikimedia Switzerland
In-person camp in Köniz (Canton Bern) for 8 days in Septemberr 2025, with a focus on genocide prevention

Budget

Costs in CHF

Offline camp

Accomodation & Food, 17 (15 pax + 2 Coordinators) * 7 nights * 22.50.-/person/night for accommodation + 17(15 pax + 2 Coordinators) * 8 days * 13.-/person/day for food: 4’445,50 CHF
Coordinators fee Thomas: 2'700 CHF
Coordinators fee Bogumila: 2'700 CHF
Transportation for coordinators: 650 (Thomas 300, Bogumila 350)
Child care for Bogumila’s child: 800 CHF (100 per day)
SCI Operational Costs (international bidding, volunteer placement, event preparation, project monitoring and evaluation, etc.: 3’500 CHF
Insurance costs of the participants, 17 (15 pax + 2 Coordinators) * 8 (days) * 1.50 CHF: 204 CHF
Costs of the programme (e.g. entrance fees; expert fee, content inputs for participants; project visits; visa costs, travel costs for participants outside of Switzerland/Germany/Austria that can not pay the journey): 1’800 CHF
Materials (stationary + internet + flipcharts): 150 CHF

Subtotal In-Person Camp: 16’949,50 CHF

Online Follow-ups

Coordinators fee: 2 people à 500 CHF

Subtotal Online Follow-ups: 1000 CHF

Overall total = 17’949,50 CHF

Community engagement

SCI as a global movement organises their projects and activities with a special focus on marginalised and unprivileged groups and provides safer spaces for individuals to feel welcomed, respected and involved.

SCI Switzerland developed the project Create a Common Understanding which involves asylum-seeking persons to participate in SCI workcamps, it provides financial support e.g. to cover the costs of travel and material if needed. It gives space for intercultural exchange with volunteers from all around the world and provides a refreshing change from daily life in the reception centres. We have had several participants from this program in our Wikipedia for Peace camps in the last years.

Wikipedia for Peace camps host volunteers from different parts of the world as well as local volunteers.

Answer from Wikimedia CH

Thank you for your grant request. The application is accepted as it is. WMCH finds the new follow-up formats very useful, and the full amount asked in the application is granted. Please contact the Community Team soon to coordinate the payments and the communication around the events, as we would also promote the online format through our channels. Aldéric Stähli (WMCH)