Grants:Project/Francesc Fort/Wikimedia Valencia
gmail.com
Project idea[edit]
After more than 5 years active in the Region, the Wikimedia Community in the Land of Valencia, consisting of members of both Amical Wikimedia and Wikimedia España, alongside with independent editors, have found out that they work together very well, but also that there are some current infrastructure needs that aren’t covered.
The proposal is to create a project, under the name of “Wikimedia Valencia”, aimed to function as an umbrella under which the local community, regardless of their affiliation, can work together and offer a better response to both community and partners needs. The new project, despite the name, does not imply the creation of a new affiliate or organization, as one of our objectives is to reduce duplicities.
On one hand, the Valencian community aligned with Amical Wikimedia has succeeded at consolidating a local node focused on Catalan language projects and has secured some strong partnerships. Since 2018 they had noticed some distrustful regards by a part of their society for what those agents understood was a “too Catalan” point of view. The local volunteers have failed in their objective of starting a territorial debate inside of Amical, so the question has never been addressed by any other members who weren't the directly affected ones. On the other hand, Amical’s manpower base in Valencia is small, just as WM-ES, and since Àlex Hinojo left his ED position by December 2018, Amical has not been able to address some every-day needs of the local members.
On WM-ES point-of-view, their manpower base is also small, and in the past their members sometimes didn’t feel as invited as they should have been to participate in Activities made locally by Amical members. This situation is no longer an issue, as the relationship between active Wikimedians is fluent at a local sphere, but still there are activities that are arranged by a single affiliate that only have participants from that only association, due to various reasons.
There is a third situation, the one of the majority of the local members, who are members of both associations. In this case, the problem comes when interacting with people from outside the region who sometimes don’t like to see events with two affiliates logos. Given the level of experience and skills among the Valencian community, those events are always organized locally, so their involvement is very minor, if any.
The current situation is that, regardless of memberships and logos, there is a local community of experienced editors, most of them being current or past board members on their affiliates, who are very good at doing workshops, photo-takes and other activities. We have strengthen some partnerships (we highlight user Ponscor, president of the Valencian Librarian Association and long-term partner in their role as Head librarian on the Valencian Museum of Ethnology). Until december 2017 there was an official GLAM project on some centers, but those projects had to be abandoned or fully covered by volunteers on free time slots (those have been completely random slots depending on personal circumstances of the community members), and this situation has generated some frustration on the partners’ side. Since the end of 2020 some Cultural Institutions have been interested in GLAM projects again and therefore, there is an opportunity to release and generate free content that, to the date, we have covered as well as we could with our free-time slots, but that can no longer be managed that way without some coordination task.
Besides, a combination of fatigue on the previously described situation and the cut of in-person activities due to covid, which were an important point in our community care, made an important member of the group step back last summer. The youngest Valencian editor engaged with GLAM and partnerships is now 32 years old and some regeneration is needed. That task will also need some coordination force and know-how.
What is your solution to this problem?[edit]
For the problem you identified in the previous section, briefly describe your how you would like to address this problem.
We recognize that there are many ways to solve a problem. We’d like to understand why you chose this particular solution, and why you think it is worth pursuing.
Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
The main issues that affect Valencian community are:
- Duplicities on the Affiliates tasks and tools, and sometimes, volunteers not receiving proper coverage from their preferred affiliate.
- Ability to successfully arange GLAM partnerships, and knowledge on creating and generating content (see: Etnoposter or upcoming chapter on Laurie Bridges book), but lack of availability to properly attend every partner’s needs
- Need for regeneration and growth of the local base.
In a nutshell: We need to address 5th and 1st Wikimedia 2030 Strategy recommendations, plus subsidiarity principle, basically.
Our solution is the creation of an umbrella name, Wikimedia Valencia, under the sphere of which both members of Amical and WM-ES will be able to work, with independence of their internal life and affiliation to which organization(s) they prefer.
This project will have Francesc Fort as a coordinator, whose primary goal is to attend, address and, whenever is possible, to solve the needs of the GLAM agents who have already contacted him (3, so far) with the intention of having a WiR program, as well as addressing the community needs in terms of partnerships. He was the WiR in the Valencian Museum of Ethnology, has been a board member of Amical, and has been related to Spanish-speaking communities during the Wikimedia Movement 2030 Strategy. Besides, his tasks would include covering some paralel needs that might appear such as media coverage (expected to be more intense than usual, being 2021 a 20th anniversary year, and having as many birthdays as different languages we cover) or other needs that might appear.
This figure will be in contact with the current and future partnership we might have, but will not substitute the activities of the current workbase of affiliates we have. It neither will affect in any negative way the uninterrupted partnership with Arxiu Ismael Latorre Mendoza, that has been possible because of the tireless effort from the very family who custodies the archive, and that despite its small size, is an Strategic and esteemed partner that we, literally, love. The coordinator, Francesc Fort, is also the WiR on the Archive.
Another reason to ask for funds to coordinate activities is that the tasks during 2018-2020 season have been done by our group because after we dropped some institutions, those tasks were not very time-demanding, and somehow, those activities were just a simple adaptation or actualization of work previously done. Right now, the Ethnology Museum has renewed its main exhibition, so a big amount of new files will have to be uploaded, and every institution is adapting to covid-situation. That means that they are more interested in Wikipedia collaborations, as is a remote tool, but we must change the paradigm of our activities, because the local group relied on edit-a-thons and workshops as a community care and internal cohesion tool, where we shared ideas and “news” about the movement.
Project goals[edit]
What are your goals for this project? Your goals should describe the top two or three benefits that will come out of your project. These should be benefits to the Wikimedia projects or Wikimedia communities. They should not be benefits to you individually.
Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
While we are writing those lines, a partnership with IVAM has been arranged. It will be made whether this proposal is accepted or not, but if the current proposal is granted, we would be able to create synergies among GLAM-projects and better cover their needs.
- We have big expectations and hopes with this partnership, but when it comes to its relationship with the current grant proposal, if accepted we will be able to better integrate the activities of the IVAM with all other GLAM partner and Wiki activities in the region and internationally.
When it comes to L’Etno, Librarian’s regulatory college and the partners that we have been able to service during the 2018-2020 period, our main objective is to keep the collaboration running, and improving their satisfaction with our community.
When it comes to Valencian research institute, Illustration and Modern times Museum and other local institutions we had to drop on december 2017, our objective is to cover their request of GLAM-partnerships and to create a self-sustainable project on those centers, even if the scale might be reduced again in 2022.
When it comes to smaller institutions like Arxiu Ismael Latorre Mendoza or Casa-Museu Segrelles, we plan to properly cover those partners who have no ways to cover the expenses of a WiR, but need some help or guidance to successfully make a GLAM project. They have problems when releasing files or texts, so they must receive some help during their learning curve.
Another goal would be to start, if not a self-sustainable project or GLAM project, at least some collaborations with more, new, local partners that might have shown interest in the past, not closed to GLAM but also Education.
The last objective is to raise awareness about Wikimedia Projects (Advocacy) by public appearances and offering a continuity on Wikimedia-activities in the region that might provide a rise in editors and, hopefully, new people to join our community of members who make non-editing activities. Engaging new members into our activities will be key to make this project, even if the scale is reduced again, at least sustainable again with a bigger size in 2022.
All of this worklines align with Amical Wikimedia’s current Strategy Plan, reinforcing the Community Axe by promoting activities on an Area with less editors in Catalan wikipedia than its comparative size when compared the overall Catalan-speaking population, and by bringing together new agents to the Wikimedia ecosystem. Also reinforces the Territorial Diversity and Collaboration with Institutions objectives included on the Content Axis, and should increase the percentage of readers distributed territorially as included on the Readers Axis.
Project impact[edit]
Rationale[edit]
- Added on April
As developed on previous sections, this project appears after a couple of years, 2019-2020, that generated demoralization in our community, because of a combination of poor internal health on Amical Wikimedia and the cancellation of in-person events, that were the core of the internal cohesion of the local community. Besides of that, a combination of other factors made that members belonging only to Amical Wikimedia felt as if the local community was able to do more and more different activities that the ones that were being done until the date.
Our rationale when it comes to impact is:
- This project should work as a morale booster for a community slighty disenchanted.
- By widening both our partnerships and range of activities, we should be able to encourage new profiles of people to join our wikiverse, and to give some variety to our current community.
- By being a self-powered project, we will be more resilient to external community-health issues, by being less-exposed to community health threats coming from outside the region.
- We keep our range of activities on a grass-roots level and looking for having as much people as possible participating in person on our events, because edit-a-thons and gatherings have been what has streghtened our local community.
- We could have not asked for a grant by covering just one single partner on our free time slots, but we prefer to take the initiative to dare with something new in order to create sinergies between our existing partners, our new ones, and eventual international collaborations with other WiR or online communities around the globe, increasing the range of our activities and adding new layers.
- We can only attract new people by doing new things. New activities will bring different people, who might be aware or not on how Wikimedia works. For us it is imporant to share our vision and to do it on a friendly way. Also for people who might not join our community in the short run, but might become future members or future advocates such as students, or even teachers.
How will you know if you have met your goals?[edit]
For each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:
- During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? (These are your outputs.)
- Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects? (These are your outcomes.)
For each of your answers, think about how you will capture this information. Will you capture it with a survey? With a story? Will you measure it with a number? Remember, if you plan to measure a number, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (i.e. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 scanned documents).
Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
The first objective, raising the satisfaction, is subjective, so we can only get feedback by directly asking them. So, we should use a survey to get their feedback and see if the satisfaction has risen or not. About the new activities, we can quantify them by number made, octets written, files released, etc. We will start a Meta page with metrics, based on the monthly reports of Amical Wikimedia and the bimonthly of WM-ES.
There are activities that will be done by sure, such as the releasing of the images provided by the Ethnological Museum, that cannot be quantified because the Museum doesn’t have that information yet.
The same situation appears when it comes to participation of new members. We can see during our online or offline activities, if we are getting more attention and whether gaining or not more community members (readers, editors, partners, activity organizers), but we can’t know how much new people will be able to engage, but all those metrics will be included in our Meta page. For us, gaining a single new active member for GLAM activities will be a success. To compare, during the period (2015-2017) when Amical Wikimedia gained presence in Valencia, membership grew by 2 people each year, which was a 50% and 33% of annual growth. All of those new members were active in GLAM activities, and even if we can’t expect to have such numbers, even less in a pandemic year, gaining at least one person should be a basic objective for us and to make this sustainable in the long-term.
For subjective criterias, such as increasing quality, we will use polls to compare the situation in January, 2021 and December, 2021, while for accountable criterias we will gather some statistics, with all results shared in real time.
Regardless of metrics, we will know that our objectives are fulfilled if, by the end of the date, we have been able to increase our active member base, we have diversified our activities or at least, partners, if we have been able to increase the awareness about Wikimedia movement, and by increasing or at least, keeping the satisfaction of our active partners and its engagement with the local community, as well as making them more self-sustainable when it comes to basic wikimedia activities.
Do you have any goals around participation or content?[edit]
Are any of your goals related to increasing participation within the Wikimedia movement, or increasing/improving the content on Wikimedia projects? If so, we ask that you look through these three metrics, and include any that are relevant to your project. Please set a numeric target against the metrics, if applicable.
When it comes to partners' participation, our main objective is to be able to service L’Etno, Muvim and Institució Alfons el Magnànim. With L’Etno our main objective is to break the bottle-neck created by the release of new Material. With the other two institutions, our objective is to be able to turn a self-sustainable project on, creating for those two institutions dropped-off by our community in 2018 a situation similar to that on L’Etno, which has become a basic partner for us.
On a second level, it would be great to be able to contact or have a first activity in other GLAM centers from the city of Valencia, where all the previously cited centers are headquartered, or even reach our other counties and cities of the Land of Valencia, which is another pending task that our reduced base of volunteers has not been able to achieve due the lack of manpower. Activities in less populated areas, or at least related to that kind of knowledge coming from the rural world, would be another of our goals, as it aligns with the 2021 WM-ES Activity Programme.
On a third level, another objective would be to raise the level of activities done on those centers. That means not only breaking L’Etno’s bottleneck but being able to generate new projects, and generating a level of engagement on the other two institutions bigger than just some basic activity. Also, if more centers join the project, it would be interesting to generate our own sinergies, perhaps even with similar Institutions from all around the world and to create some kind of multilingual project on Wikiprojects.
When it comes to editors participation, our main objective is to be able to do the GLAM activities we enjoy without any extra effort. The edit-a-thons and workshops in Valencia have been entirely done by the local community and one particularity is that never a single editor came alone, even despite that our members have a good level of discourse and can lead those activities without any help. The community used edit-a-thons and workshops as a tool to reunite and share opinions, to socialize, together.
As the Covid-pandemic made it impossible to hold in-person activities, now we have to reimagine our socialization channels, besides guaranteeing some renewal in the community.
On a second level, we need new editors/members, as our current engagement is already high and we can't expect that our current base could make more than it currently is. Whether new editors join our wiki-activities group, or if current editors join us, that would be a success.
Project plan[edit]
Activities[edit]
Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing? What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
Already arranged activities include the Muixeranga project, to be started alongside the inauguration of a temporary exhibition at the Ethnological Museum. Another yearly activity are the L’Eliana edit-a-thons, held at the library (a basic activity in our collaboration with Valencia’s Librarians Professional Association), cancelled in 2020 and probably reinvented as a Wiki Takes by 2021.
When it comes to future activities, we plan to have the usual GLAM activities with the centers (releasing content, creating a wiki layer) and we will keep innovating with virtual edit-a-thons if in-person activities cannot be done.
Even if some improvisation will be done because of the Covid-19 situation, our plan is to create synergies between existing projects, whether local or international.
When it comes to L’Etno, and Librarian’s regulatory college, the expected outputs will be:
- Completely releasing and uploading to Wikimedia Commons the images from the new Ethnological Permanent Exhibition, which includes graphics and illustrations made ad-hoc for the Exhibition by museum’s personnel (example of past releases, 21 uses, 12 languages).
- Among the files to be released is included a panoramic illustration (here) that can be splitted into dozens of files illustrating different aspects of everyday life and also dozens of Valencian particular buildings. All those files are original works by Museum’s personnel ready to be released under Creative Commons. Also, files and photos from temporary exhibitions are eligible to be released. Overall, 1.000 pics should be released by this Museum.
- Aligned with Strategy’s 9th recommendation, we will continue our work with Fermín Pardo’s Sound Archive, abandoned in 2017, to select, cut and reupload those audio track with sounds or folk tales that can illustrate a Wikipedia article, as done with La tarara or Sant Roro in the past. We can’t expect to have every single piece from the original 670 tracks extracted, but at least be able to do a selection of files including songs and folk tales relevant enough to illustrate an existing or new Wikipedia entry.
- Support for expected new editions of the Museum’s edit-a-thon, which may lead to a permanent edition point, if sanitary situation allows it. Our objective, once the situation is established, is to have an activity once a month and the permanent edition point established and working by december.
- Considering that during previous edit-a-thon, six new articles were created (and some improved), we can expect at least 60 new articles (regardless of language) to be done during our edit-a-thons.
- Completely releasing and uploading to Wikimedia Commons the images from the new Ethnological Permanent Exhibition, which includes graphics and illustrations made ad-hoc for the Exhibition by museum’s personnel (example of past releases, 21 uses, 12 languages).
- Support for Valencian writer of the year 2020-21 activities, which will include a photo takes in a town called Altea, and one edit-a-thon if possible.
- Support for expected new editions of Formative workshops for librarians, or support and organization of new edit-a-thons on libraries in the Land of Valencia.
When it comes to Valencian research institute, Illustration and Modern times Museum, the expected outputs will be:
- Releasing texts elaborated by Illustration and Modern times Museum about women and modern thinking. 4 of those were intended to be released before the pandemic and now we should be able to do it.
- Indexing, curating and improving Wikidata information about authors and books released by Valencian research institute. At least 150 entries should be improved.
- Releasing images and other kinds of files made by both institutions. We should release at least 200 pics.
- Eventual edit-a-thons, in-person events, and formative workshops, if sanitary situation allows to do so.
- As institutions included in our former Valencian Provincial Government project, we are in talks and expect to have some kind of activity related to Prehistory Museum of Valencia.
When it comes to smaller institutions like Arxiu Ismael Latorre Mendoza or Casa-Museu Segrelles, the expected outputs will be:
- To create a document (probably a poster) to share the unique GLAM-project of the Archive. :The poster can be released for future (virtual) Wikimania, if poster sessions are included in the program. Some of the files released, and the philosophy, can be read (in Catalan) here.
- The Archive sets as its objectives for 2021 to release at least
20 historical pictures and 100 photos taken in 2021.50 historical pictures and 500 pictures taken in 2021. - We will also do a Workshop and/or formation for Casa-Museu Segrelles to learn editing and elaboration of an agreement to release texts.
- Eventually, we might also help more small institutions, or make them join our predicted activities with those centers.
When it comes to Education, we reasonably expect to make at least two Education activities during 2021 year, one aimed at secondary education and another one at University level.
Another GLAM partnership that has been covered intermittently was the Radio partnerships. This project has been explained on Wikimania, and so far I’ve done 140 interviews to relevant people, and even if almost every picture has been uploaded, there are still a good bunch of audio files to be uploaded, some awaiting since 2016. Those files have been freely licenced since day 1, but I haven’t been able to upload the files to Commons on a weekly basis. With this project we should be able to upload every missing interview and its voice intro to Commons, which should amount for another 100 media files to be added to the count.
Metrics[edit]
As said in the discussion, our metrics are reasonabily humble, as an asset in case of underperformance because of sanitary situation.
| Type | Amount | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Pictures | 1.000 | L'Etno |
| 200 | IAM+MuVIM | |
| 550 | Ismael Latorre | |
| 100 | Other sources | |
| Audio files | 25 | L'Etno |
| 50 | Radio | |
| OTRS-agreements | 5 | Various |
| Edu projects | 2 | Various |
| Articles made during events | 60 | L'Etno |
| Articles improved by releasing material | 150 | Various |
| Wiki takes | 1 | Librarian Assotiation |
| Posters | 1 | Ismael Latorre |
| In-person events | 5 | L'Etno (We want a monthly event, but wont be possible) |
| Wikidata | X | We can't say a number |
COVID-19 planning[edit]
As stated in the previous section, all activities are planned in a way that can be done either online or offline depending on the pandemic situation in the region. That means that activities that are intended to be in-person (Casa-Museu Segrelles workshop) will be scheduled for second, third or forth quarter of the year, while those activities that can be done fully online (Muixeranga project) is desgined to be done fully online. Since the start of the pandemic, our community has online made one in-person edit-a-thon, and it was made following WMF's recommendations about in person events, so we will keep those criterias even if the situation improves.
Budget[edit]
How you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. (You can create a table later if needed.) Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!
Adapted from and based on: Grants:PEG/WM ES/GLAMing Madrid.
- Project budget table
| Expense | Per month | Total | Notes |
| Part-time compensation for WIR/Project Manager | € 891.1 | € 9802.1 | Base amount: € 500 plus value-added tax (21%) (€ 105) and 2021 freelancer fee (€ 286.10). Total per month: 605+286.10 = € 891.1 |
| Commutation and local travel | € 250 | ||
| Diverse expenses | € 500 | Possible community meeting, unexpected expenses | |
| Business lunches | € 250 | Possible meetings with representatives of the institutions | |
| Total | € 982 | € 10,802.1 | |
- Total cost of project
- €10,802.1
- Total amount requested from the Project and Event Grants program
- €10,802.1
Any unspent funds will be returned to WMF.
Community engagement[edit]
How will you let others in your community know about your project? Why are you targeting a specific audience? How will you engage the community you’re aiming to serve at various points during your project? Community input and participation helps make projects successful.
The active members in the Region already know about the project and will be the central part of the project. To engage more community members we have different tools.
Obviously, we will announce it on local Village Pumps and share on internal chapters' communication channels. In order to reach more people, we will use our knowledge and presence in Media (link) to spread our voice. As a third axis, our periodical activities would be a great captivation door for new users, especially once we can have the Ethnological museum as a permanent edition point with monthly activities. Also, keeping a good pace of events would reinforce the communicative axis too, as we expect some degree of media coverage.
Another communication tool will be the own channels of the partnered institutions, who will be happy to share their GLAM experiences, as has been done in the past (link).
Get involved[edit]
Participants[edit]
Please use this section to tell us more about who is working on this project. For each member of the team, please describe any project-related skills, experience, or other background you have that might help contribute to making this idea a success.
Francesc Fort: Wikipedia contributor for over a decade, he was the first Wikimedian-in-Residence in the Land of Valencia at Museu Valencià d’Etnologia (2016). He has been involved in different ways on each of the GLAM initiatives listed on this proposal, and has been an external voice and speaker on Wikimedia-related topics with press and institutions.
- Advisors:
- Already confirmed participants in the project include several people, but the main support for this project will be
- Amparo Pons Cortell: Lead Librarian at Museu Valencià d’Etnologia. She has overseen the first GLAM-WIKI partnership in the Land of Valencia, and spread that experience in some papers and communications. She will lead the activities at the Ethnological Museum, identifying the files to be uploaded and selecting activities according to the Museum’s calendar of exhibitions.
- Vicenç Salvador Torres Guerola: Archivist at Arxiu Ismael Latorre Mendoza, active Wikimedian and patroller at Catalan Wikipedia. He will foresee the activities and projects with his experienced eye as an editor.
- Santiago Navarro: President of Wikimedia España and veteran editor, he will participate in the project activities during his available time slots and his experienced eyes are a guarantee of alignment with the project’s scope.
- Luis Ulzurrun: Former Board member of Wikimedia España, member of both WM-ES and Amical Wikimedia and veteran editor, he will participate in the project activities during his available time slots and his experienced eyes are a guarantee of alignment with the project’s scope.
- Montserrat Sáez: Member of both WM-ES and Amical Wikimedia and veteran editor, she will participate in the project activities during her available time slots and her experienced eyes are a guarantee of alignment with the project’s scope.
- Bàrbara Gascó: Board Member of the Valencian Librarian’s Association, since 2016 she has organized the most durable yearly edit-a-thon in the region.
Community notification[edit]
You are responsible for notifying relevant communities of your proposal, so that they can help you! Depending on your project, notification may be most appropriate on a Village Pump, talk page, mailing list, etc.--> Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. Need notification tips?
Internal communications have been done for Amical and WM-ES communities, both boards know about the project for weeks. Further communications will be done each time that there is news to share [update: Village Pump post, in Catalan Wiki], and any external coverage will be linked in out wiki-project
Added in April
- Reports: February, March-April, May.
Endorsements[edit]
Do you think this project should be selected for a Project Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project below! (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the discussion page).
SupportPonscor (talk) 20:58, 9 February 2021 (UTC)- SupportBgasco (talk) 20:12, 9 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support General Basset (talk) 20:32, 9 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support19Tarrestnom65 (talk) 07:21, 10 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support B25es (talk) 15:53, 10 February 2021 (UTC)
Strong oppose Xavi Dengra (MESSAGES) 10:38, 10 February 2021 (UTC)
Strong support Dvdgmz (talk) 12:07, 10 February 2021 (UTC) Valencian wikimedians are doing a persistent excellent work. This Grant could be an element of support for it. I love specially the work with Arxiu Ismael Latorre Mendoza, for me it is a referent of how to work with a image archive to liberate it, giving context and spreading the content liberated to stimulate the reuse.- Strong supportTiputini (talk) 11:19, 10 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support MuRe (talk) 15:54, 10 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support marcmiquel (talk) 17:32, 10 February 2021 (UTC)
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- SupportCaleidoscopic (talk) 14:53, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support - Toniher (talk) 18:10, 17 February 2021 (UTC)
- Strong support Millars (talk) 11:22, 19 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support --Vanbasten 23 (talk) 12:23, 19 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support Florenciac (talk) 12:14, 20 February 2021 (UTC)