EA Regional and Thematic Hub (EARTH)

The East African Regional and Thematic Hub (EARTH) seeks to bring together communities in the EA region and will also cover various thematic areas as identified by members.

The creation of hubs is anchored in the Movement Charter.

Background[edit]

East African Countries enjoy historical political and economic relations that are enshrined in the East Africa Community economic bloc (EAC) and the East African Regional and Thematic Hub (EARTH) seeks to leverage on this goodwill.

One of the historical events was in 2019, when 8 communities in the East Africa region and others drawn from nearby countries that are not within the EAC like Ethiopia, convened in Uganda for the East Africa Strategy Summit.

Other similar discussions have also happened as below;

East Africa Wiki Communities collaboration at WikiIndaba 2020 (2021)
East African Regional commitments at Wikimania 2021
East Africa Wiki communities Pre-Wikimania conference collaboration & Regional grant proposal
2021 discussion on priorities for Implementation
East Africa Community Capacity Development Wiki Training in Tanzania in 2019 (By Asaf & Woubzena)
Jenga Wikipedia Ya Kiswahili in East Africa - focused and for SADC countries - (#WikipediaForUniversities)
EA collaboration with AfLiA & Told Cities Project - GLAM

Vision and Objectives[edit]

To ensure that the existing and future communities have the capacity and resources to make and implement meaningful decisions for Wikimedia 2030, and the Movement Strategy.
Make new connections and structures that will strengthen the identified communities to fulfill the Strategic Direction.
To empower groups of affiliates to collaborate on capacity building, knowledge transfer, coordination, and participation in the Wikimedia Movement discussions and activities.

Previous research, consultations and community engagement[edit]

We have shared the refined idea on EARTH with the Movement Strategy support team in January 2022
We had a Cross-Regional hub coordination (Asia-Oceania-Africa-CE Europe meet - workshop) on 11 December 2021, discussions and sharing ideas are still ongoing.
We have shared the (refined) EARTH plan at the Wikimedia Foundation co-creation Workshop on 27 November 2021
We presented the East Africa regional hub idea at the Wikimedia European Affiliates Cooperation event on 18 November 2021
The presentation at WikiIndaba in November 2021 was also a community consultation where we invited community members to share ideas on the regional hub idea.
There are a number of existing hubs in East Africa, and the African continent in general, but a majority of these are Technology/innovation focused hubs.
We discovered that one of the Wikimedia Movement's aligned communities planned the implementation of regional (open mapping) hubs, one of them being in East Africa.

EARTH Regional Meetup 10th March 2022[edit]

On 10th March 2022 we had an East African Regional and Thematic Hub -Regional meetup for all Wikimedia communities around this region. The invitation for represenatatives and community members to join this call was sent to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and WikiInAfrica. The Agenda for this call was: AGENDA

WHERE IT STARTED
WHERE WE ARE
WHERE WE ARE GOING
WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE IT GOING
Q’s & A’s
CLOSING REMARKS

The notes taken during this call is found here

Members attended[edit]

Please add your names below if you attended this call.


SNO	Name of the participant	Wikimedia Affiliate	Country
1	Antoni Mtavangu	Wikimedia Community User Group Tanzania	Tanzania
2	Douglas Ssebagala	Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda	Uganda
3	Winnie Kabintiie	Wikimedia Community User Group Kenya	Kenya
4	Otto Augustino	Wikimedia Community User Group Tanzania	Tanzania
5	IRANKUNDA Ferdinand	Wikimedia Community User Group Burundi	BURUNDI
6	Ndahiro Derrick	Wikimedia Community User Group Rwanda	Rwanda
7	Gilbert Ndihokubwayo	Wikimedia Community User Group Burundi	Burundi
8	Alex Method	Wikimedia Community User Group Tanzania	Tanzania
9	Candy Khohliwe	Wikimedia Community User Group Botswana	Botswana
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Gallery of screenshots during the meetup[edit]

File:EARTH Regional Meetup 00.png
EARTH Regional Meetup 01.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 02.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 03.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 04.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 06.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 07.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 08.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 09.png
File:EARTH Regional Meetup 10.png

Support needed[edit]

Identifying interested and committed community members to collaborate on the above vision (Individuals, affiliates, organizations, etc).
A feasibility study on the operation of a Regional affiliate, entity, or Organisation (eg. OFWA, EAC, SADC)
Design thinking on planning and implementation of these initiatives.

Grant application[edit]

We applied for an implementation rapid grant in July 2021
We intend to apply for the 2022 Implementation grants

Steering team[edit]

Antoni Mtavangu- Tanzania
Winnie Kabintie-Kenya
Douglas Ssebaggala-Uganda
Research Consultant - TBC

Community Facilitators[edit]


No	Title	Roles	Duration
1	Research Consultant	Ensure quality research is carried out to lay a foundation for the project. Collaborate with the project team to design, share and discuss the best research methodologies and tools. Carrying out research in the 11 target communities in collaboration with the project team. Compiling final research findings, and aligning them to project objectives. Performing literature reviews for the team Preparing interview questions and summarizing results Analyze data using various statistical methods Maintain quality standards to preserve the integrity of data and findings Write reports to summarize data and the implications of the results For full job description and how to apply, please read Here	1 to 3 months
2	Project Facilitator (Rwanda)	Coordination of events. Make sure agendas are made and understood. Briefing community members during meetings. Ensuring meeting objectives are met.	4 - 6 months
3	Project Facilitator (DR Congo)	Coordination of events. Make sure agendas are made and understood. Briefing community members during meetings. Ensuring meeting objectives are met. Language support - French.	4 - 6 months
4	Project Facilitator (Burundi)	Coordination of events. Make sure agendas are made and understood. Briefing community members during meetings. Ensuring meeting objectives are met.	4 - 6 months
5	Community Liaison (Ethiopia)	Take part in virtual, physical research, and project planning activities. Provide a linkage between the respective communities and the project team.	4 - 6 months
6	Community Liaison (Somalia)	Take part in virtual, physical research, and project planning activities. Provide a linkage between the respective communities and the project team.	4 - 6 months
7	Community Liaison (Botswana)	Take part in virtual, physical research, and project planning activities. Provide a linkage between the respective communities and the project team.	4 - 6 months
8	Community Liaison (South Sudan)	Take part in virtual, physical research, and project planning activities. Provide a linkage between the respective communities and the project team.	4 - 6 months

Advisors[edit]

TBA

Important announcements[edit]

Call for a research Consultant

Dear East African Wikimedians, As per our communication last month, we would like to invite community members that will take an active role in the EARTH Hub project activities as below;

1.A call for team members and volunteers

We are looking for Project facilitators from Rwanda, Congo, and Burundi to join the team.
Volunteer Community liaisons from Ethiopia, Somalia, Zambia, Botswana or South Sudan.

Please send these names of the selected members before 17 October 2022 to antonicmtavangu@gmail.com

2.A call for a research consultant

Please share this call within your networks and request Wikimedians to take a look at the roles here on meta for candidates that can work with us on the team. (A full job description will be shared early next week).
The Deadline for applications is 15 October 2022, shortlist of candidates, and interviews will happen between 17 - 22 October, and successful candidates will be announced by 29 October 2022

For full job description and how to apply, please read Here

Meetings for the Steering Team[edit]

Saturday 18 June 2022
Monday 20 June 2022
Tuesday 28 June 2022
Saturday 23 July 2022
Monday July 25 2022
Wednesday 27 July 2022

Community calls[edit]

Design thinking - February 2022
Community Call - March 10

Research Project Kickoff Meeting[edit]

Online - January 2023
Research Schedules, Project duration, and general overview.