ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025/Report/YaThaWinTha

Summary

I attended the ESEAP (Wikimedia East, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Regional Cooperation) Strategy Summit 2025 held in Manila, Philippines on behalf of Myanmar Wikimedia Community User Group from Mon Wikipedia and Arakan Wikipedia. At this event, 21 member countries participated, and a total of 87 people, including representative members, attended the event.

The ESEAP Strategy Summit 2025 will be held in Manila for three days, with different games and activities. quiz questions Principles of exchange of experience ESEAP has been involved in a lot of collaborative work suggesting ways to reach more than it currently does.

First day (23/5/2025)

09:30 – 12:00 HUB, Action! 🎬 Designing Governance and Strategy Together Part 1

The ESEAP Hub Preparatory Council (EPC) presented the floor and explained the current working system of ESEAP. After explaining the ESEAP Strategy, five flipcharts were produced.

1: Translation and interpretation (Robert)

2: Newbie handbook (Reke)

3: Support for emerging communities (Dody)

4: Training (Belinda)

5: Advocacy/Public policy (Vanj, Johnny)

The members who attended were asked to choose a topic of their choice and were divided into five groups. The name next to the topic is the group leader. I took the position on the Translation and interpretation topic. To make a language easier to understand by another language and to come and write your opinion on paper about how a language should be improved. And he must have told his opinion to the group leader in general. Some to translate books, Focusing on English, the rest of the language is based on English, to gather vocabulary to translate. A variety of opinions appear, such as filter type. I submitted a vocabulary list and asked the group leader how to make the Wiki Translation Tool available on the Arakan Wikipedia. The group leader (Robert) suggested that the Media-Wiki core messages be fully translated.

14:00 – 14:30 HUB, Action! 🎬 Designing Governance and Strategy Together Part 2, presented by the EPC

This program explains the ESEAP Hub governance system. The ESEAP Hub is an organization formed to make local decisions, implement projects, and coordinate between organizations for the Wikimedia communities (e.g. Wikipedia, Wikidata).The ESEAP Hub aims to fulfill two main roles.

(A) Liaisons

Communicate the needs of the Groups to the Hub. To implement Hub decisions within Groups. Candidates with at least 3 years of experience on a Wikimedia project and 1000+ edits can become candidates. People with administrative experience (eg: Administrator, board member of organizations). You can apply yourself and be appointed as a Liaison if you receive 30+ votes of support within 14 days. Failure to participate in discussions for 90 days The position will be terminated in case of a No Confidence Vote by Groups.

(B) Steering Committee

To make important decisions of the Hub (eg finance, staffing). To coordinate between Liaisons and Hub working group 5-11 members elected annually from among Liaisons. The most administrative ability of the Liaisons; We will choose those who can give the most time. Hub Working Group (Staff): Steering Committee Responsible for implementing activities as per instructions.

Amendment: Rules can be amended with 75% or 60% support from Liaisons. Effective Date: June 31, 2025.

Why do you want to use this system?

Reason (1): ESEAP is based on ethnicity, religion, The Liaisons system is designed to be culturally inclusive and representative of every voice. Reason (2): It is structured to facilitate rapid decision-making through a Steering Committee.

The ESEAP Hub governance system works in partnership between Liaisons (who represent the voices of smaller groups) and the Steering Committee (who make central decisions). Liaisons = democracy, content diversity. Steering Committee = efficiency, rapid decision-making. This system aims to effectively meet the needs of the Wikimedia community.

After the explanation, if possible, the participants are divided into four groups. You can stay in the group of your choice.Scenario A: Delivering a Training Program Scenario B : Supporting Emerging Community Scenario C: Annual Grant and Budget Writing for the Next Year Composition of a Group. 7-10 People in a Group

I have chosen the first group. In this group, (A) I choose the Role I want to play. (A-community representative, B-staff of Eseap hub, C-Board Member of the Governance body)

(B) Training Method (A-Online, B-Local In-parson)

(C) Training Programs(A-Leadership Skills, B-Grant Wring Techniques)

After choosing, I present the reason for my choice to the group leader. Then the group leader decides the result of the whole group.

15:30 – 16:00 Finalizing: The Governance System Landscaping Global and ESEAP Regulatory Trends for Advocacy

Detailed presentation of ESEAP's current governance system and organizational principles, regulations, and budget usage principles.

16:30 – 17:00 Affiliate Health Criteria by the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee

The Affiliations Committee (AffCom) is a volunteer committee responsible for documenting, approving, and recognizing activities that are part of the Wikimedia movement, and making recommendations to the board to facilitate the creation of organizations or groups. In this session, the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee explained the current status.

Day 2 (24/5/2025)

09:00 – 09:30 Connecting and Collaborating between Affiliates and Countries

This program will present the current implementations between Affiliations and Countries under each topic.

Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia

Wikimedia Community User Group Malaysia/Wikimedia Eesti

Commons Photographers User Group

Wikisource Community User Group

Wikimedia Korea

10:00 – 10:30 Open Mic for Cross-border Collaboration

This program presents the challenges and experiences they are currently facing.

Commons Photographers User Group

Wikimedia Taiwan

Wikimedia Singapore

User:Jeromi Mikhael (Collaboration on documenting happening events in the ESEAP region - involving student press and newspapers)

User:Chlod ( ESEAP Youth group)

11:00 – 11:30 Strategic Tactics for Building External Partnerships

This program is a motivational program. When looking for external partnerships, how should you plan and work? A Wikimedia Foundation official explains in detail which methods are more effective, based on the following four points.Identify Partnership Goals and Draft a Minimum Viable Partnerships-

1. Assess Potential Partners

2. Approach, Convince, and Outreach

3. Partnership Documentation & Agreements

4. Managing & Sustaining Partnerships

5. Evaluating Impact

13:00 – 13:30 CEE Hub: Exchange and Learnings

Wikimedia CEE Hub is a Wikimedia CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) hub, similar to ESEAP. This group was formed in 2011 and is a collaborative network of communities and Wikimedia. The aim of this regional hub is to formalize ongoing collaboration within the CEE region and provide services to support these communities in their work and to help them grow as appropriate. This program is designed to share and discuss experiences from CEE.

14:00 – 14:30 Global Trends Workshop (Breakout 1: Readers and Contributors)

The workshop organizer presents the current challenges faced by wiki writers and wiki readers. For example, those who are working on wiki-based documents, copyright infringement, and low quality of contributors. Then, the participants present the following three questions and can answer them either standing up or by writing on paper and coming to the blackboard.

1. As Individual Contributors:

What does this trend mean to you and why is this an important trend to fully understand? (examples)

“Wikis (Wikipedia, Wikiquote, etc.) are a system where anyone can contribute to and edit knowledge. For example, the Arakan language Wikipedia, which documents village medicine and traditional culture, can connect local knowledge to the world. Everyone has a responsibility to correct a mistake on a Wiki. In an era of increasing fake news on the Internet, it helps to build a reliable resource like Wiki. Sharing information in Arakan can prevent local knowledge from disappearing. Wiki participation refers to “a world where non-experts can build education.”

2. As Project/Community Members:

How does this trend impact your community/project? What do we need to be prepared/respond (suggestions)

“Open information systems like Wikis can be prone to errors or biased edits, which can undermine community trust. Wiki projects need to be accompanied by tutorials in Arakan to attract interested parties. Create “How to write a Wikipedia article” videos in Arakan. Encourage the use of verified sources (references) in health, history, and science topics. Wiki editors need to improve their privacy by using VPN, Tor Browser, or anonymous accounts. Document rare local knowledge (e.g., traditional medicine, ethnic languages) on Wikis. Collaborate with other open information resources such as Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata to create more comprehensive content. Protecting freedom of information requires collective participation and careful editing. A growing Arakan Wiki community can connect local knowledge to the world. Disseminate reliable information for civic education. Educational institutions and Collaboration (e.g. teaching Wiki writing in universities) Award system (e.g. recognition for best articles) Recording rare traditions through photos, videos, etc. should be done.”

3. As a Regional Movement:

“Do you see this trend affecting your region?"

I see a significant impact in the region. Examples-In Myanmar and other Arakan regions, Wikipedia is becoming more popular, but there are still fewer contributors. There is an increase in the number of Wikipedia articles shared on social media without citing the original source. Due to the lack of local content in the local language, not only are there fewer people who can read and use relevant information, but they are also less likely to be useful as a source. Due to the lack of content writers, local information (e.g., local history, culture, and community leaders) is becoming less accurate and complete. Recommendations Local organizations should organize training courses to become Wikipedia contributors. Work together to ensure that books and research papers in Arakan are added to the Arakan Wikipedia in accordance with copyright. Wikipedia review writing classes should be taught in schools and universities.”

15:00 – 15:30 Global Trends Workshop(Global Trends Workshop(Breakout 2: Content and AI)

In this program, we discussed the benefits and drawbacks of interacting with Wiki articles and AI.

15:30 – 16:00 ESEAP Community Skills Mapping Field building - from conceptualisation to actualisation (a pilot initiative)

There are 8 to 10 people in each group. There are three questions. Each question is given 20 minutes. Answer your own questions and bring them to the paper. The groups discuss their answers. After the vote is cast, the group leader explains.

Round One(1): Organizational Skills

Round Two(2): Programmatic Skills

After Round 2, only two groups remain in Round 3. The answers are collected and sorted according to the questions given.

Round Three(3): Growing a Skill Tree together

Third day (24/5/2025)

09:00 – 09:30 GLAM-Wiki Meetup Collective advocacy actions in ESEAP

The GLAM–Wiki ("galleries, libraries, archives, and museums" also botanic gardens and zoos) is a wiki project that helps cultural institutions share their resources with the world through collaborative projects with experienced Wikipedia editors.

They explain how the project works. Presentation: ESEAP GLAM-Wiki Community

09.10-0 • Wikimedia Commons User Group

Presentation: GLAM Conference

Presentation: Content Partnership Hub

Once submitted, group members answer questions online, one by one, such as why GLAM is weak in Myanmar. The answers they answer are displayed and voted on.

10:15 – 10:45 Global Resource Distribution Committee Update

In this program, international Wiki committees explained and asked questions about the current Wiki resources they are running.

10:45 – 11:00 Move into Future Conference(s)

The ESEAP Strategy Summit 2026 was announced to be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and a vote was held to select one of three themes for the ESEAP Strategy Summit 2026.

13:00 – 13:30 Travel to National Museum

The team traveled to two national museums in Manila, Philippines, for relaxation and knowledge.