GLAM Wiki 2023/Program/A shared mission. UN and Wikimedians collaborating for free, accessible knowledge

ID: 1878
Facilitators/Speakers: John Andersson, Wikimedia Sweden	Time block: Afternoon	Beginning: 14:45
Facilitators/Speakers: John Andersson, Wikimedia Sweden	Location: 401	Duration: 45 min
Description: To a large degree, the Wikimedia movement shares mission with the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). Like us, they collate information and knowledge and strive to make it freely available to a larger audience. Many, such as UNESCO and ILO, even host large internal archives. The Wikimedia movement has had a number of successful partnerships with IGOs over the years, but the work has most often been ad hoc and limited in scope. The partnerships have not created as many opportunities for underserved and underrepresented communities as would be ideal. Partnering with IGOs has huge potential. The partnerships could provide large amounts of unique and valuable material from around the world, open up new networks, access to venues and conferences for local communities. They could also create new funding opportunities for local volunteers and Wikimedia organizations as many of them are interested in hiring Wikimedians in Residence (WiR). The Content Partnerships Hub is an initiative to create a Thematic Hub, led by Wikimedia Sverige. Five different areas of work form the pillars of the Hub, and partnerships with IGOs is one of them. Over the years we have developed a large and valuable network within the IGO sector, including organizations such as UNESCO, WIPO, FAO, IEA, UNEP, EIB and more. In 2022–2023 we started formalizing these partnerships with the goal to lower the threshold for other Wikimedia affiliates to work and engage with the IGOs. One key area we are exploring is the potential for paid WiR positions at the different IGOs and how to ensure that this is an opportunity that is open and possible for Wikimedians from around the world. For this capacity building is needed to create opportunities for more people from the Movement to become WiRs. During the session we will discuss the work done with IGOs, the most relevant material and opportunities for Wikimedians to focus on and how to engage in the partnerships in different ways. The participants will gain understanding of the possibilities with IGO partnerships. Through the session they will be empowered to engage in the conversations and to support the development of the WiR training material and future network.		Experience level: Intermediate
		Keywords: Capacity building & training, Partnership building (GLAM Wiki collaborations, etc.), Regional, global strategy & networking
		Notes: #GLAMWiki231878