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Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/Central Asian WikiCon 2025/Final Report

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Conference Fund Final Report

Report Status: Accepted

Due date: 01 June 2025

Funding program: Conference Fund

Report type: Final

Application

This is an automatically generated Meta-Wiki page. The page was copied from Fluxx, the web service of Wikimedia Foundation Funds, where the user has submitted their midpoint report. Please do not make any changes to this page because all changes will be removed after the next update. Use the discussion page for your feedback. The page was created by CR-FluxxBot.

General information

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  • Title of proposal: Central Asian WikiCon 2025
  • Username of applicant: Darafsh
  • Name of organization: N/A
  • Amount awarded: 72447.09
  • Amount spent: 65466.92 USD, 65466.92 USD

Part 1: Understanding your work

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1. Did your event have any impact that you did not expect, positive or negative?

Our initial expectation, both as organizers and based on survey responses during the planning phase, was to host approximately 50 participants. However, the final attendance nearly doubled, with 95 individuals participating in Central Asian WikiCon 2025. Among them, 50 were scholarship recipients, and 23 attended the conference through self-funding, which indicates a much higher level of interest and commitment than anticipated. Moreover, the level of participant engagement exceeded our expectations. Many attendees actively contributed to discussions, shared insights, and proposed innovative ideas concerning the Wikimedia movement and its future in the Central Asian region. This unexpected enthusiasm led to deeper conversations around regional collaboration and sparked conversations about sustained engagement beyond the conference itself.

2. What do you think will be the long term impact of this conference?

We believe the long-term impact of this conference lies in shifting mindsets and fostering sustainable regional collaboration. Prior to Central Asian WikiCon 2025, there was a sense of uncertainty and hesitation among regional communities. Many believed that organizing a regional event or engaging in cross-border collaboration required exceptional experience or advanced capacities. This conference helped dispel those assumptions, showing that regional cooperation is much more accessible and achievable than previously thought. As a result, participants left with a stronger understanding of the Wikimedia movement and a clearer sense of how they could contribute to it collectively. One key outcome has been the launch of the Central Asia Collaboration initiative, documented at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Central_Asia_Collaboration — which hosts monthly online meetings focused on regional cooperation. These meetings have already started facilitating bilateral and multilateral collaboration. Additionally, a dedicated Telegram group has been created at: https://t.me/wikicentralasia — this has become a vibrant space for exchanging ideas, asking questions, and building connections among Wikimedians across Central Asia. We anticipate that these structures will continue to evolve and serve as long-term platforms for cooperation, learning, and movement building.

3. Would you say that your work improved participants’ ability to apply new skills and knowledge?

Yes

3a. If yes, please describe how and why you think this was successful. Please describe why you think this is the case.

The program, available at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Central_Asian_WikiCon_2025/Program, was thoughtfully curated by the Program Committee to address the needs of different segments of the Wikimedia community in Central Asia. One of the core goals of the event was to support newcomers through training, while also enabling experienced contributors to pass on their knowledge and learn new community-building strategies and tools. The conference offered a range of activities including workshops, meetups, tool demonstrations, and discussions on community engagement and capacity building. This helped bridge knowledge gaps between generations of contributors and created a platform for mutual learning. Based on participant feedback, there was overall satisfaction with the learning-oriented content. Some suggestions for future events included increasing the number of thematic meetups to encourage more peer learning. In addition to formal sessions, informal networking opportunities such as the walking tour and group dinners provided a relaxed space for participants to form stronger personal and professional connections. These interactions were especially valuable in fostering trust, collaboration, and long-term engagement across different communities.

4. Please use this space to upload media and other files that help tell your story and impact. You can also provide links to them.


Field to type in URLs.

5. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with the support of this Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals.

Our efforts during the Fund period have helped to...
A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups
B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community Agree
C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups
D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives Agree
E. Encourage the retention of editors Agree
F. Encourage the retention of organizers Agree

6. Please share resources that would be useful to share with other Wikimedia organizations so that they can learn from, adapt or build upon your work. For instance, guides, training material, presentations, work processes, or any other material the team has created to document and transfer knowledge about your work and can be useful for others. Please share any specific resources that you are creating, adapting/contextualizing in ways that are unique to your context (i.e. training material).

  • Upload Documents and Files
  • Here is an additional field to type in URLs.
N/A

7. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your efforts helped to bring in participants and/or build out content, particularly for underrepresented groups?

N/A

Part 2: Your main learning

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8. Were there any major challenges or things you found difficult that you would like to share? What would you do differently next time?

While the event was largely successful, we did face some minor logistical challenges that are worth noting for future improvement. One notable difficulty involved airport transfers, primarily due to ongoing renovations at the arrival terminal of Tashkent International Airport. These renovations made it hard for some participants to locate the pre-arranged shuttle buses, causing delays and confusion. Although the issue was relatively minor and did not significantly impact the overall experience, it highlighted the need to reassess our approach to arrival logistics. Given that taxi services in Uzbekistan are inexpensive and widely available, a more efficient solution for future events might be to not rely on centralized airport transfers and instead recommend that participants arrange their own transportation upon arrival with clear guidance provided in advance.

9. Was there any non-financial support that the Wikimedia Foundation could have provided that would have better supported you in achieving your goals?

The non-financial support from the Wikimedia Foundation was excellent. Staff from the Travel, Communications, and Events teams provided consistent and helpful guidance throughout the planning process. Regular check-in meetings were key to the success of the event. One suggestion for future support: creating a general event planning handbook to outline key steps, tips, and best practices for organizing Wikimedia events, especially for newer organizers.

10. What would you recommend on a local and/or regional level as the best next step to leverage your success and momentum?

To build on the momentum from Central Asian WikiCon 2025, we recommend organizing smaller, local events in each country, as well as bilateral conferences between neighboring communities. These formats can help sustain engagement, strengthen skills, and deepen regional collaboration in more focused settings. We are already fostering this direction through the Central Asia Collaboration initiative, which brings communities together for ongoing dialogue and coordination. Additionally, hosting the next Central Asian WikiCon in another country in the region would be a valuable step toward continuity, inclusivity, and shared ownership of the event across the region.

11. Please add any 3 operational recommendations for future events organizers.


Part 3: Metrics

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12. Open Metrics reporting

In your application, you defined some open metrics and targets (goals). You will see a table like the one below with your metric in the title and the target you set in your proposal automatically filled in.

Open Metrics Summary
Open Metrics Description Target Results Comments Methodology
Number of Participants We expect at least 50 members from various communities in Central Asia and neighboring regions. 50 N/A N/A N/A
Number of Submissions We expect approximately 30 submissions for the program. 30 N/A N/A N/A
Feedback from participants The number of feedback we expect from participants will help us analyze our event while preparing a report. 40 N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

13. Were there any metrics in your proposal that you could not collect or that you had to change?

No

13a. If you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results, please describe and add any recommendations on how to address them in the future. Also mention why you felt you had to change some metrics.

N/A

14. Please indicate if you applied any of the following survey and registration tools. Please select all that apply.

1. Standard Registration Form, 2. Post-event participant survey

14a. Please share the result(s) with us, provide the link(s) or summarize the main result(s) and insight(s) from them.

N/A

14b. If you used other forms, please share them with us, as these forms might be useful for others to use.


Part 4: Financial reporting and compliance

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15. & 16. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency.

65466.92 USD

17. Please state the total amount spent in USD.

65466.92 USD

18. Please report the funds received and spending in the currency of your fund.

Upload a financial report file.

Please provide a link to your financial reporting document.

N/A

As required in the fund agreement, please report any deviations from your fund proposal here. Note that, among other things, any changes must be consistent with our WMF mission, must be for charitable purposes as defined in the grant agreement, and must otherwise comply with the grant agreement.

19. If you have not already done so in your budget report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal.

N/A

20. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?

Yes

20a. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.

6,356.19 USD

20b. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?

A. Propose to use the underspent funds within this Fund period with PO approval

20c. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.

We will decide during the next Central Asia Collaboration online meeting

21. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?

Yes

22. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?

Yes

23. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.

Yes

24. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here.

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