Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/Oulu Löyly
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Applicant details
[edit]- A. Are you applying as a(n)
Group of individuals not registered with an organization
- B. Full name of organization presenting the proposal.
AvoinGLAM
- F. Do you have an account on a Wikimedia project?
Yes
- F1. Please provide your main Wikimedia Username.
Susannaanas
- F2. Please provide the Usernames of people related to this proposal.
Tove Kimmo Ivo Elisabeth
- G. Are you legally registered?
If you are applying as an individual or your group is not a legally registered nonprofit in your country, we require that you have a fiscal sponsor.
- I. Fiscal organization name.
N/A
Objectives and Strategy
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal.
Oulu Löyly
- 2.1. When will the event begin? Please enter the event start date.
2026-06-06
- 2.2. When is the last day of your event?
2026-06-10
- 3.1. When will you begin preparing for your event?
2025-11-01T00:00:00Z
- 3.2. When will you expect to complete your last event payment?
2026-08-31T00:00:00Z
- 4. In which country will the conference take place?
Finland
- 4.1. In which city will the conference take place?
Oulu
- 5. Is it a remote or in-person event?
Hybrid event
- 5.1. What will be the total number of participants at the event? (including scholarship recipients + organizing team + other guests + self funded guests) (required)
150
- 6. Please indicate whether your work will be focused on one country (local), more than one or several countries in your region (regional) or has a cross-regional (global) scope.
Regional
- 6.1. If you have answered regional, please write the country names and any other information that is useful for understanding your proposal.
The project has several overlapping geographic scopes as well as thematic, international scopes: Sápmi, Nordic countries and Baltic area, Europe, Arctic/circumpolar (incl. Greenland, Canada), indigenous issues (eg. Australia, Canada), linguistic and local communities in the Nordic and Baltic countries
- 7. If you would like, please share any websites or social media accounts that your group or organization has.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/AvoinGLAM https://www.okf.fi/
- 8. Do you work with any thematic or regional platforms such as WISCom, CEE, Iberocoop, etc.
No
- 8.1. Please describe what platforms and your work with them.
- 9. Please describe the target participants for this event.
Oulu Löyly will convene a diverse, interdisciplinary group of approximately 150 participants drawn from the culture and heritage related areas in the Wikimedia movement and related sister organizations. Our participants will further include researchers specializing in cultural heritage, technology experts in the federated knowledge ecosystem, community representatives from indigenous and local contexts, digital culture innovators, policymakers, and professionals from memory institutions and open knowledge networks. We prioritize diversity, interdisciplinary expertise, and representation from under-resourced and marginalized cultural communities across Nordic, Baltic, and circumpolar regions and invite participation globally on the specific topics.
- 10. Please provide the link to the event's page if you already have one.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Oulu_Löyly
The following questions (11-14) will refer to the Community Engagement Survey which is required in order to submit a proposal. Here is the survey form that you can copy and use (if the link does not work): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ieEI8EFf2vxjD9wN_h8-srYeRCp4fhSp7_1_wiR2jh8/edit. This survey is required to access a Conference grant.
- 11. How many people did you send the community engagement survey to?
304
- 11.1. When did you conduct the survey, and for how long?
The survey was sent 4 Aug directly to 300 recipients, Global GLAM Wiki call 5 Aug, This Month in GLAM 11 Aug, 15 Aug GLAM Wiki Global Telegram channel and OKFI newsletter, open until 24 Aug
- 12. How many people responded to the survey?
- 13. What are the main objectives of the event?
The main objectives of Oulu Löyly are to convene cultural heritage practitioners, technologists, and policymakers to explore collaboration, shared policy development, and innovation in the digital cultural commons. The event emphasizes community-centered heritage, strengthening connections between CHIs, grassroots initiatives, and open knowledge advocates, with attention to indigenous knowledge, small languages, and underrepresented voices. Participants aim for actionable outcomes: co-creating interoperable, open, and ethically governed platforms that support cultural sovereignty, advancing strategies for heritage at risk, addressing bias and homogenization, and influencing public policy that recognizes culture as a human right and SDG target. Emphasis is on hands-on engagement, visible collaboration, and post-event follow-up to translate discussions into practice.
- 14. Based on survey responses, what are the most important things your community should do at the conference to achieve these objectives?
Based on survey responses, the community prioritizes practical, collaborative work to advance open, ethical, and inclusive cultural heritage practices. Key actions include developing open-source tools and workflows for digitization, preservation, and reuse; supporting small creators and underrepresented languages; establishing principles for sharing collections (including for AI training); and co-creating federated, user-centered platforms that enhance access, storytelling, and creativity. Participants want to learn practical skills such as metadata standards, digitization methods, AI-assisted data enrichment, Wikimedia and Wikibase tools, open-source visual search engines, and approaches to language revitalization. Hands-on sessions and joint initiatives should produce tangible outputs like roadmaps, prototypes, and shared guidelines.
- 15. Please state if your proposal aims to work to bridge any of the identified CONTENT knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select up to THREE that most apply to your work.
Language, Important Topics (topics considered to be of impact or important in the specific context), Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
- 15.1. In a few sentences, explain how your work is specifically addressing this content gap (or Knowledge inequity) to ensure a greater representation of knowledge. (optional recommended).
We are inviting a mix of participants that can strategically shape the conditions of sharing cultural heritage in the changing digital environment. We invite representatives of community heritage projects, linguistic minorities, indigenous memory projects on one hand, and policy makers, advocates and technologists on the other, to seek solutions together.
- 16. Please state if your proposal includes any of these areas or THEMATIC focus. Select up to THREE that most apply to your work and explain the rationale for identifying these themes.
Public Policy, Climate Change and sustainability, Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 17. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities?
Geographic , Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background, Linguistic / Language
- 18. Do you intend to invite or engage with non-Wikimedian individuals or organizations? If so – can you explain your intention for this outreach?
Yes, we aim to engage non-Wikimedian individuals and organizations to break down silos, spark cross-sector dialogue, and co-create strategies for preserving digital cultural heritage.
Oulu Löyly is a collaborative platform that brings together researchers, tech experts, decision-makers, community representatives, creative professionals, and actors from cultural and natural heritage, civil society, and digital culture.
By connecting technological innovation with community rights and cultural preservation, Oulu Löyly addresses the challenges of digital heritage in a rapidly changing world. Drawing on AvoinGLAM’s experience with cultural heritage hackathons, we use a “think & do” approach that accelerates collaboration and generates actionable ideas across sectors.
- 19. What will you do to make sure participants continue to engage in your activities after the event?
This work is intended to nurture ongoing work in several different contexts and networks, to push forward new ways of thinking, and to be celebrated again in similar or different settings. These primary contexts are the Finnish and possibly Nordic/Baltic open knowledge advocacy networks, the GLAM Wiki global collaboration, closer collaboration between language initiatives and GLAM in the Wikimedia movement as well as GLAM initiatives across organizations such as Creative Commons and Open Knowledge, shared understanding between heritage communities in Wikimedia, memory institutions, global initiatives for the preservation of culture etc. We will not require ongoing involvement with us, instead we wish to spark ongoing engagement with the topics. Furthermore, we wish to produce resources that will benefit everyone working with these topics.
- 20. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select a maximum of THREE options that most apply.
Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Coordinate Across Stakeholders, Innovate in Free Knowledge
Logistical Aspects
[edit]- 21. Do you have any proposed venue for the event?
- 22. Is the event venue and hotel accessible for people with physical disabilities?
- 23. How many scholarships would you like to offer?
We hope to provide 25 scholarships for Wikimedians:, 8 from the Nordic / Baltic countries, 9 from the rest of Europe, and 8 global participants.
These would be divided between GLAM-Wikimedians (15), Wikimedia technical contributors (5), Wikimedia heritage partners (2), and language contributors (2)
In addition to these, we expect Wikimedia chapters to support the participation of additional 24 participants, and to raise funds to support non-Wikimedians.
- 24. What expenses will the scholarship cover?
The scholarship is intended to cover travel, accommodation for 3 or 6 nights depending on which parts of the program the person attends, and meals and local transportation. They have been calculated as full scholarships with affordable accommodation.
The estimate may fluctuate as the price of accommodation may be hard to keep at this level, and some of the participants will only want to participate in the meetups or the think& do part.
- 25. How will scholarship recipients be selected?
We will form a scholarship committee with representatives from the global GLAM Wiki community, global advocacy, and language diversity.
- 26. In which ways can Wikimedia Foundation staff support your event onsite?
- 26.2. Do you intend to invite any WMF staff members to your event? (please note that all WMF staff travel and accommodation costs will be covered by the foundation). Please indicate what is the limit number of WMF staff members you would like to welcome at your event.
N/A
- 27. Please outline the roles and responsibilities of the organizing team for the conference.
Program coordinator Susanna Ånäs Program assistant TBC Trainees (2) TBC Volunteers (up to 10) TBC
- 28. Do you have plans to co-organize the event with other Wikimedia communities, groups or affiliates?
Yes
- 28.1. If yes, can you please explain how you are going to co-organize the event and what responsibilities each partner will have.
The meetups on 6 and 7 June will be organized by Nordic Wikimedia chapters. The Finno-Ugric meetup is coordinated by Ivo Kruusamägi and WMEE, while the Nordic meetup will be coordinated collaboratively between the Wikimedia chapters. An extended get-together with representatives from other open knowledge networks in the Nordic / Baltic countries is being considered.
- 29. What kind of risks do you anticipate and how would you mitigate these?
The plan relies on operational funding for AvoinGLAM from the Wikimedia Foundation, which also forms a significant part of the match funding required for the other funding instruments. To mitigate the risks, we will draft alternative scenarios, or prepare to cancel the event.
The organization relies a lot on a few individuals at the moment. As we proceed with the plans, more and more people will have a stake in the process, more and more materials will be created to guide the work, and it will be possible onboard people more easily.
There are working on uncertainties regarding the venue and accommodation.
The accommodation needs to be booked well in advance to secure it for the amount of participants. We cannot rely on hotels as the capacity in Oulu is low and the demand in 2026 is high. Therefore we must be able to hire Airbnb's or even make camping an option.
- 30. Friendly space policy - Please add the link to the friendly space policy that your community will be using for this event.
Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation
[edit]- 31. What do you hope to learn from your work organising this conference?
Learning questions – Collaboration, Policy, and Innovation
Oulu Löyly brings together practitioners, policymakers, and innovators to explore the future of cultural heritage, open access, and digital sovereignty. We focus on whether the gathering catalyzes collaboration, shapes shared policy positions, and sparks innovation.
1. Collaboration outcomes Did the conference foster new connections between CHIs, open knowledge advocates, and technologists? How did they form?
- Live collaboration map: Participants mark their name, topics, and planned collaborations on a visual network, photo-documented for later analysis.
- Post-event survey: Participants report new collaborations, their status, and enabling conditions.
2. Policy influence We assess whether Oulu Löyly advanced shared policy positions on small archives, community heritage initiatives, indigenous knowledge, and small languages.
- Indigenous, community, and small-language perspectives: Were consent-based practices, ethical cataloging, data sovereignty, labeling tools, multilingual access, and open participation models discussed or adopted across CHIs, Wikimedia, and other platforms?
- Heritage at risk: Did strategies emerge to protect living and built heritage threatened by conflict, instability, disasters, or climate impacts, especially in European, Arctic, and Baltic Sea contexts?
- Culture in public policy: Did the event advance recognition of culture as an SDG target, a human right, and a public good? Were frameworks such as #CultureGoal2030, TAROCH, the triple transition, and EU policies linking culture and democracy discussed, and were ways to influence policy identified?
Assessment: Session observations document commitments, position statements, and collaborative actions.
3. Innovation and open, federated cultural heritage platforms Oulu Löyly explores co-creating an interoperable, open-source digital commons that is usable, affordable, accessible, technically robust, and supports community control, consent, and ethical stewardship.
Assessment:
- Interactive Roadmap: Participants co-create a visual roadmap with ideas, commitments, and priorities.
- Session Observations: Record demos, workshops, and discussions proposing or testing robust, open platforms; track attention to indigenous knowledge, labeling, consent, or open storytelling.
- Post-Event Survey: Participants evaluate promising platform features, adoption plans, and clarity on supporting community-centered, interoperable systems.
Resourcing & feasibility
- Dedicated learning coordinator (student trainee) with volunteer support.
- Digital tools for surveys and collaborative notes.
- Travel or honoraria for follow-up interviews with underrepresented participants.
- 32. Main open metrics
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Collaboration network formation | Track new collaborations formed at Oulu Löyly using the live collaboration map.
Quantitative: number of connections, types of participants (CHIs, community groups, technologists). Qualitative: descriptions of planned collaborations and enabling conditions captured in the map and post-event survey. Target: At least 50% of participants indicate new connections formed; minimum of 30 visible collaboration links on the map. |
30 |
| Policy advancements | Document session discussions and outputs (recordings and online notes) to capture emerging shared policy positions on small archives, community heritage, indigenous knowledge, small languages, and heritage at risk. Post-event survey will collect participants’ perceptions of influence on their understanding or actions.
Target: Document at least 5 emerging shared policy statements; 50% of participants report increased clarity or intention to act on policy topics. |
5 |
| Cultural digital commons roadmap | Analyze the co-created roadmap for interoperable, open-source platforms.
Quantitative: number of priorities or ideas contributed per focus area (usability, affordability, accessibility, interoperability, community empowerment). Qualitative: participants’ reflections on which elements they intend to adopt or explore further, captured in survey responses and roadmap annotations. Target: Minimum of 20 roadmap entries across all focus areas; 50% of participants report at least one actionable insight to implement. |
20 |
| Participant experience and learning outcomes | Post-event survey will assess participant learning, inspiration, and perceived impact on their work. Focus on insights regarding digital sovereignty, open access, and community-centered heritage. Session documentation will supplement survey data to highlight emergent themes.
Target: 70% of participants report meaningful learning or inspiration relevant to their work. |
70 |
| Diversity, equity, and inclusion | Use registration data to capture participant diversity in a respectful manner.
Quantitative: representation of newcomers, underrepresented groups, and first-time attendees. Qualitative: session documentation to observe participation of diverse voices, including indigenous, community, and small-language perspectives. Target: Representation of at least 20% participants from underrepresented groups; active contributions from diverse voices in at least 50% of sessions. |
20 |
Financial Proposal
[edit]- 33. What is the amount you are requesting from Wikimedia Foundation? Please provide this amount in your local currency.
- 34. Select your local currency.
- 35. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it.
- 36. Do you expect to receive funding for this conference from other organizations to support your work?
- 36.1. If yes, what kind of resources are you expecting to get?
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
No
- Please use this optional space to upload any documents that you feel are important for further understanding your proposal.
- Other public document(s):
Endorsements and Feedback
[edit]Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).