Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Conference Fund/Oulu Löyly – Open culture think & do fest

statusWithdrawn

Conference Fund

Oulu Löyly – Open culture think & do fest

approved grant start date01 November 2025

approved grant end date31 August 2026

amount requested (local currency)36190 EUR

amount requested (USD)39837.52 USD

amount recommended (local)36190 EUR

grant typeplease specify whether this grant is for an individual, group, or organization

decision fiscal year2025-26

funding program roundRound 1

applicantSusannaanas

organization (if applicable)AvoinGLAM

Friendly Space Policy

Universal Code of Conduct

Application Privacy Statement

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 application. 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.

Applicant details

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.

User:Tove Ørsted User:Zache (WMFI) User:Kruusamägi

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.

Open Knowledge Finland ry

Objectives and Strategy

1. Please state the title of your proposal.

Oulu Löyly – Open culture think & do fest

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 up to 150 participants, but it will be scaled depending on the available funding. Wikimedia Event & Conference funding supports the participation of Wikimedians which is vital to the extent of Wikimedia impact on the outcome of the event.

The event focuses on the Nordic and Baltic context. In order to inform the Nordic/Baltic cultural policy space and to contribute to the development of best practices in the Wikimedia space, we are inviting European/international Wikimedia participation in specific areas:

• We look for wikimedians who are working on making the Wikimedia ecosystem suitable for communities, especially the federated Wikibases community and their digital humanities partners in Europe (including Finland)
• We wish to invite wikimedians who work with indigenous communities around the world to tackle these issues in the context of Saami heritage.
• Thirdly, we would like to invite European GLAM coordinators who would like to apply the outcomes of the collaborative exploration in their work (working with vulnerable heritage communities, collaborating in the European funding, technology and policy space)

We will bring these Wikimedia representatives together with the Nordic/Baltic context

• Open knowledge actors from Wikimedia and other organizations in the Nordic/Baltic countries
• Underrepresented heritage communities, especially the Saami communities.
• Nordic memory institutions
• Cultural policy makers in the regional and European contexts
• Nordic/Baltic researchers and creative practitioners

The survey showed that we have not reached some key participants well enough yet. We are working with our Saami partners on the National Library of Finland's Support for Sámi Languages in Digital Services project to liaise with the Saami communities, and we expect to work with our Nordic/Baltic peer organizations in engaging Nordic/Baltic GLAMs more widely.

The goal of these interactions is to cross-pollinate to

• Bring understanding of the Wikimedia ecosystem for cultural heritage to institutions and heritage communities.
• Seek solutions for small communities to use Wikimedia platforms (Wikibase, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia) and identify connecting points with European technology initiatives such as the Common European data space for cultural heritage or the Cultural Heritage Cloud.
• Work towards shared understanding of the practices in open online sharing of indigenous and other vulnerable communities' materials together with the communities in question, expert organizations, and wikimedians, and bring these best practices to GLAMs as well as Wikimedia communities' work.
• Promote creative problem-solving by inviting creative practitioners to work with.

We are requesting to support the following Wikimedia contributors.

• 12 GLAM-Wikimedians – Many participants from the Nordic/Baltic countries are already supported by their chapters. We wish to create more understanding and collaboration around the use of indigenous and sensitive materials in Wikimedia GLAM work as well as to how the European cultural heritage initiatives connect with Wikimedia platforms.

• 3 Wikimedia technical contributors – We see strong value in participation from tech contributors from the global majority, as the strategies we are exploring for under-resourced communities are especially relevant and beneficial to their contexts. European participation is essential in understanding the crossovers between the Wikimedia technical infrastructures and the European cultural heritage ecosystems.

• 2 Wikimedia heritage partners. We suggest supporting 2 partners from indigenous communities in other parts of the world to seek solutions to community heritage safeguarding and publishing.

• 3 Finno-Ugric or Saami contributors to join the whole event, as they lack chapter support, and we wish to encourage them to participate in activities that they are less familiar with.

In addition to the Wikimedia contributions in the main program of Oulu Löyly think&do, we are providing the opportunity for the Nordic/Baltic Wikimedia affiliates and communities to meet and forge their collaboration in the side events and hope that most of them will also join the main event. The affiliates will cover the costs of these participants.

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?

300

11.1. When did you conduct the survey, and for how long?

Survey was sent 4 Aug directly to a bit over 300 recipients, Global GLAM Wiki call 5 Aug, This Month in GLAM 11 Aug, 15 Aug GLAM Wiki Global Telegram channel and OKFI newsletter, dl 24 Aug, still open

12. How many people responded to the survey?

151

13. What are the main objectives of the event?

Cross-pollinate between Wikimedia contributors and external partners

Co-create actionable outcomes through workshops and hands-on engagement that translate discussions into practice – for example, prototypes, new partnerships, shared resources, and documented methods.

Address gaps in the use of the Wikimedia infrastructure for under-resourced communities, in dialogue with cultural heritage institutions, Indigenous communities, and Wikimedia experts.

Advance strategies for cultural and data sovereignty by addressing heritage at risk, supporting underrepresented voices, and exploring ethical governance models for open platforms.

Influence cultural policy by situating Wikimedia and open culture within broader public debates, highlighting culture as a human right and a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) priority.

Strengthen Nordic/Baltic collaboration on policy issues and to tap into funding opportunities available for Nordic partnerships.

14. Based on survey responses, what are the most important things your community should do at the conference to achieve these objectives?

Survey responses showed strong interest in developing Wikimedia-specific skills alongside broader open culture practices. Based on these interests, we will invite mentors and facilitators to share their expertise, while also encouraging participants to exchange skills with one another in a way that is light on preparation and time commitment. In the survey, we asked participants both what they would like to learn and what skills they could offer, and this information is now available at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Oulu_L%C3%B6yly/Survey/Results_4 and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Oulu_L%C3%B6yly/Survey/Results_5.

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).

Digital community heritage is the topic of the event. We ask to be included in the discussions of a variety of heritage communities and custodians of heritage collections, regarding how to safeguard and share their heritage in online environments. We will demonstrate the opportunities the open platforms provide, and explore the challenges that remain unsolved. These challenges include:

• Rights of communities to their heritage and data sovereignty issues, with Saami heritage being a notable case of indigenous knowledge. We wish to learn from examples such as what Wikimedia Australia has produced, and collaborate with a European project focusing on Saami heritage. We will work with Saami communities and projects in everything regarding their knowledge.

• Technological barriers: the lack of available solutions to maintain and control the sharing of digital heritage of community archival projects. We expect to explore Wikibase innovations for community heritage through European digital humanities projects.

• Heritage at risk though a variety of threats. We expect to partner with a Baltic project, examining the regional challenges, and further related initiatives.

• Finally, the event will include a strong policy focus in support of initiatives such as TAROCH and #CultureGoal2030, that advocate for culture as a public good and equitable access to public domain heritage in the digital environment. These efforts form the fourth pillar supporting community heritage, reinforcing public policy collaboration across the Nordic and Baltic region.

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, Culture, heritage or GLAM , Open Technology

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. A central goal of Oulu Löyly is to break down silos between Wikimedia and the wider cultural ecosystem. We will bring together researchers, technologists, policymakers, community representatives, indigenous voices, creative professionals, and civil society actors from across the Nordic and Baltic regions, complemented by international guests working on similar challenges.

This outreach is essential for ensuring that Wikimedia’s approaches to cultural heritage are connected with broader debates about community rights, Indigenous knowledge, data sovereignty, and the governance of digital heritage in the age of AI. By drawing on AvoinGLAM’s experience with open cultural heritage hackathons, we will use a “think & do” approach that combines dialogue with hands-on collaboration, enabling participants to co-create practical tools, workflows, and policy ideas.

Through this cross-pollination, Wikimedia participants gain new perspectives and allies, while external partners see how Wikimedia platforms and practices can support their goals. The result is a mutually reinforcing exchange that strengthens Wikimedia’s impact and advances knowledge equity in the Nordic/Baltic region and beyond.

19. What will you do to make sure participants continue to engage in your activities after the event?

Oulu Löyly is intended to nurture ongoing work in several different contexts and networks rather than requiring ongoing involvement with us. Activity in these and other emerging networks or initiatives could be highlighted and surveyed in the post-event survey.

• Finnish open knowledge advocacy network
• Nordic/Baltic collaboration
• GLAM Wiki global collaboration
• Closer collaboration between language initiatives and GLAM in the Wikimedia movement
• GLAM initiatives across other global open knowledge networks such as Creative Commons and Open Knowledge
• Shared understanding between heritage communities, open culture practitioners, memory institutions, and global initiatives for the preservation of culture.

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

21. Do you have any proposed venue for the event?

Discussions regarding the premises are ongoing, but our prime candidate will need to be changed. We hope that Oulu Löyly will spread out into various premises within the location that will cater for different types of working. On the last day, the doors will be open to the public, who will be able to see the results of the work and enjoy the cultural program that will be organized. Information about accessibility will be provided later.

22. Is the event venue and hotel accessible for people with physical disabilities?

Yes

23. How many scholarships would you like to offer?

We are inviting 20 Wikimedia participants with specific expertise. It is not a fully open scholarship procedure. 10 GLAM 3 tech 2 heritage partners (indigenous knowledge) 2 language

Their geographic scope is divided between 8 Nordic/Baltic 6 rest of Europe 6 global

Wikimedia chapters (Nordic, Baltic) will provide support for an estimated 20, and other affiliates for further 7 wikimedians, bringing Wikimedia participation at 47.

24. What expenses will the scholarship cover?

The costs that we cover for the expert wikimedians are travel, accommodation, meals and local transportation, and possible accessibility support, for 4-6 nights depending on which parts of the program the person attends.

The estimate may fluctuate as the price of accommodation may be hard to keep at this level, and some of the participants will have varying needs.

25. How will scholarship recipients be selected?

We will invite Wikimedia affiliates who work with the event topics to form a committee with us to reach out to and select the suitable participants.

Basic criteria:

• Interest in or experience of Oulu Löyly topics (federated archival projects, community heritage, indigenous collaborations, language revitalization, cultural policy)

• Available funding by category (may be adjusted if the number of candidates differs from this a lot)

• Experience of working with Wikimedia platforms or Wikimedia collaborations is required. However, practitioners with more experience and interest in the topics outweigh seasoned wikimedians.

We will prioritise applicants without institutional support who bring underrepresented perspectives and experiences to the table.

26. In which ways can Wikimedia Foundation staff support your event onsite?

In addition to domain experts from the culture & heritage, federated Wikibases and policy fields, the event would benefit from the presence of other roles as well.

Communications and documentation – First hand experience of the event will produce better insights into reporting. We could also produce the online implementation collaboratively.

Facilitation – A facilitator for the Nordic meetup can help create the necessary advocacy network between the Nordic/Baltic organizations.

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.

We would appreciate the presence of representatives from the Wikimedia Foundation that have the capacity to incorporate the learnings from the event in their work. This can relate to advocacy, technology, community campaigns and their governance as well as partnerships with cultural and other institutions. It would be beneficial for the field if strategically positioned staff from former cultural heritage and GLAM areas could join. We will welcome everyone that can join.

27. Please outline the roles and responsibilities of the organizing team for the conference.

Program coordinator Susanna Ånäs is responsible for the program design and general management.

Program assistant will join closer to the event to double hands, focus on communications, and program management issues.

Trainees (2–3) will have specific roles. One will be a participant liaison, one will focus on communications while the third one on documentation and learning. We are considering university trainees or Erasmus students, and all these roles provide learning opportunities for trainees.

Volunteers (up to 8) The volunteers will be needed to document the outcome of the collaborative work. They will also function as guides at the public event and spokespersons for the working groups, if needed. Further local team members will assist in practical issues where needed.

Our contact person Tea Stolt de Glanville in Oulu forms an integral part of the team. Mari Guttorm (in private capacity at this stage) from the Support for Sámi languages in digital services project facilitates discussions with the Saami communities.

Elisabeth Carrera from WMNO manages the Nordic meetup.

Ivo Kruusamägi from WMEE manages the Finno-Ugric meetup.

Wikimedia Finland contributes to the overall development of the event.

The streaming and documentation teams will play an important part in the work.

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 Wikimedia meetup will be coordinated by Elisabeth Carrera and Wikimedia Norway. An extended get-together with representatives from other open knowledge networks in the Nordic / Baltic countries is also 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. The failure of this funding would put the realization of the event at risk.

The full range of accommodation options have not been secured. Given the focus on Oulu as European city of culture 2026, this will need to be addressed as soon as funds are available. 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, private accommodation 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.

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/AvoinGLAM/Policies/AvoinGLAM_Friendly_Space_Policy

Learning, Sharing, and Evaluation

31. What do you hope to learn from your work organising this conference?

Main topic – Community heritage Learning Questions – Collaboration, Policy, and Innovation Focus areas – Indigenous knowledge, Culture as public good, Heritage at risk, Federated platforms

• Oulu Löyly aims to explore:*

Collaboration

• Did the event foster new policy and project activities between Nordic open knowledge actors? Between Nordic/Baltic CHIs, policymakers and open knowledge actors? Between vulnerable communities (eg. Saami, Romani, LGBTQI+) and Wikimedia contributors or platform providers?

Policy

• Did the event spark actions to provide vulnerable communities means to manage their online heritage?

• Were joint policy efforts advanced that touch upon community rights, content tagging, or other practices and policies that empower small content communities to take control of their heritage, while encouraging open sharing?

Innovation

• Did the event help identify platforms, workflows, and processes for ethical, community-centered storage and sharing of heritage?

• Were opportunities explored to identify potential bridges between Wikimedia and EU initiatives (EOSC, ECCCH, Data Spaces for Culture)?

• Were other technical or non-technical innovations brought forward?

32. Main open metrics

Main Open Metrics Data

Main Open Metrics	Description	Target
Collaboration	Live collaboration map: number of connections, types of participants. Target: At least 50% of participants indicate new connections formed; minimum of 30 visible collaboration links on the map. Post-event survey: Quantitative response to collaborations + qualitative option to describe them. Target: At least 50% of participants indicate new connections formed.	30
Policy	Session discussions and outputs (recordings and online notes) are documented to capture emerging shared policy positions on the topics of the event. Post-event survey will collect information on participants' perceptions of influence on their understanding or actions. Recurring topics are identified and discussions summarized. Target: Document at least one emerging shared policy activity; 50% of participants report increased clarity or intention to act on policy topics. The “learning” trainee is tasked with coordinating collection, analyzing and publishing a summary.	1
Cultural commons roadmap	Participants include visual entries (images, sticky notes, icons) in a wall display of a roadmap as part of the final day presentations. The board will be photographed and analyzed. Entries are clustered with a focus on popularity and formatted into statements expressing a direction of development in the different areas. The results are shared in the post-event survey and the participants are asked to reflect what has really happened after the event to what they thought could happen. 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. Target: 70% of participants report meaningful learning or inspiration relevant to their work.	70
Diversity, equity, and inclusion	Registration data is used to capture participant diversity in a respectful manner. Quantitative: representation of participant groups, user-defined heritage communities, user-defined geographic areas. Qualitative: session documentation to observe participation of diverse voices, including indigenous, community, and small-language perspectives. Target: The composition of the participant base as planned, approx: 30% Wikimedia 30% Institutions (NGOs & IGOs, Policy makers, Foundations and funders, Memory institutions, Platforms & technology, Open knowledge initiatives) 30 % Individuals (Heritage communities, Content projects & creators, Developers, Researchers & students) 10% Organizers Geographic distribution 60% Nordic & Baltic 32% Europe 9% World	30

Financial Proposal

33. What is the amount you are requesting from Wikimedia Foundation? Please provide this amount in your local currency.

36190

34. Select your local currency.

EUR

Requested amount in USD

39837.52 USD

35. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it.

• Oulu Löyly budget - Google Sheets.pdf

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DooDOh_GmYY4kJXfb2tee7qaE1h7IsfKfhB13ZP2RAQ/edit?usp=sharing

36. Do you expect to receive funding for this conference from other organizations to support your work?

Yes

36.1. If yes, what kind of resources are you expecting to get?

Please see the evolving budget at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DooDOh_GmYY4kJXfb2tee7qaE1h7IsfKfhB13ZP2RAQ/edit?usp=sharing

Further funding is applied for at Nordic Culture Fund 64 145 € / Nordic Culture Point 65 850 € (proposed as alternatives) Oulu2026 Foundation 8 000 € Core funding (AvoinGLAM) 25 689 €, WMFI 10 000€ Co-funding (Wikimedia chapters estimated in-kind support for participation) 49 520 €

We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

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

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).

Endorse