Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Trainer Training Program for the Iranian Wikimedians User Group (ID: 22895230)/Final Report
Application type: Standard application
Part 1: Project and impact
1. Describe the implemented activities and results achieved. Additionally, share which approaches were most effective in supporting you to achieve the results. (required)
The Trainer Training Program for the Iranian Wikimedians User Group was implemented successfully as a two-day in-person workshop designed to build facilitation, leadership, and community engagement skills among active members of the Iranian Wikimedians User Group. The program took place in Yerevan, Armenia and brought together a total of 11 participants, including 9 selected trainees and 2 facilitators/organizers.
Participants were selected through an open scholarship process published on Meta-Wiki (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trainer_Training_Program_for_the_Iranian_Wikimedians_User_Group/Scholarship), which prioritized experienced community members with a record of local engagement and interest in future training roles. The program followed a structured and interactive curriculum (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trainer_Training_Program_for_the_Iranian_Wikimedians_User_Group/Programme) that combined lectures, panels, and workshops over two days. Sessions included topics such as the Wikimedia movement structure, capacity building within user groups, digital safety and privacy, conflict engagement and mediation, facilitation skills, volunteer retention, and common challenges in community management. The sessions were led by Darafsh, Ladsgroup, and Arash, all experienced Wikimedia organizers and trainers.
The workshop successfully built a small network of future trainers equipped with practical skills to facilitate meetings, plan projects, and mentor others in the Iranian Wikimedia community. Participants engaged in discussions, role-playing exercises, and open Q&A sessions to apply what they learned in real-world scenarios.
The most effective approaches in achieving these results were participatory learning methods, and the use of real-life case studies from Wikimedia communities. These helped participants develop confidence, communication skills, and a better understanding of governance and collaboration dynamics in Wikimedia environments.
The main documentation of the project is available on Meta-Wiki (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trainer_Training_Program_for_the_Iranian_Wikimedians_User_Group).
Overall, the project met its goals by enhancing internal leadership capacity and creating a sustainable group of trained facilitators, ready to support the Iranian Wikimedian community in future initiatives and events.
2. Documentation of your impact. Please use space below to share links that help tell your story, impact, and evaluation. (required)
Share links to:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project
- Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions
- Some photos or videos from your event. Remember to share access.
You can also share links to:
- Important social media posts
- Surveys and their results
- Infographics and sound files
- Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects
Documentation of impact and project materials:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trainer_Training_Program_for_the_Iranian_Wikimedians_User_Group
- Photos from the event (Wikimedia Commons):
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Trainer_Training_Program_for_the_Iranian_Wikimedians_User_Group
Additionally, share the materials and resources that you used in the implementation of your project. (required)
For example:
- Training materials and guides
- Presentations and slides
- Work processes and plans
- Any other materials your team has created or adapted and can be shared with others
- Slides and training materials (Wikimedia Commons):
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Slides_of_Trainer_Training_Program_for_the_Iranian_Wikimedians_User_Group
We will publish a full report on Meta and a Diff post in the coming days (both will accessible from the main page of the event)
3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with this Rapid Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals. Required. Select one option per question. (required)
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Disagree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Not applicable |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Not applicable |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Strongly agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Agree |
| F. Other (optional) |
Part 2: Learning
4. In your application, you outlined some learning questions. What did you learn from these learning questions when you implemented your project? How do you hope to use this learnings in the future? You can recall these learning questions below. (required)
You can recall these learning questions below: We hope to learn how effective the training is in improving participants' governance and community engagement skills, as well as how well they can transfer this knowledge to others in Iran. We also want to assess the workshop's impact on community growth and participation and identify ways to improve future training sessions for better results. Additionally, we will track key success metrics, such as the number of trainers applying their skills post-training, increased support for Persian Wikipedia, contributions to Wikimedia projects, and broader community-building efforts.
Through the implementation of this program, we learned that interactive and participatory approaches were the most effective in improving participants’ governance and community engagement skills. The training enhanced participants’ understanding of Wikimedia’s structure, community dynamics, and facilitation practices. Many participants reported increased confidence in leading discussions, managing group interactions, and organizing community events.
We also observed that participants showed strong motivation and readiness to apply what they had learned within their local contexts. Several trainees expressed interest in organizing future workshops, mentoring new contributors, and facilitating online and offline sessions for the Iranian Wikimedia community. This demonstrates that the knowledge gained during the program can be effectively transferred to others, helping to build local leadership capacity.
For future iterations of this program, we plan to focus more on hands-on exercises, peer learning, and ongoing mentorship after the training. We also intend to establish mechanisms to follow up on participants’ activities and measure the long-term impact of their engagement. These learnings will guide the development of future training programs, both within the Iranian Wikimedians User Group and in other regional Wikimedia communities.
5. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities? This can include both positive and negative situations. What did you learn from those experiences? (required)
One of the most positive and unexpected aspects of the program was the high level of engagement and collaboration among participants. The trainees were very proactive in discussions, sharing their own experiences, and taking initiative to suggest ideas for future community activities. The sense of trust and openness built during the sessions helped create a strong sense of community and mutual learning. Several participants also expressed a willingness to take on leadership or facilitation roles in upcoming Wikimedia events, which exceeded our initial expectations.
However, we also encountered some challenges. Due to regional instability and the ongoing conflict in Iran, the event had to be rescheduled to ensure the safety and availability of all participants. Additionally, despite our efforts to encourage diverse participation, we did not have any female participants in this cohort, which we recognize as an important area for improvement in future programs.
From these experiences, we learned the importance of maintaining flexibility and contingency planning in event coordination, as well as the need to strengthen outreach strategies to ensure gender diversity and equal representation in future capacity-building initiatives.
6. What is your plan to share your project learnings and results with other community members? If you have already done it, describe how. (required)
The results and learnings of the Trainer Training Program have been and will continue to be shared through multiple Wikimedia platforms and community channels. The main documentation, photos, and slides are already available on Meta-Wiki and Wikimedia Commons, ensuring open access for other communities interested in implementing similar programs.
We also presented the outcomes and key insights during the monthly meetings of the Iranian Wikimedians User Group, where members discussed how to adapt the training model for future events and local workshops. The learnings will further be shared with the broader Central Asian WikiCollaboration network to encourage knowledge exchange and cross-regional capacity building.
A detailed report about the program will be published on Meta-Wiki and featured in the CEE Newsletter, summarizing our process, challenges, and lessons learned. Additionally, we plan to write a reflective post on Diff to share the story, results, and recommendations with the global Wikimedia community.
Finally, the training materials and learnings from this program will be incorporated into future workshops and onboarding sessions within the Iranian Wikimedians User Group to strengthen internal learning and mentorship.
Part 3: Metrics
7. Wikimedia Metrics results. (required)
In your application, you set some Wikimedia targets in numbers (Wikimedia metrics). In this section, you will describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used.
| Target | Results | Comments and tools used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 8 | 11 | |
| Number of editors | 8 | 11 | |
| Number of organizers | 3 | 2 |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 8 | ||
| Wikimedia Commons | |||
| Wikidata | |||
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | |||
| Wikimedia Incubator | |||
| Translatewiki | |||
| MediaWiki | |||
| Wikiquote | |||
| Wikivoyage | |||
| Wikibooks | |||
| Wikiversity | |||
| Wikinews | |||
| Wikispecies | |||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
8. Other Metrics results.
In your proposal, you could also set Other Metrics targets. Please describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used if you set Other Metrics in your application.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9. Did you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results? (required)
No
9.1. Please state what difficulties you had. How do you hope to overcome these challenges in the future? Do you have any recommendations for the Foundation to support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
4088
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
4500
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OMu70SNQ6vDeL3hgjyEqNQLeY8mmG5upzWkRc55Zp4c/edit?usp=sharing
12.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
13. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
No
13.1. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
13.2. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
13.3. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
14.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
14.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
14.3. 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
15. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. (optional)
Review notes
[edit]Review notes from Program Officer:
N/A
Applicant's response to the review feedback.
N/A