Grants:Programs/Wikipedia 25 Fund/Conversations and celebrations around Wikipedia’s 25th birthday in Sicily (Italy) (ID: 23652101)
Applicant
[edit]- Applying as: Individual
- Username: Auregann (talk • accounts • contributions • edit count)
- Organization: N/A
Project
[edit]- 1. Project title.
Conversations and celebrations around Wikipedia’s 25th birthday in Sicily (Italy)
- 2. & 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2026-01-15 - 2026-02-28
- 4. Activity country - Where will the project take place?
Italy
- 5. What is your Wikipedia 25 Birthday project about? What main activities will you organize? You can also link or upload a timeline.
We want to take the opportunity of the birthday celebrations to continue the work we’ve been doing since 2023 in re-activating the Wikipedia community in Sicily, an island located in Southern Italy. We want to connect with volunteer editors from 3 different regions of the island, share our common achievements but also build on the excitement to start new projects.
In Palermo, the capital city of the region and heart of political decisions, we want to offer a space to discuss of the role of Wikipedia and highlight its collaborative values. We will organize a debate on the vision of Wikipedia for the future as well as an editathon on the history of a district of the city, Kalsa, with the participation of its inhabitants.
In Ragusa, pulsing heart of Sicily for tourism and agriculture, we want to discuss how the Wikimedia projects can help highlight the cultural and gastronomy heritage of the island. We will organize a meetup for heritage and nature guides to teach them how to update information on Wikipedia and we will kickstart the preparation of the Wiki Loves Earth 2026 campaign.
In Catania, home of the main community organizers and digital hub of the island, we will connect with aligned communities to improve Wikipedia together. We will organize an editathon focused on the city’s history and heritage and strengthen our connections with the local open data, open source software and developers communities.
Each event will take place during one day, on dates yet to be defined in January and February 2026. They will be hosted in a fully-equiped venue and will welcome a dozen of highly motivated participants. They will be structured in three parts: a discussion, an editathon or workshop, and a birthday celebration, including cake and refreshments.
- 6. What are your project goals and success metrics? How will you know if your project worked well?
We aim to have at least 10 participants at each of the 3 events.
During the editathons, we will make sure that all the newcomers present are actively contributing to Wikipedia and edit at least 3 pages on Wikipedia or another Wikimedia project.
We plan to form a team that would be involved in running a local edition of Wiki Loves Earth in Sicily in 2026.
- 7. Who is on your team? Introduce their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other relevant details.
Léa Lacroix (user:Auregann) is involved in community engagement in the Wikimedia movement since 2010. From her various roles, volunteer, former staff of WMDE and independent consultant, she has a broad view of the Wikimedia movement and a strong expertise in activating communities and organizing events.
Giovanni Pennisi (user:GiovanniPen) is a student in engineering in Sicily, active Wikipedian, involved in many projects locally and internationally, creating connections and fueling our activities with an infinite source of energy.
Luca Martinelli (user:Sannita) is a long-term Wikipedian, administrator on Italian Wikipedia, and provides a great knowledge of the projects and the communities. Certified Wikimedia trainer in Italy, is highly skilled to run courses on Wikipedia, Wikidata and Commons.
- 8. Who is this event or project for? Describe your Wikimedia community, group, affiliate, or organization. Provide links to relevant pages.
The conversations and celebrations around Wikipedia’s 25th birthday in Sicily are targetted at the existing Wikimedia editors in Sicily as well as newcomers who may have heard of us through connections with other, like-minded communities. We have been activating and nurturing this community since 2023 with series of events and training sessions:
- Wiki Takes Catania 2023, the first step of the project: [1]
- In 2024, growing the community and covering various regions of the island: [2]
- In 2025, strengthening the community: [3]
- 9. Confirmation of project requirements. If the project is funded, I confirm
- Add the funded event to the Events Calendar.
- Use Event Registration to track the event.
- Print the banner and take a group photo.
- Upload best event photos to Wikimedia Commons. Categorize them in a sub-category under the Wikipedia 25 parent category.
- Write a Diff blog post after the event.
Note: The outcomes and links from the confirmations above will be requested in your final report. Providing them will be required to complete the reporting process.
- 10. Additional information (optional)
The team of organizers has a strong experience with running successful events and engaging with existing and new editors. Aside of the projects mentioned in the “Who is this event for?” section, we can also mention:
- Wiki Loves Sicilia 2025, a project dedicated to documenting the gastronomy of the island: [4]
- We also organized the Italian-speaking national conference, itWikiCon, in Sicily this year: [5]
- We successfully completed two Rapid Grants in the past, for satellite events of the Wikimedia Hackathon organized in Sicily in 2024 and 2025 (G-RF-2401-14876 and G-RF-2411-17471).
The Wikimedia group in Sicily is collaborating regularly with the national chapter, Wikimedia Italia, but as the affiliate does not provide specific grants for WP25, we are hoping to receive support from the Wikimedia Foundation to ensure a great program of celebrations on the island.
Budget
[edit]- 11. Upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kV943rZQW6w3Eks5B89pDboq5rldaa1y1w6bN0BfZZ4/edit?usp=sharing
- 12. & 13. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency.
1700 EUR
- 14. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 1,000 - 2,000 USD.
1978 USD
- By submitting your proposal/funding request you confirm that you have read and agree to the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy, and the Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes