Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Wikimedia Finland Annual Plan 2023
Feedback from the Northern and Western Europe (NWE) Regional Funding Committee on your proposal[edit]
Thank you for taking the time to submit your General Support Fund proposal in the Northern and Western Europe region. We are pleased to have reviewed your application and have the following comments and questions.
- We welcome your partnership with external stakeholders and with other wiki communities and we really appreciated the solid approach to the organisational work, the concreteness in general and related to the tech tools, and the interesting innovation around the use of drones;
- Along with the coverage in areas of diversity like age, language that shows a good identification of the demographic gaps and understanding of the ways to address and mitigate them, with a good knowledge equity vision.
- As you talked about the collaboration with AvoinGlam, can you tell us more about it? Is there an active connection, do you share some infrastructures?
- As for the Google Maps licence, we were wondering if there are tools that only Google can do or you can also consider the use of OpenStreetMap (as one of the Wikimedia open source projects)?
- You mentioned a Benin workshop with Friends of Villa Karo, we would be pleased to know more about that and how it fits this with your wider programming.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you.
On behalf of the NWE Regional Committee, --Camelia (talk) 12:10, 13 November 2022 (UTC)
- Thank you for the comments and questions. Here are our answers. --Zache (talk) 06:17, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
[edit]
In 2022, WMFI had two board members, Yupik and TuukkaH, who are active in AvoinGLAM.
In early 2022 we planned how WMFI and AvoinGLAM scopes should differentiate, especially in GLAM. In short, AvoinGLAM focus is strategic and professional work-oriented, and WMFI's focus in GLAM is an outreach for getting new editors with events like Wiki Loves Monuments.
We also had some events where we participated together. For example, in the spring, Susanna Ånas and I presented on recent open data use cases and licensing needs for the Ministry of Environment RYTJ team, which was planning its new API. WMFI initiated this meeting.
In the summer, we had a local Wikimania-watching session in Maria01 together. In Wikimania Zache's invitation to participate in Wikimania's Understanding DEI in Wiki Loves Monuments and federated campaigns at-large panel was forwarded through AvoinGLAM.
In autumn, when we planned this grant application, Susanna Ånas participated in the WMFI monthly meeting, presented AvoinGLAM grant application, and attended a discussion on WMFI 2023 plans.
- Is there an active connection, do you share some infrastructures?
Wikimedia Finland and Open Knowledge Finland (AvoinGLAM:s fiscal organization) are located in Maria01, Kirahub space but with separate contracts.
The historical reason for the location is that there was an idea to gather multiple open data NGOs in the same space. For that, we first moved in 2015 to the Caloniuksenkatu office together with Open Knowledge Finland (OKFI). When OKFI decided to move in 2017 to Maria01, we moved also. Currently, in Maria01, Kirahub is WMFI, AvoinGLAM, MyData, OKFI, and Creative Commons Finland.
However, in 2022 there has not been much interaction in Maria01 because WMFI has been working remotely during COVID-19.
--Zache (talk) 06:17, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
As for the Google Maps licence, we were wondering if there are tools that only Google can do or you can also consider the use of OpenStreetMap (as one of the Wikimedia open source projects)?[edit]
Ajapaik’s web-based geotagger uses Google Maps API. Google StreetView is used for geotagging photos so that the user can switch the map to street view mode, and if street view is used, the geotagger takes the camera compass direction from the view direction. The StreetView feature is hard to replace with other tools.
The cross-platform version of the rephoto app (i.e., Ajapaik Flutter App) uses Leaflet and OpenStreetMap as its map service. We will also add geotagging to it, so there will be at least one shot for implementing geotagger using open-source components. If it works well, this could eventually replace the current web geotagger.
In general, our selected technology path for Flutter App has been to use only open-source libraries and not to use features known to be vendor locking. Services, like Google Maps or Firebase, would be potential blockers when we publish the application to non-Google Android phones and Linux phones in the future.
--Zache (talk) 06:17, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
You mentioned a Benin workshop with Friends of Villa Karo; we would be pleased to know more about that and how it fits this with your wider programming.[edit]
Villa Karo support organization in Finland is the organizer of the event. The target for the event is editing the articles of the people who have visited Villa Karo. Heikki Kastemaa (Kulttuurinavigaattori) is lead person as Wikipedist. Wikimedia Finland's role would be that we are Wikipedia tutors and extra hands who will allow the event to scale up if needed. We also help with technical things like removing blocks that would prevent editing, help with templates, modules, deletions/undeletions, etc.
- Wider program context
Villa Karo is a Finnish-African cultural institute and residence in Grand-Popo, Benin, West Africa. The support organization which runs Villa Karo is located in Finland.
Heikki Kastemaa has been at the 2017 and 2019 Villa Karo residency as a wikipedist. He has been once in Benin as an independent researcher on history and cultural restitution. Wikimedia Finland has worked with Wikimédiens du Bénin User Group since 2017. As a result, there have been workshops and presentations in both Benin and Finland. Projects have also focused on editing and creating Benin-related articles in Finnish Wikipedia.
The content of the workshops depends on the context and participants. For example, on 3.9.2022, Heikki had a workshop in Pärnu, Estonia, and a presentation of Ten pictures about the history of Dahomey/Benin as part of the Rhythms of Benin Workshop.
In autumn 2022 Wikimedia Finland board has also been discussing if Wikimedia Finland would join Villa Karo's Finnish support organization as an institutional member. By joining Villa Karo as an organizational member, Wikimedia Finland could plan tailored projects with Villa Karo's support association in Finland. Member organizations also have quotas for residency places. Residency places are also available to other Wikimedia actives than Finnish ones.
In practice, plans would be straightforward at first. Finnish Wikipedia has high-quality African country and geography articles, and we would like to keep these updated. We would also like to get articles to be peer-reviewed by experts. We think Villa Karo's actives would be interested in that and have contacts with potential writers.
In Benin likely focus would be on Wikidata, photographing, and improving the Open Street Map. These are multilingual. Editing of these can also be designed so that participation can be done without live online access or a computer. However, these ideas are in the brainstorming phase. Initially (in 2017-2020), the plan was also to have Wikipedians and open data-oriented persons go to Benin, and Wikipedians from Benin come to Finland. However, this idea has been on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
--Zache (talk) 06:17, 19 November 2022 (UTC)
Round 1 2023 decision[edit]
Congratulations! The Northern and Western Europe Regional Funds Committee has recommended your proposal for funding!
The Wikimedia Foundation has approved the committee's recommendation to fund your proposal in full for 128,000 EUR
Next steps:
- You will be contacted to sign a grant agreement.
- If you have questions, you can contact the Regional Program Officer for the Northern and Western Europe Region.
Posted on behalf of the Northern and Western Europe (NWE) Funding Committee, –Marti (WMF) (talk) 07:27, 5 January 2023 (UTC)
- Thank you very much! --Zache (talk) 12:02, 5 January 2023 (UTC)