Grants:APG/Proposals/2024-2025 round 1/Wikimedia CH/Impact report form

Purpose of the report

This form reports on Wikimedia CH's results for 2025 (1 January - 31 December).

Metrics

Wikimedia CH is shaping its strategy for 2027 and beyond, which includes establishing a robust impact logic and corresponding metrics. In the meantime, we have captured some metrics that demonstrate the reach of our work and our evolving association.

Metric	Achieved outcome	Explanation
Public editing/ writing events supported by WMCH	50	In addition, several non-public training sessions and initiatives for librarians, students and other interested groups were supported, while a number of active Wikipedians also led workshops on their own initiative or with the support of third parties.
Grants for community-led initiatives	21	The number of grants include Microgrants (≤ CHF 1000), Rapid grants (CHF 1001 - ≤5000, Project grants > CHF 5000)
Active editors in Switzerland	620	Includes editors in German, French, Italian, Romansh and English.
Wikimedia CH association members	360	Compared to 285 in 2024, representing over a 26% increase year on year.
Newsletter subscribers	53,667	Our newsletter recipient list grew by nearly 33% year on year while maintaining an open rate of 53%, which is well over the industry average.
Total partnerships	73	Includes project partnerships, MoU, institutional members, long-term grant project partners, WMCH memberships in like-minded organisations and programmatic partnerships

Program impacts

Executive Summary

Wikimedia CH Strategy 2022-2026

The year 2025 was a pivotal one for Wikimedia CH. Against a backdrop of rapid technological change and in preparation of our chapter’s 20-year anniversary in 2026, we strengthened our foundations whilst preparing for the future.

Our impact

The Wikimedia Movement is built upon the dedication and passion of volunteers who generously contribute their time and expertise across all Wikimedia projects. We extend our deepest gratitude to all volunteers and stakeholders who contributed to Wikimedia’s mission in 2025. Our impact around advancing free knowledge in Switzerland and beyond wouldn't be possible without the community and our active members and supporters.

Our programmes delivered substantial achievements across the board. The GLAM programme strengthened strategic partnerships—most notably being approached by ICOM as a partner for International Museum Day—whilst launching projects around decolonisation, women's heritage and digital archiving. The Community programme implemented its first-ever strategy whilst supporting volunteers through new well-being initiatives. In Education, we launched partnerships with key institutions and expanded our reach across Switzerland's language regions. The Innovation programme advanced projects around AI, climate change and open science, whilst Public Affairs & Partnerships deepened our engagement in digital policy discussions at national and European levels and developed an advocacy strategy to coordinate our outreach and strengthen collaboration with other Wikimedia chapters.

A highlight of the year was our second Wikipedia Day on 10 May in Bern, which served as the kick-off for our strategy development journey. This highly successful event brought together around 100 Wikipedians, association members and partners for our largest-ever General Assembly, reinforcing our role as a convener and thought leader in the free knowledge movement.

Last, we launched our first-ever awareness campaign, developed together with an agency, to better inform stakeholders and the general public about how we work, what we do and where our value lies.

Jenny Ebermann at Wikipedia Day 2025

Our people

Our team continued to grow strategically in 2025, strengthening our Finance & Admin team and adding expertise in digital marketing and fundraising. This growth reflects a more developed organisational structure to meet the increasing demand for our services. At the board level, we welcomed three new members at the General Assembly, bringing fresh perspectives and diverse expertise to our governance.

As an organisation that advocates for openness and collaboration, we are committed to “walking the talk,” ensuring our internal practices reflect the values we communicate to the world. To this end, we established transparent HR and compensation policies and started to consciously work on the team culture needed to support our evolution. These initiatives reinforce our commitment to mindful and constructive relationships that multiply our impact.

Our organisation

As demand for our services and partnerships continues to grow, we are maturing as an organisation. We completed the Value for Good programme with the Mercator Foundation and began applying our learnings. We also started to implement the Care Forward initiative, putting community care and sustainability-related efforts into the spotlight. We revisited and refined several policies and started to create processes and training linked to the Friendly Space Policy — which was adopted by the Board — to implement the movement’s Universal Code of Conduct.

Recognising the rapidly shifting external environment, we began comprehensive risk-mapping work, developing scenarios and mitigation strategies around the evolving geopolitical environment, technological disruptions including AI, and other external factors that could impact our work. A major milestone was launching our 2026-2031 strategy development process, built on the Theory U framework, an innovative participatory framework for organisational development. The unconventional framework focuses on deep systemic change through collective reflection, stakeholder engagement and co-creation, challenging us to sense emerging possibilities and act from a more aware and future-oriented perspective.

Our future

2025 has set the stage for significant milestones in 2026: Wikipedia's 25th anniversary and Wikimedia CH's 20th anniversary. These occasions will provide important opportunities to celebrate achievements, strengthen relationships and engage new audiences in the free knowledge movement. Part of this work is the awareness campaign, which will continue throughout the year.

Wikipedia and Wikimedia CH Jubilee 2026

The coming year will see the culmination of our strategy development process, positioning us to meet both challenges and opportunities with renewed clarity. We will implement learnings from the Value for Good programme whilst continuing to work on the implementation of the friendly space policy and Community Care efforts.

As the Wiki movement faces multiple challenges, we are actively participating in discussions with other actors in the movement and externally to ensure our voice is heard in digital policy discussions, AI governance, open source principles and the future of free knowledge. We will deepen our advocacy work, expand strategic partnerships and continue collaborating with European and other Wikimedia chapters to amplify our voice and impact.

Throughout these preparations and beyond, we remain committed to ensuring free access to unbiased knowledge as a cornerstone of a democratic society.

Strategy at a glance

Our vision

As Wikimedia CH, we:

• Bring people together with the aim of disseminating free knowledge for a smart and open society.
• Enable Wikipedians to share knowledge and connect them with the Wikimedia universe.
• Are a collaborative and accountable association representing the interests of our multilingual communities in Switzerland.

Our mission

• To collect, curate and disseminate free knowledge.
• To promote the work of contributors (more information: Community webpage).
• To help Swiss memory institutions share their knowledge, collections and curatorial resources digitally with a global community through a global platform – all this to make (Swiss) cultural heritage and its diversity more accessible to the world (more information: GLAM webpage).
• To sensitise all levels of education to sustainable use of digital information (more information: Education webpage).
• To advocate for free knowledge, including at the political level (more information: Outreach webpage).

Our strategy

Impact directions

1. GLAM – We collaborate with galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) throughout Switzerland to provide digital access to memory institutions’ collections and artefacts. We aim to share the country’s culture and history in a sustainable format and across all borders.
2. Education – We deliver and collaborate on education programmes that advance learning at every level, for both children and adults. Our work supports lifelong learning as well as teachers and trainers at schools, universities and other institutions of higher education.
3. Community – We help the Wikimedia CH community grow, supporting existing members and cultivating new Wikipedians. Among other activities, we train and mentor Wikipedia editors and support the diverse and multicultural interests of our community with targeted programming.
4. Public Affairs & Partnerships – We believe in using our unique position in the field of information exchange to be an influencer on national and international issues concerning open access and open knowledge. We offer our viewpoints on copyright, technology and more.
5. Experimentation & Innovation – Our Innovation Lab is a dedicated space for experimentation and improvement that helps us anticipate and address societal changes while optimising projects that advance our core purpose. We aim to create a safe framework to explore bold ideas, exchange knowledge and improve tools in an accessible, non-judgmental way.

Programme GLAM

Overview

The GLAM programme’s work over the years and relationships it has nurtured continued to bear fruit in 2025. We saw increased demand for our knowledge and services, with major organisations approaching us as partners to co-create initiatives together, rather than just participating in their events.

Our focus on women's heritage—through the Matrimoine project and related initiatives—showed how sustained attention to content gaps can bring in diverse partners and attract new contributors. We deepened relationships with cantonal archives through our GLAM-on-Tour initiative, launched experimental projects exploring 3D archiving methods, and continued our monthly community meetups at KBCB in Biel. The programme also strengthened its technical work and advocacy, from integrating Swiss archives with mapping services to creating educational content about archive gaps and fake news.

These activities reflect our evolving role: we're not simply helping institutions upload content to Wikimedia platforms, but actively shaping conversations about whose knowledge gets preserved and how cultural institutions can better serve their communities.

Highlight activity

International Museum Day 2025: Building Global Networks Through Art and Culture

The postor for IMD 2025

For the first time in its history, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) approached Wikimedia CH to co-organise International Museum Day 2025, marking a significant milestone in our recognition as a key partner in the global cultural heritage sector. This collaboration brought together museums, cultural professionals and Wikipedians from across continents to explore how institutions can thrive in a rapidly changing world.

The centrepiece of our IMD 2025 activities was an international panel discussion on "The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities," featuring speakers who exemplified the power of cross-cultural collaboration. Rose Musyoki, a Nairobi-based art curator and writer for ArtNetwork Africa, shared perspectives on African art and its representation in global knowledge platforms. Her participation laid the groundwork for an ongoing collaboration on our "Faces and Masks" project, which we later presented at the GLAM Wiki Conference in Lisbon, demonstrating how relationships built through single events can evolve into sustained partnerships.

A particularly striking example of unintentional network-building emerged during the panel when a Brazilian curator presented work from a museum we had previously supported without realising the connection. This revealed the organic networks forming around shared values of open knowledge and cultural preservation, connecting indigenous cultural initiatives in Brazil with African art communities in Nairobi and GLAM professionals throughout Europe.

Key programme activities

• Led the "Matrimoine" project, which celebrated women's heritage through various events and activities, including the GLAM Scoring Girls edit-a-thon in Basel for the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 to increase Wikipedia representation of underrepresented groups in football, and an initiative to document women's memorials and biographies throughout Switzerland, collaborating with artist Frauke Beeck, who found the monuments, and User:Elena Ternovaja, who photographed women memorials in Basel.

The GLAM-on-Tour in Aargau

• Organised two GLAM-on-Tour events: one with the State Archives of the Canton of Ticino in Bellinzona, focused on the history of Ticino, and another with the Aargau Canton Library focusing on Aargau history and previously overlooked women's biographies.
• Hosted productive meetings with both the GLAM Wiki Group online and the GLAM Wiki Ambassadors Switzerland in person. We also collaborated with the Community and Education teams to prepare for upcoming trainings.
• Attended Wikimania online, co-hosted the WikiCite/Wikidata Conference in Bern along with Porgramme Innovation, participated in the Symposium of the Professional Association for Cultural Management Research in Basel, and joined the GRADE conference in Vienna to work on publishing research papers about marginalised people in creative computing.
• Continued monthly meet-ups at KBCB Kunsthaus Biel Centre d'art Bienne focusing on "Faces and Masks", enabling participants to exchange ideas and edit Wikipedia articles in both French and German.

  

  WIkipedians at the Decolonising Knowledge edit-a-thon in Zurich

• Completed the decolonising knowledge project with guided museum tours and an edit-a-thon in Zurich to create articles exploring Switzerland's involvement in race theories despite having no direct colonies. As part of the project, ETH uploaded materials to Commons.
• Launched the 3D-project to explore digital archiving methods for cultural objects and collections, creating a project page to facilitate discussions with cultural institutions.
• Supported FemNetzCon 2025, participating in workshops and learning about the Women Genera Project, which documents plants named after women and explores how minorities have been overlooked in scientific naming.
• Helped the PTT-Archive in Bern on a project to contextualise telecommunications history through artistic methods, exploring telephone book evolution and the profession of switchboard operators.
• Organised a panel for International Archive Week focusing on crises and fake news, highlighting archives' role in preserving knowledge, transparency, democracy and cultural heritage. Other activities included integrating the Archives Map Service with the Swiss Association of Archivists, enabling Swiss archives to use the map with Wiki entries to enhance their presence on Wikimedia platforms, and creating a video about gaps in archives.

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  The Swiss Greenland Expedition led by the Swiss geophysicist Alfred de Quervain, one of the photos uploaded during the Decolonising Knowledge edit-a-thon in Zurich
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  A monument to women in Neuchâtel
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  A map of Swiss Archives

Programme impact

Key accomplishments

• The collaboration with ICOM represented a shift in how major cultural organisations view Wikimedia projects— not merely as platforms for sharing content, but as partners in reimagining how museums engage with communities and preserve cultural heritage for future generations.
• The relationships created through IMD 2025 create a strong foundation for collaborations across multiple continents, all united by a commitment to making knowledge freely accessible to everyone.

Lessons learned

• Artist communities possess remarkable power in creating knowledge networks that complement traditional institutional approaches. In Brazil, networks around indigenous culture and in Nairobi, networks around African art are creating pathways for knowledge that has historically been overlooked. By partnering with these communities, we can help amplify voices and perspectives that enrich Wikimedia platforms whilst supporting grassroots cultural preservation efforts.

Looking ahead

In 2026, the GLAM programme will leverage our unique knowledge of art and technology to continue successful GLAM projects. In particular, we will focus on cocreation and decolonising knowledge, deepening partnerships and convening various experts who share our values. Through cocreation, different stakeholders, artists and developers will combine their expertise to archive and present cultural heritage in all its diversity regarding cultural background, gender, age and discipline.

Programme Education

Wikimedia CH Education Strategy 2022-2026

Overview

The Education programme made significant strides in 2025, expanding partnerships with key educational institutions and platforms whilst advancing our pedagogical framework. A major focus this year was extending our mission to strengthen the broader open educational resources ecosystem through strategic technical partnerships.

The programme deepened its work with schools, libraries and educational platforms across Switzerland's language regions, reaching hundreds of educators. We continued developing and adapting educational tools like Wikeys Junior and Dicoado whilst exploring how AI can be used ethically in educational contexts. Through new partnerships with La Digitale, iMedias and zebis.ch, we demonstrated how technical expertise and collaborative frameworks can create lasting impact in the open education landscape.

Highlight activity

Strategic Partnership with La Digitale

One of the Education programme's most significant achievements in 2025 was establishing a formal partnership with La Digitale, a platform providing open-source educational tools such as Digipad, Digidoc and Digiscreen. The partnership marks an important step in extending our mission to strengthen the broader ecosystem of open educational resources.

La Digitale reaches over 3.7 million unique visitors per month, primarily French-speaking users but also English and Italian speakers. Through this partnership, we provided crucial technical support, including monitoring and security audits, to help ensure the platform's sustainability and security.

The partnership was strengthened through collaboration with the Haute École d'Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud (HEIG-VD), which started a security audit of La Digitale's infrastructure. This three-way collaboration between Wikimedia CH, an open-source educational project and a Swiss higher education institution creates a replicable model for future partnerships.

The partnership with La Digitale demonstrates how technical expertise can help build sustainable relationships with like-minded organisations. Many open-source educational projects struggle with infrastructure sustainability, which creates an opportunity for Wikimedia CH to leverage our technical capabilities to benefit the broader open knowledge ecosystem. The success of this collaboration has already prompted discussions about expanding similar partnerships.

Key programme activities

• Began a partnership with iMedias to support the development of the new version of myMoment, an online learning platform for German-speaking Swiss primary schoolchildren that explores how AI can help students improve their writing skills, and co-develop user guidelines and videos around “netiquette” based on Wikiverse ethics and standards.
• Co-founded the new Creative Commons Association Switzerland, part of the Creative Commons global network, strengthening Wikimedia CH's ability to promote Creative Commons values and interests in Switzerland through increased stability, sustainability and resources.

The Wikeys Junior game

• Partnered with Amnesty International Ticino to create with new media artists Janiv Oron and Niculin Barandun an interactive A.I.-based art installation on the topic “Data, AI training and Biases” for the 10th Media in Piazza, a major educational event in Mendrisio focused on new media. The installation and corresponding workshop reached more than 350 students and teachers.
• Trained more than 50 librarians and public-school educators across French-speaking Switzerland on Wikimedia tools as part of the Semaine des Médias training sessions. Developed scalable training materials and feedback systems for future trainings and forged a relationship with the Renouvaud library network that led to additional Wikidata workshops with external expert Nicolas Vigneron.
• Began a partnership with zebis.ch—the largest online platform for teaching and learning materials in German-speaking Switzerland—to jointly promote the strengthening of Open Education Resources (OER). Together with LerNetz (the service provider of zebis), we co-organised a successful workshop, which will continue in 2026.
• Finalised a comprehensive foundational document articulating the programme's vision and mission linked to pedagogical and didactical methods according to Lehrplan 21 and Plan d'Étude Romand/CIIP.
• Presented the OER Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom—a joint project between Wikimedia CH and Wikimedia DE—to the community at WikiCon in Potsdam. In a workshop, Caroline Boos (WMDE) and Jean-Marc Wyss (WMCH) gathered input for the next revision steps based on an initial German translation.
• Continued presenting, testing and developing Wikeys Junior, including a presentation at TecDay at Lycée-Collège La Planta in Sion.
• Finished an external evaluation of the programme through a Certificate of Advanced Studies workshop at the University of Bern in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Bewyl (PH FHNW) to provide valuable insights for programme development.
• Adapted Dicoado into Romansh (helping preserve a Swiss minority language) and developed an anti-vandalism AI bot for moderation. We presented the ethically designed AI tool and other AI topics at the Open Education Day along with Programme Innovation.
• Financially and technically supported the expansion of myMoment, a German-language platform where students can create and share content in a safe environment, to include a section on “netiquette.

Programme impact

Key accomplishments

• Through the partnership with La Digitale, we extended our mission beyond Wikimedia projects to strengthen the broader OER ecosystem while also establishing a collaboration model between Wikimedia CH, open-source projects, and Swiss higher education institutions.
• We leveraged our technical expertise and relationships to benefit a like-minded organisation, creating a replicable model for future collaborations.
• Trained more than 50 librarians and public-school educators as part of the Semaine des Médias while developing scalable training materials and feedback systems for future trainings.

Lessons learned

• Formalising partnerships takes time: The La Digitale MoU process, from initial contact (May) to signature (September), required multiple iterations and stakeholder alignment.
• Technical support is valuable currency: Offering concrete technical assistance (monitoring, security audits) rather than just promotional partnerships creates deeper, more sustainable relationships.
• Academic partnerships multiply impact: Involving HEIG-VD students in the security audit provides educational value while delivering professional-quality assessment.
• WMCH's technical team is an asset that can be leveraged for partnerships.

Looking ahead

In 2026, the Education programme will focus on providing OER on specialised online platforms, particularly for lecturers at pedagogical universities and teacher trainings for future teachers, in alignment with Lehrplan 21. To do this, we plan to establish a pool of education experts to advance train-the-trainer programmes and develop new OER products whilst training educators on wiki tools and other skills. Our aim is to make these OER and courses available in all four national languages.

We will also continue expanding our partnerships with educational institutions and platforms whilst deepening our work on ethical AI applications in education. Through these efforts, we aim to position Wikimedia CH as a reliable partner for digital education and open knowledge in Switzerland.

Programme Community

Overview

The Community programme exists to support and empower the dedicated individuals who freely share their time and expertise to advance free knowledge. We are deeply grateful to all volunteers who contributed to Wikimedia projects in 2025. Their work lays the foundation on which Wikimedia CH operates.

In 2025, the Community Programme focused on creating sustainable pathways for volunteer engagement through strategic partnerships and community-led initiatives. A major theme was addressing gender gaps on Wikipedia by expanding successful programmes like the Edit-a-thon for More Visibility series and supporting new volunteer-driven projects. We also prioritised community health, launching a pilot project to support French-speaking contributors facing interpersonal challenges and discrimination.

The programme continued implementing the Wikimedia CH Community strategy, using insights from our community survey to guide decisions about how we allocate resources and support. By balancing planned activities with flexibility to respond to new opportunities, we strengthened our contributor base whilst maintaining the health and sustainability of our existing community.

Highlight activity

Expanding community-led initiatives for gender equity on Wikipedia A highlight for the Community Programme was expanding our support for volunteer-driven initiatives that address gender gaps on Wikipedia. By growing successful programmes and funding new community-led efforts, we helped create sustainable pathways for contributors to improve representation of women on Wikimedia projects.

The Edit-a-thon for More Visibility on Wikipedia series continued to evolve in 2025, expanding its reach through new partnerships whilst maintaining its focus on increasing visibility for women in sport. In May, we welcomed Somedia as a regular partner, enabling parallel events in Chur and Davos alongside our established Zurich venue. This expansion brought the editathon to new regions and attracted participants who might not otherwise have engaged with Wikipedia editing. A significant development came in November with a pilot project involving around 100 students from the Basel University of Art and Design (FHNW). This collaboration marked the first time the editathon series engaged with higher education at this scale. Beyond creating new content, participants focused on improving existing articles that had been flagged with maintenance modules, addressing quality gaps in Wikipedia's coverage.

Equally important was the emergence of a new community-led initiative that we helped fund. New monthly writing evenings launched in Zurich, organised independently by community members and focused on increasing the presence of women cultural workers on Wikipedia. Unlike one-off events, these regular meetups create a low-threshold, ongoing programme that helps new authors develop the confidence and skills to contribute to Wikipedia independently. This shift from event-based engagement to sustained community practice represents an important step in building a more self-sufficient and active contributor base.

Key programme activities

• As part of the Wikimedia CH Community strategy, conducted and published the results of a survey to better understand the needs of our community and how to best support contributors and published the results.

Participants at the writing workshop on biographies of female stage artists with the Institute of Theatre Studies at the University of Bern and the Swiss Archive of Performing Arts (SAPA)

• Launched a pilot project to support the well-being of French-speaking contributors to Wikimedia projects and Wikimedia CH association members in Switzerland, including a psychological hotline to support those facing interpersonal problems while contributing to Wikimedia platforms, legal advice for those impacted by hate-speech or other forms of discrimination in the Wiki community, and a webinar about requesting support from Wikipedia admins.
• Co-hosted an exceptionally well-attended and productive Wikipedia writing workshop on biographies of female stage artists with the Institute of Theatre Studies at the University of Bern and the Swiss Archive of Performing Arts (SAPA)
• Provided funding to a new partner, the non-profit organisation Loreley Films in Basel, for the MAKE THEM VISIBLE! event to increase information about women filmmakers and authors on Wikipedia.
• Continued support of long-term partners Les sans pagEs, Who writes his_tory?, and Noircir Wikipédia to increase representation of marginalised groups in Wikimedia projects, and SCI Switzerland for the Wikipedia for Peace Camp, in an expanded, co-funded format that resulted in substantially more participants and output.
• Awarded two scholarships to Wikimedians who presented at the Wikimania2025 conference in Nairobi, Kenya

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  Participants at the writing workshop on biographies of female stage artists
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  Group photo from the ItWikiCon 2025, which Wikimedia CH helped organise
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  New Year's Brunch in Lausanne
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  Participants at the community New Year's Brunch in Chiasso

Programme impact

Key accomplishments

• Expanded the Edit-a-thon for More Visibility series to new regions through the Somedia partnership and engaged 100 students through the FHNW pilot, demonstrating how strategic partnerships can multiply our impact.
• Supported community-led monthly editing events, continuing our shift from one-off events to ongoing community-building activities. This replicable model allows for low-threshold engagement that helps new contributors develop independence and confidence.
• Strengthened community health infrastructure with the French-speaking contributor well-being pilot, which provides meaningful support and guidance to contributors and tackles issues that can drive them away.

Lessons learned

• Clear intentions support and, in some cases, achieve many important milestones. Early planning and clear conceptual clarification really do lead to better results.
• A substantial part of our capacity should not be fully planned so that we can respond to new opportunities and challenges as they arise. We must take good care of ourselves and the existing community to remain motivated and capable of action beyond the short term.
• There are still many interesting partners out there. If we take a close look at their motivation and needs, and combine them with our capabilities, we can tap into significant new potential. Although it is not easy to develop new formats initially, it is worth embarking on this journey.

Looking ahead

In 2026, the Community Programme will continue successful projects and partnerships whilst expanding our work on hate speech, community health and volunteer support structures.

A major focus will be strengthening feedback systems through a second phase of our community survey and regular partner meetings to better identify needs and obstacles. We will evaluate the community care pilot services for French-speaking contributors and, if successful, adapt and expand them to other regions. Building on lessons learned in 2025, we will develop clearer pathways and support structures to help new volunteers overcome barriers to participation whilst monitoring engagement to provide timely support.

We will expand our thematic networking around diversity and sustainability topics and coordinate hate speech response efforts with partners in Switzerland and internationally. New partnerships with like-minded institutions will complement our continued collaborations with major, long-term partners. Last, but not least, we will help host the ItWikiCon for the first time in Ticino, strengthening connections with countries that share languages with Switzerland.

Public Affairs & Partnerships

Overview

Switzerland's position as host to international organisations and corporate headquarters uniquely positions Wikimedia CH to advocate for issues important to our Movement at both political and social levels.

Participants at Wikipedia Day 2025

The Advocacy & Partnerships programme saw significant growth in 2025 as Wikimedia CH evolved from participant to sought-after partner in digital policy discussions. Organisations increasingly approached us for collaboration and expertise, reflecting our growing recognition as a credible voice in debates around free knowledge, digital rights and cultural heritage. This shift enabled us to expand our advocacy infrastructure through strategic partnerships with networks like Sovereign Digital Switzerland and the TAROCH coalition whilst strengthening coordination with other Wikimedia chapters.

A major milestone was hosting our second Wikipedia Day in conjunction with our largest-ever General Assembly, bringing together approximately 100 Wikipedians, association members and partners to co-create Wikimedia CH's future. Throughout the year, we maintained strong presence at key international forums—including Wikimania in Nairobi and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 High-Level Event 2025 in Geneva—whilst deepening our engagement in Switzerland's digital policy landscape. We also developed and began implementing a coordinated advocacy strategy to ensure our free knowledge advocacy work aligns with broader strategic goals, positioning us for the 2026 jubilee year celebrating both Wikimedia CH's 20th anniversary and Wikipedia's 25th anniversary.

Highlight activity

Strengthening Global Networks and Advocacy Reach

In 2025, Wikimedia CH's advocacy work reached a new level as organisations increasingly approached us for partnership and expertise. This shift from participant to sought-after partner reflects our growing recognition in digital policy discussions.

Wikimania Nairobi 2025

At Wikimania 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya, we joined discussions centred on inclusivity, impact and sustainability, with particular emphasis on amplifying diverse voices within the Wikimedia Movement. The conference featured strong representation from African countries, enriching our understanding of how different regions approach free knowledge advocacy.

We reinforced our position in global digital policy at the WSIS+20 High Level Event in Geneva, where networking with other participants proved as valuable as the formal sessions. We expanded our advocacy role through membership in the new Sovereign Digital Switzerland network and the TAROCH coalition, which encourages UNESCO member states to improve open access to cultural heritage.

At the national level, we advocated for free knowledge at the Swiss Internet Governance Forum, participating in a panel on data, data protection, and data governance and strengthening our voice in Switzerland's digital policy landscape.

Participants at the Big Fat Brussels Meeting 2025

Throughout the year, we coordinated with other Wikimedia chapters and user groups through the Big Fat Brussels Meeting and regular advocacy meetings organised by the Wikimedia Foundation. We also attended the Political Tech Summit in Berlin alongside Wikimedia DE and Wikimedia Europe, networking with political experts, academics and technology specialists to address education and innovation needs in the political sphere. These touchpoints helped us stay connected to Movement-wide priorities while sharing Switzerland's unique perspective as a host country for international organisations and a multilingual democracy.

This increased demand from existing partners and new networks reflects Wikimedia CH's growing recognition as a reliable partner in digital policy discussions and our ability to bridge local Swiss contexts with global Movement priorities.

Key programme activities

Participants at Wikipedia Day 2025

• Organised and hosted our second Wikipedia Day, a successful event that brought together around 100 Wikipedians, association members and partners to kick off our new strategy development process and co-create Wikimedia CH’s future.
• Organised the association’s largest-ever in-person General Assembly in conjunction with Wikipedia Day, where members elected three new board members: Monique Morrow, Anna Jobin and Mirko Bischofberger.
• Continued our partnership with SRF to make explanatory SRF videos available under Creative Commons licences on Wikipedia and SRF’s website, a successful project that was publicised by SRF’s group, SRG/SSR.
• Launched a new open source membership platform to facilitate communication with members and allow for more direct sharing of opportunities to participate in association activities.
• Continued the More Women for Wikipedia initiative to bring more women into the community and close the gender gap in Wikipedia content by inviting women-focused organisations, groups and institutions as partners.
• Attended SXSW in London as a member of the Alliance Digitale, attending panel discussions on digital technology, regulations and geopolitics while building relationships with like-minded organisations such as Reset Tech and Amnesty Tech.
• Attended the 3rd General Assembly of Wikimedia Europe in Prague where we networked with other European chapters and explored how to amplify our impact through collaboration.
• Partnered with Wikimedia IT at the Classic Car Circuit Campione, documenting motor racing history and strengthening cross-chapter collaboration.
• Developed and began implementing an advocacy strategy to enable more coordinated and strategic advocacy work across national and international levels.

Logo for the 2026 Jubilee

• Began planning for the 2026 jubilee celebrating both Wikimedia CH's 20th anniversary and Wikipedia's 25th anniversary
• Developed an awareness campaign around Wikimedia CH’s purpose and impact, preparing the foundation for increased communication during the 2026 anniversary year.
• Partnered with the Public Discourse Foundation and Parldigi to plan an Open Hearing in 2026 on the impact of hate speech online and in Swiss politics.
• Confirmed attendance at the Political Tech Summit in January 2026 in Berlin together with Wikimedia Europe and Wikimedia DE to continue building relationships in the political technology space.
• Continued work to modernise our website to make it more user-friendly and improve communications with diverse stakeholders.
• Hosted another successful “Friendraising” event in Zürich, which included a visit to the SRF studio and welcomed around 45 guests.

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  Participants at the WMEU General Assembly
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  Jenny Ebermann and Board member Monique Morrow at Wikipedia Day 2025

Programme impact

Key accomplishments

• Continued our evolution from participant to sought-after partner in digital policy discussions, with organisations increasingly approaching us for collaboration and expertise.
• Strengthened our position as a convening force within the Wikimedia Movement, bringing together approximately 100 stakeholders for Wikipedia Day and facilitating coordination between European chapters.
• Expanded our advocacy infrastructure through development and implementation of a coordinated advocacy strategy, positioning us for more strategic engagement at both national and international policy levels.
• Grew our newsletter recipient list by nearly 33% while maintaining an open rate of 53%, which is well over the industry average.

Lessons learned

• Strategic preparation for high-level conferences yields better results. Reviewing attendance lists in advance and arranging meetings beforehand requires time and planning but significantly increases the value of these events.
• Acting as a unified Movement rather than individual chapters amplifies our impact in international spaces and strengthens our collective voice.
• Internal coordination needs improvement across multiple areas— from how we present the chapter and Movement to determining who attends which conferences and how we communicate our purpose and mission.
• While the entire team advocates for free knowledge, we need a coordinated approach to maximise our effectiveness and ensure our efforts align with broader strategic goals.

Looking ahead

In 2026, the programme will focus on strategic advocacy work whilst maintaining our presence at UN gatherings and Swiss policy meetings. We will deepen collaborations with Swiss IGF, Parldigi, the Network for a Sovereign and Digital Switzerland and Alliance Digitale, aligning our work with Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Europe and Wikimedia DE strategies to strengthen our collective impact. We will also continue our micro-financing effort for Wikifranca, as well as the "Care Forward" initiative to counter hate speech on Wikimedia platforms and beyond.

A major campaign will highlight Wikimedia CH's values and purpose, coinciding with Wikipedia's 25th anniversary and Wikimedia CH's 20th anniversary. The Theory U strategy development process will culminate in a retreat launching our 2027–2032 strategic plan, whilst the General Assembly will be embedded in birthday celebrations around Wikipedia Day. These milestones provide opportunities to strengthen our voice in digital policy discussions whilst celebrating our achievements and setting ambitious goals for the future.

Experimentation & Innovation

Wikimedia CH's Innovation Strategy 2022-2025

Overview

The Innovation programme continued as a testing ground for experimentation and strategic foresight, particularly around societal and technological changes that impact Wikimedia projects. In 2025, we focused on three priorities: advancing responsible AI integration, strengthening scientific partnerships, and building technical infrastructure. As AI systems increasingly mediate how people access knowledge, our work became more urgent. We positioned Wikimedia CH as a thought leader in debates about the future of collaborative knowledge systems.

A defining achievement was our strategic roundtable on Collective Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence. We partnered with IMD Business School Lausanne and the Open Future Foundation to bring together 20 international experts, examining how generative AI is reshaping Wikimedia and the broader knowledge ecosystem. We also expanded academic partnerships across Swiss institutions, developed AI-powered tools addressing quality challenges on Wikimedia platforms and continued building the technical community and infrastructure essential for sustainable innovation.

Highlight activity

Collective Intelligence vs Artificial Intelligence – Strategic Roundtable & White Paper

The Innovation programme reached a strategic milestone with the launch of a multi-stage initiative examining how generative AI is reshaping Wikimedia and the broader knowledge ecosystem. On 4 November, Wikimedia CH partnered with IMD Business School Lausanne and the Open Future Foundation to convene a strategic roundtable exploring the future relationship between human collective intelligence and artificial intelligence.

AI Roundtable in Lausanne

The roundtable brought together 20 experts from across the Wikimedia Movement, AI development, data science, journalism and research to address an urgent question: what happens to Wikimedia when AI stops merely reading Wikipedia and starts replacing it as a primary source of knowledge? Participants examined how a new "knowledge loop" is emerging where access to knowledge is increasingly mediated by AI tools, creating serious risks that knowledge commons like Wikipedia will be used for AI development without companies contributing back to them.

This initiative positions Wikimedia CH at the centre of global debates on AI, knowledge governance and the future of collaborative knowledge systems. The roundtable demonstrated strong external interest in Wikimedia's role as a neutral, public-interest actor in the AI era, with partners expecting us to provide foresight beyond operational projects. Discussions highlighted the urgency for new governance models around AI transparency, open models and knowledge equity.

The insights will inform a white paper, interview series and actionable recommendations for the Wikimedia ecosystem in 2026, feeding directly into the Innovation Compass research line. The partnership with IMD and Open Future strengthened Wikimedia CH's credibility across sectors and confirmed our ability to bridge research, policy and communities—though this requires stable investment in research-based innovation.

Key programme activities

• Strengthened partnerships with Swiss academic institutions to make research more accessible and advance open science. This included expanding the ResearCH goes Wiki project with new seminars at ETH Zurich, funding the Researchers in Wikidata project which was presented at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, partnering with a University of Zurich research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation investigating the influence and impact of generative AI on science communication in Switzerland, supporting the Open Science Retreat 2025, and co-organising a three-day seminar with ETH Zurich exploring the intersection of technology and society in history.

Participants at the WikiCite Conference

• Advanced AI-powered quality improvement initiatives across Wikimedia projects, including partnering with the IBM watsonx GenAI Challenge Switzerland 2025 where PhD teams from the Universities of Zurich and Lucerne developed prototypes identifying knowledge gaps in climate change coverage on Wikipedia, and providing grants for the Scaling Wikidata project to benchmark data quality challenges across languages and domains and the CitationWatchlist project to help editors monitor and improve transparency and traceability of references in articles across Wikimedia projects.
• Co-hosted the WikiCite/Wikidata Conference in Bern along with Programme GLAM, bringing together libraries, researchers, and the future of structured data. This high-profile event strengthened Switzerland's position as a hub for linked open data innovation.
• Provided funding for WikiPortraits initiatives at major Swiss cultural events, including Eurovision and Art Basel, to enrich Wikimedia Commons with high-quality, freely licensed portraits while increasing the diversity and visibility of the artists on Wikimedia platforms. We also funded the development of Commons Gallery, a website where users can create galleries of WikiPortraits images.

A screenshot showing an example of a collection on Commons Gallery

• Released a new version of the GLAM statistical tool, which was re-engineered for better performance, reliability, and data visualisation capabilities.
• Upgraded Wikimini, the online encyclopaedia for kids, improving security, stability and performance.
• Delivered educational workshops on AI and Wikimedia, including a talk on "AI-supported adaptive learning in Wikimedia projects" at the Open Education Day at the Bern University of Teacher Education and a workshop at the University Library of Zurich with Wikipedian Diego Hättenschwiler that provided insights into how GenAI models work and presented the Wikimedia Foundation's strategy.
• Launched the Dapples archive project to preserve, digitise and make the family's heritage publicly available on Wikimedia Commons. This project led to interesting insights that will inform the Wikiklima project.
• Took a leadership role at Jugend Hackt 2025 in the core organisational committee under Digitale Gesellschaft. Two editions in Zurich and Bern engaged 30 young people who developed 8 projects.
• Participated in the readout of 15 biographies of marginalised pioneers in Creative Computing, an open call from the European Commission Research (COST-Action) group into Digital Grassroot Movements of Europe (GRADE), which aims to establish best practices for publishing their OERs and data through Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata for the wider EC research community.

Programme impact

Key accomplishments

• Positioned Wikimedia CH as a strategic voice in AI and knowledge governance, extending our influence beyond the Wikimedia Movement into academic, policy and corporate spheres.
• Strengthened Switzerland's reputation as a hub for open knowledge innovation by hosting the WikiCite/Wikidata Conference and helping research communities in major Swiss institutions engage with Wikimedia projects.
• Developed AI-powered prototypes that directly address Wikimedia quality challenges, demonstrating how AI can support— not compete with— open knowledge projects.
• Expanded free knowledge accessibility by upgrading educational platforms like Wikimini, enriching Commons with diverse portraits from major cultural events, and engaging 30 young people through Jugend Hackt to develop innovative projects.

Lessons learned

• External partners increasingly see Wikimedia as a crucial neutral voice in shaping AI and knowledge systems, creating strategic influence opportunities beyond the Movement.
• Partners expect insight and foresight, not just operational projects, confirming the need for the Innovation Compass to anticipate rather than react to future developments.
• New governance models around AI transparency and knowledge equity are needed more urgently than anticipated, requiring Wikimedia to actively help define these frameworks.
• Bridging research, policy and communities is a distinctive strength for Wikimedia CH, but requires stable long-term investment in research-based innovation.

Looking ahead

In 2026, the Innovation programme will focus on helping Wikimedia adapt to rapid technological change by developing responsible AI tools, monitoring emerging technologies, and building sustainability-focused projects. We will systematically analyse technological and social shifts to identify which developments will most impact Wikimedia projects, transforming potential challenges into opportunities for the global free knowledge movement. Building on the success of the 2025 roundtable, we will continue partnerships with high-level organisations like IMD and Open Future Foundation.

Key initiatives include launching the Wikiklima Observatory with two pilot projects integrating scientific and visual climate data into Wikimedia platforms, continuing Innovation AI expert roundtables, developing tools to improve Wikipedia quality, and establishing the Innovation Compass to produce strategic briefings on the future of AI. We will support experimental projects through a new call for proposals, provide follow-up funding to projects incubated in 2025, and test AI-assisted translation tools. We will strengthen connections between open science and Wikimedia platforms and work to build a diverse technical community to ensure sustainable innovation within the Wikimedia ecosystem.

Looking ahead as a chapter

The year 2026 marks a transformative moment for Wikimedia CH as we celebrate Wikipedia's 25th anniversary and our own 20th anniversary. These milestones represent a strategic inflection point as we finalise our 2026-2031 strategy whilst preparing our organisation for an increasingly uncertain world.

Wikimedia CH celebrates 20 years in 2026

A focus of our anniversary year will centre on raising awareness of Wikimedia CH's work and mission through a campaign to clarify the distinctions and connections between Wikimedia CH, Wikipedia and the broader Wikimedia Movement. We will also convene partners, engage association members and create opportunities for sharing and learning through the joint General Assembly and Wikipedia Day celebrations.

As Wikimedia CH grows and the external environment becomes more uncertain, organisational culture and adaptability become critical success factors. We are intentionally building a culture that can navigate uncertainty whilst remaining true to our mission and values. Our strategy development process will provide clarity and direction for this evolution.

With clear strategic direction, strengthened impact measurement and a resilient organisational culture, we will be well-positioned to advance free knowledge whilst safeguarding the platforms and principles that make it possible.

Revenues received during this 12-month period

Table 2 Please report all spending in the currency of your grant unless US$ is requested.

• Please also include any in-kind contributions or resources that you have received in this revenues table. This might include donated office space, services, prizes, food, etc. If you are to provide a monetary equivalent (e.g. $500 for food from Organization X for service Y), please include it in this table. Otherwise, please highlight the contribution, as well as the name of the partner, in the notes section.

Revenue source	Currency	Anticipated	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Cumulative	Anticipated ($US)*	Cumulative ($US)*	Explanation of variances from plan
Exchange Rate								1.1638	1.1638
Membership fees (3000)	CHF	16,000.00	526.10	17,245.26	1,259.40	3,050.00	22,080.76	18,620.80	25,697.59	We are in the process of implementing our new membership strategy, thus were able to reach out to more members as foreseen.
WMF Fundraising Costs (3402)	CHF	143,892.00	1,641.54	1,571.14	1,059.62	155,804.39	160,076.69	167,461.51	186,297.25	The banner campaign saw a slightly increased income as previously foreseen.
Donations WMCH (3410)	CHF	3,550,897.20	301,821.52	957,985.04	363,640.79	2,754,564.95	4,378,012.30	4,132,534.16	5,095,130.71	A couple of changes in WMCH's own fundraising efforts as well as geopolitical circumstances made 2025 to a very successful year for fundraising.
Courses (3610)	CHF	200.00	0	0	0	1'200.00	1,200.00	232.76	1,396.56	More courses than foreseen were conducted even though their final number still remains very low (not a key activity for WMCH).
Pro Bono / In-kind donations (3420)	CHF	13,000.00	2,158.00	2,204.25	4,348.50	6,722.75	15,433.50	15,129.40	17,961.51	Many of WMCH's vendors propose pro-bono services and room rentals can often be secured for free or at a low cost. On top of that, WMCH's overall pro bono tracking was better this year.
TOTAL	CHF	3,723,989.20	306,147.16	979,005.69	370,308.31	2,921,342.09	4,576,803.25	4,333,978.63	5,326,483.62	-

* Provide estimates in US Dollars

Spending during this 12-month period

Table 3 Please report all spending in the currency of your grant unless US$ is requested.

(The "budgeted" amount is the total planned for the year as submitted in your proposal form or your revised plan, and the "cumulative" column refers to the total spent to date this year. The "percentage spent to date" is the ratio of the cumulative amount spent over the budgeted amount.)

Expense	Currency	Budgeted	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Cumulative	Budgeted ($US)*	Cumulative ($US)*	Percentage spent to date	Explanation of variances from plan
Exchange Rate								1.1638	1.1638
PROGRAM 1 - GLAM	CHF	273,000.00	18,058.34	34,700.88	66,030.68	85,858.18	204,648.08	317,717.40	238,169.44	74.96	Several projects did not go ahead as planned such as for example the ‘Faces and Masks’ project foreseen for Wikimania (the application was not successful). Furthermore, the GLAM Hack 2025, organised by opendata.ch and openGLAM CH - supported by WMCH, could also not take place (changes in the management team at opendata.ch, reorganisation of openGLAM).
PROGRAM 2 - Education	CHF	299,700.00	14,833.74	46,745.78	31,127.67	100,707.62	193,414.81	348,790.86	225,096.16	64.54	The budget for 2025 included consultancy and expert fees for producing materials. Finally, a workaround could be found, programmes were adapted and the spent was thus significantly lower than originally planned.
PROGRAM 3 - Community	CHF	209,000.00	47,333.41	38,192.38	51,690.49	51,232.95	188,449.23	243,234.20	219,317.21	90.17	The Community Programme, although very unpredictable because it mainly consists of volunteer driven projects, delivered as planned in 2025. A couple of projects spent less since they contained buffers for services to be made use of (i.e. psychological hotline, legal support etc.)
Program 4: International and National Relations	CHF	261,500.00	17,570.17	74,121.72	68,719.91	68,070.37	228,482.17	304,333.70	265,907.55	87.37	A couple of projects like the "Open Hearing" for example were not implemented in 2025; what is more, WMCH was able to save substantial costs for the organisation of the Wikipedia Day. This resulted in a budget not completely spent although having conducted a successful programme in 2025.
PROGRAM 5- Innovation	CHF	362,100.00	52,237.53	55,113.75	97,310.23	152,608.66	357,270.17	421,411.98	415,791.02	98.67	The innovation programme delivered as expected.
Staff Wages & Expenses	CHF	1,829,059.00	420,197.53	428,826.19	448,041.68	582,634.23	1,879,699.63	2,129,126.71	2,187,594.43	102.77	WMCH was able to hire an HR Officer in Q4 which was not originally planned but became necessary to secure operations.
Operations (excludes staff and programs)	CHF	489,630.00	84,057.92	93,058.53	123,030.90	87,608.42	387,755.77	569,831.39	451,270.17	79.19	WMCH always tries to keep its operational costs as low as possible. WMCH also does not rent any office space. In 2025 the fees for maintaining our servers were higher than previously expected.
TOTAL	CHF	3,723,989.00	654,288.64	770,759.23	885,951.56	1,128,720.43	3,439,719.86	4,334,446.25	4,003,145.97	92.36	WMCH is ending its year with an underspent for the above-named reasons!

* Provide estimates in US Dollars

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• Jenny WMCH (talk) 16:36, 25 March 2026 (UTC)