Projekt:Wikimedia Uganda 2015/Ansökan till Creative Force

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Organisation: Svenska institutet

Sista ansökningsdatum: 21 januari

Max bidrag: 500 000 kronor

Bedömd chans:

Väntevärde:

Värde för WMSE (1-5):

Beslutsdatum: 13 mars 2015

Uppföljning inför inskick:

PROJECT DETAILS

Title of the project:

Using Wikipedia as a channel for extensive dissemination of knowledge with participation as a guiding principle to create a change in a sustainable direction.

Location(s):

Uganda

Duration:

1 February 2015 - 31 December 2015

Sum applied for (in SEK):

500 000 kronor

APPLICATION SUMMARY

Specific objective(s)

• To empower and build capacity within people to become drivers of a strong democratic society.
• Increase and spread knowledge and experiences about practical sustainable development including, among others, health issues in rural societies in Uganda by using the Luganda Wikipedia.
• To document traditional and new innovative methods to develop communities in a climate changing world and create a culture of sharing knowledge and reach and empower the most vulnerable in the societies.
• To develop people´s knowledge in using mobile-devices to access information crucial to increase their living standards and ability to become critical and reflective thinking citizens.
• To create a North-South online collaboration among schools to develop ideas and broaden perspectives among young people regarding sustainable development issues.

Partner(s)

Wikimedia Sverige (WMSE), WWF Sweden in cooperation with WWF ROA, Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS), Africa Centre, Mbazzi Farmers Association and Swedish International Center of Education for Sustainable Development (SWEDESD).

Target group(s)

Through the project we will target a number of people that work for change in the Ugandan society and introduce them to new tools for their work. We have a strong consortium of local civil society partners that have strong local support and knowledge how to reach these people. Through WWF ROA, URCS, Africa Center and Mbazzi Farmer association we can identify people that have the drive and that already have shown interest to affect their local communities. Through the wikis, a form of media tools that are new in Uganda, we give them the ability to do this with very small means.

Final beneficiaries

The people that are empowered by the project will be able to share and take advantage of the information. This is not only the people in the area, because Wikipedia can be used by everyone with an internet connection. Wikipedia also exists in many languages from which one can translate to and from. Hence, people from the entire area, and from the rest of the world can benefit from the knowledge shared here. In Uganda we will, through the project team, be able to focus our outreach towards women, youth and farmers. Three groups that have a very large gain from this type of knowledge about IT and sustainable development as it can enrich their lives in many ways.

Estimated results

Through wikis we have a new media platform to reach out and give people the possibility to share their knowledge, something that can have a significant impact on the society in Uganda and how information is spread. As a pilot within the Wakiso, Mpigi and Masaka district in Uganda, more sustainable and resilient rural communities are created for the development of a more democratic society. We estimate that Luganda Wikipedia will be improved by increase the number of editors, increase readership and pave the way for a sustainable local Wikimedia community.

Main activities

Educate people in writing notable articles, with citation, about practical sustainable development issues including, among others, health issues within Luganda Wikipedia. Start up a national Wikipedia center in Kampala as well as 4 local centers in Wakiso and Masaka districts. Run the continuation of the Wikipedia center in Mbazzi. Educate schools and universities and local communities in the selected area how to use Wikipedia in education for sustainable development and how to access the information online through mobile-device and/or computers.

Investigating the possibilities and helping with the practical need to form Wikimedia Uganda in the near future. Creating a North-South online collaboration among three schools/work teams in East Africa and three schools/work teams in Sweden to develop ideas and broaden perspectives among young people regarding sustainable development issues. The aim is to increase interest in and understanding of each other's cultures, gain new perspectives and create a platform for cooperation.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Mbazzi Wikipedia center started in January 2014 funded by Wikimedia Foundation and WMSE. WWF Sverige funded a education tour when two wikipedia ambassadors from WMSE educated mainly farmers, teachers, students, project leaders in Kampala, Wakiso, Mpigi and Masaka district in how to write articles about sustainable development issues in Luganda Wikipedia. Parallel to this initiative WikiAfrica at the AfricaCenter, based in South Africa, increased their work within Uganda with a project called Kumusha takes Wiki with the aim to involve communities to share their knowledge on Wikipedia. During 2014 communities have been educated around Uganda in how to write articles in Wikipedia as a tool for empowerment.

In September 2014 an initial meeting was set up to see the possibilities to include the Uganda Red Cross Society, URCS, in Luganda Wikipedia and see how the two parallel “processes”, described above, could benefit from each other and how to include and use the URCS and scale up the work. During this process it has also come clear, through the inclusion of SWEDESD at Uppsala University, the importance to connect learning research with three strong global societal trends; the increased interest in wiki-like information systems, the global increase in mobile technology penetration, and a growing awareness of the complexity of environment- and development challenges in educational institutions. SWEDESD will, according to the information above, seek money from The Swedish Research Council to use this project as a case study for the coming Action research project.

WWF ROA has been implementing the East Africa Education for Sustainable Development in the Lake Victoria Catchment in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda over the last ten years. This involved working with schools, youth groups and communities to promote the conservation of the Lake Victoria Basin ecosystem while at the same promoting sustainable livelihoods for the communities living. Different youth groups have engaged in diverse sustainable income generating activities that have led to their being economically empowered.

Describe how the partnership between the Swedish partner and the local partner (s) will operate. Who will be responsible for what? Have you worked together before?

Some of us have been working together before, some of us have not. But over time we have gradually developed a mutual understanding of what it is we want to implement and who could take the lead in different roles. We are a diverse group of organizations, with different capacities and that in itself will be used as the strength in this project.

Therefor following division of roles have been defined:

WMSE will be responsible for managing the project and resources. WMSE has also been one of the initiators of creating the Mbazzi Center. Their contribution will be the skills in how to write articles as well as how to structure it in how to get good quality articles into the Luganda Wikipedia. WMSE will provide expertise on how to create a chapter and ongoing share the expertise that they have gathered with regards to event organization and technical matters.

WWF Sweden together with WWF ROA (ROA = Regional Office for Africa) are stakeholders and initiators of the establishment of Luganda Wikipedia within their ESD East Africa programme. They will have a key-role in making sure the component of shared information is related to ESD (Education for Sustainable Development). WWF ROA will together with their Ugandan partner organisation Nature Uganda have a workshop in how to write articles in Wikipedia and spread knowledge about Sustainable Development. WWF ROA will work with Nature Uganda and the communities to translate the different Education for Sustainable materials. WWF will also help contribute to the North - South collaboration.

SWEDESD will be responsible for the research component in connection to this project and keep track on the ESD umbrella as well as the focus on the Mobile life-long learning aspect. Partly also take the role of an overall coordinator to synchronize research to all different parts of the project. They will also contribute to tools and methods in how to reach out.

UCRS will play the role of host of a national Wikimedia Center as well as having the base for local Wiki-centers in the target area Wakiso and Masaka. They also have a base of volunteers that could be peers and drivers for expanding the knowledge and interest for Wikipedia in the communities as well as writing articles within the areas of health, DRR, Sanitation, HIV/aids etc.

Mbazzi Farmers Association has the first real established Wiki Center on a local level. The people at the center are peers and drivers for Luganda Wikipedia and could be drivers of writing articles within the Luganda Wikipedia. They could also be the node at a community level for give and gain knowledge and be a peer in exploring. Art Africa Centre

Why is it relevant for the Swedish partner to take part in the project? What knowledge/expertise will you bring to it?

WMSE will be responsible for managing the project and resources. We are professionals in how to use Wikipedia as a learning tool. Wikipedia volunteers online are supported by national Wikimedia Chapters. These are formal democratic member organizations that compared to individual volunteers are able to work more long term with other organizations and authorities in the country. A Wikimedia Chapter can receive financial support from the Wikimedia Foundation for Wikipedia related activities. Hence, the benefits are great, but it is a long and rather tricky process. The staff at WMSE has gone through the journey of formalizing a chapter and will provide expertise on how to create a chapter in Uganda.

WWF Sweden has worked since 2004 with a programme called Education for Sustainability in East Africa. We have gathered a lot of knowledge, information and experiences that we want to disseminate. We do think that using ITC could be very powerful in order to disseminate experiences in general and to use Wikipedia in the local language especially. Wikipedia stands also for participation, a democratic approach, worldwide, reflection, different perspectives etc. In other words, keys to develop the society in a more sustainable direction. WWF Sweden have a close collaboration with WWF ROA.

SWEDESD main task is to improve and emphasise methods, education for a more sustainable society. With our partners, SWEDESD is engaged in learning and change processes that empower students and learners to reach solutions to the pressing global sustainability challenges of our time. SWEDESD´s current research is focused on transformative learning in informal and formal contexts, including climate change education, learning for sustainable urban development and mainstream ESD in school systems and teacher education. Therefor the SWEDESD main purpose in being part of this project is the aim to use this project as a case for action research. The aim of the research is to study the learning processes involved in using mobile hand held technology in informal environmental and sustainability education practice.

Why is it relevant for the local partner(s) to take part in the project? What knowledge/expertise will they bring to it?

Mbazzi Farmers Association will continue with the Wiki Center and contribute with articles about farming and share their experience in how to start and develop a Wiki Center in rural villages.With their base within the local society they will continue their developed wiki skills and and spread it further to benefit among others the local farmers in the area.

URCS, vision is to empower, healthy and self-sustaining communities that responds to the needs of the most vulnerable in society and with the mission to be a leading humanitarian agency in Uganda in saving lives, supporting livelihoods and promote human dignity. One of URCS 10 core values includes issues of democracy. Within the organisation there are many skilled volunteers and by being part of this project URCS will also gain new skills and ways of improving the lives of the most vulnerable in society. URCS also have a solid base for the implementation and expansion of the Luganda Wikipedia. Through their network of 300,000 volunteers knowledge and experiences from the project can be spread throughout the country.

Art Africa Centre

The local partners will also work on creating a list of topics that the participants (if they so choose) can work on. In the end it is the participants that decide what to write about, but having a list with suggestions can help some to get going right away. This is a strategy that has worked in other projects organized by WMSE. A list with important articles can also help the international Wikimedia Community to assist by improving the articles in other languages so that they can be translated.

Is this the continuation of a previous project? If so, explain how it will build on the results already achieved and how it takes the previous project further. (Please give the project number of the previous project if it received funding from SI.)

This project is a joint pilot and collaboration of four Wikipedia projects in Uganda 2014:

Mbazzi Wikipedia center, Developing Luganda Wikipedia, WWF Wikipedia project and Kumusha takes Wiki as is described in point 1. With the above mentioned background we will cooperate and use respective partners expertise and experience in a collaboratively way and that in itself will be a strength of this project. As a first step WWF ROA has invited some of the new partners of this project to take part in WWF ROA already scheduled education of WWF core team leaders in Uganda and East Africa as a first step to start to cooperate in this Wiki project.

Since the use of Wikipedia is in its infancy in Uganda (and in Africa in general) there are lots of opportunities in developing a serious tool/resource of information valuable for people to empower themselves and create a more sustainable life/society. It is also an opportunity in further develop methods/paths in how to involve people in writing articles in a serious way, both regarding content as well as objectiveness.

Have any of the partner organisations applied for or been granted funding from any other source for the proposed project? If so, give the name of the funding body and contact details

WWF Sweden got funding by Sida for an application 2014-2016 Framework Agreement Application Sida CivSam 2013 to strengthen the civil society voice and action through capacity building; 2) to facilitate establishment of coalitions, platforms and networks to coordinate and strengthen the voices of civil society in relation to key issues 3) to improve the enabling conditions for civil society to act.

WWF Sweden has funding for education of core team leaders in February 2015 and some equipment (as mentioned above).

Have you carried out any other projects in the last five years which are relevant for this application? If so, please provide information, including contact person at any funding body. Give the project number if the project in question received funding from SI.

WMSE is constantly engaging new users to Wikipedia and are giving workshops and producing information material. This has been done to a varied set of target groups from teachers and students to volunteers and professionals. We have received grants from several funding bodies for this, most notably Wikimedia Foundation in the USA. Contact person Katy Love klove@wikimedia.org.

No funding has been received from SI before.

PROBLEM AND TARGET GROUP ANALYSIS

A). What is the specific problem that the project seeks to address?

The main problem to address is how to disseminate knowledge in the fields of sustainable development in general and specific knowledge about health, farming, food, food security, water, how to come out of poverty and how to stop degradation of the environment etc to many people in an efficient manner. It also address the need for a greater media literacy and critical and reflective thinking at citizens of Uganda.

B). Why is this problem relevant with regard to democracy or freedom of speech?

The access to knowledge for everyone without costs is fundamental for democracy and freedom of speech. Through Luganda Wikipedia it will be possible to both share as well as access information. Especially knowledge about human survival and how to get the basic needs in life. To give people the knowledge in using their mobile-device to access information crucial to increase their living standards and ability to become critical and reflective thinking citizens is one way of increase a democratic society as well as giving people the strength to speech freely.

Sustainable development is one of the biggest challenges mankind ever has faced. If we want to achieve sustainable development everyone must participate. One of the cornerstones in developing a good democracy is to make the relevant knowledge to build a sustainable society accessible to many. Wikipedia is in many ways a project of democracy: it’s an open resource, knowledge is available to everyone, you can participate to contribute as an individual in knowledge building, if you are dissatisfied with a Wikipedia article you can start a debate. To be able to reach the poorest in the communities, Wikipedia Zero has been developed in 29 countries to make information accessible without charge. As the information is under a free license the material can be reused in numerous ways.

Describe your target group(s) and explain why you have chosen to target it/them specifically?

The chosen target group are change agents in the Ugandan society and we will introduce them to new tools for their work. These groups are drivers and peers and have strong and well functioning local networks that will be hugely beneficial for the project.

Through WWF ROA, URCS, Africa Center and Mbazzi Farmer association we will reach both women, youth and farmers in rural societies that have the drive and that already have shown interest to affect their local communities. The volunteers will become Wikipedia editors and readers, indeed ambassadors, through the workshops.

How will the project involve its target group(s)?

The project aims to implement structures from a national to local level to secure a strong base for reaching out to the local communities and the defined target groups. It will be a chain of empowerment from the national Wikimedia center, to the local centers that will become nodes for the target groups to access and learn how to use Wikipedia as an open educational resource and how to write articles and share knowledge. At the local Wiki Centers there will be wiki ambassadors, among others Red Cross volunteers who already have the linkages out in the communities, going out disseminating, inform and teach about Wikipedia and how to access it through mobile-devices. The local Wiki Centers will be open for people to come and attend workshops, sessions and access information on the Wikipedia. Wiki-ambassadors will also be doing outreach activities. The organizations have active women and youth groups that will be targeted.

Describe your final beneficiaries and explain exactly how they will benefit from the project? (In no particular order)

Women in Uganda are strong drivers of building democratic institutions and nation-builders as well as keeping the family together but still there are factors marginalizing them as Ugandan citizens. People’s attitudes on issues of gender and the difficulties in implementing national, constitutional standpoints with regards to gender perspectives throughout the social chain out to the smallest village where, usually, a traditional approach and views on women still dominates. If they get access to information that will increase their opportunity to get a more sustainable life and a democratic voice.

Youth is the future community and family leaders. If we give the youth the best knowledge and skills we can give it will result in a big pay of both for them and a future democratic society. To teach them how to share knowledge about sustainable issues, be critical to sources and use knowledge we help them to create a sustainable society.The proportion of young people are among the highest in the world and the population is increasing rapidly - if the increase continues at the same rate as now, the population will have doubled by 2030.

Farmers in local societies are important because they provide food for the whole population. Their farming have impact on the environment and is also very dependent on the environment. In the light of climate change this group is very vulnerable because of unpredictable weather and draughts. New agriculture methods like agroforestry can help them to increase their harvest and be more resilient. 70% of the farmers in Uganda are women, which make the Wikipedia project a good way to reach women. Describe other stakeholders who will be affected by the project or who may be expected to affect it in some way.

With a more sustainable agriculture the food safety in the whole region will benefit. With lesser environment degradation and knowledge about how to increase biodiversity the resilience of the ecosystems will remains and also benefit the people in many ways. With more and better access to health information and medical knowledge the over all health situation can improve. With free access to knowledge the base for democracy is laid. It will also benefit teachers and students if using Wikipedia as a open education resource and create local education material.

OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

What are the specific objective(s) of the project? (Max 500 characters)

During 2015 we want:

• a) to disseminate concrete experiences in the area of sustainable development issues as basic needs, health, sanitation, and education, protection of biodiversity and develop knowledge about how to create sustainable local economy
• b) to establish a culture of sharing knowledge and promote critical thinking
• c) to introduce mobile learning through mobile devices
• d) to connect schools in Uganda with schools in Sweden through online communication to develop ideas and broaden perspectives among young people regarding sustainable development issues.

What are the expected results of the project 1) in the short term? 2) In the long term?

In the short term a) bring people together interested in creating a local Wikimedia organisation and investigate ways to formalize it b) establish local Wiki centers in Wakiso and Masaka district c) > 200 articles about sustainable development is created at the Wiki centers at the Red Cross offices in Wakiso/Masaka area, Mbazzi Wikipedia center and WWF projects. d) Increase peoples accessibility to Wikipedia. In the long term we expect more sustainable societies as a good base for democracy and establishing a formal Wikimedia organisation in Uganda.

Specify three indicators which will indicate whether that change has been achieved at the end of the project.

The project is very much about behaviour change, something that is very difficult to evaluate within a one year implementation. But below are 3 indicators that is measurable:

1. Number of articles in Luganda Wikipedia
2. Number of people that have been trained in writing on Wikipedia.
3. Number of people reached out to and informed of Wikipedia as a resource for information and the accessibility to it by mobile device.

How will you measure whether these changes stated in the indicators have been achieved?

1. Creation of articles can easily be tracked exactly with built in tools within Wikipedia.
2. Participant list will be made at each activity.
3. At each outreach the number of people approached will be recorded and it will indirectly be measured through page views of Luganda Wikipedia.

Explain why your expected results are relevant for the Creative Force programme objective (s) you have ticked on page 1 of this application.

Free knowledge is the base for democracy and freedom of speech. Wikipedia provide people the ability to share knowledge and learn the importance of being critical to sources. Thanks to Wikipedia Zero, which enables mobile phone users to use free Wikipedia and cooperation with the Uganda Red Cross, which has a well-established and developed network, we will have new platforms for Wikipedia uses in everyday life. In addition, we broaden the arena by collaboration between North and South.

In this project, we emphasize a bottom up approach and democratic aspiration where we make it easier for many to create and disseminate information and knowledge to many. In addition, we turn especially to youth, women and farmers.

IMPLEMENTATION

List the project’s main activities in the table below. Where will the activity take place? Explain clearly the purpose of each activity and why each activity is necessary to reach the expected results of the project.

Activity	Purpose (obligatory)	Time and place
Stakeholder meeting	To plan and see how all resources can be used in an effective way	Masaka 27 Feburary
“Inventory check”	Create a list of the most needed articles.	February-March, Online
Educating volunteers at the local wikicenters to become wiki-ambassadors	To get good wiki ambassadors that can write articles of good quality and get started in article creation. Out of the volunteers receiving basic training a chosen few will be hand picked to receive the advanced training in Masaka.	"Five 3-days trainings:
April - Basic trainings at the local wiki centersJuly - Advanced training in Masaka"
Educate other writers in the communities in how to write articles	To engage and involve local community people in writing good articles	August - December at the local Wikicenters
Use the already existing WWF SD material	To build on existing documented knowledge by the community members to share to wider public	April - November 2015, Uganda
Choose schools in Uganda and Sweden for the online collaboration part of the project.	To be able to start the collaboration between North and South.	March, Uganda and Sweden
Equip the centers	To make sure that all the centers have good equipment.	March - April, at the Wiki Centers in Uganda.
Mid-term review and knowledge sharing	To review and be of help if any problem etc. See how the work is going in the communities and share best practises. To see how the Wiki can be used in schools and universities.	10-20 July, Uganda.
Sessions on outreach methods	What content to inform about as well as how to do/plan the outreach/ communication. Best practises shared in online sessions.	May, online.
Outreach; Dissemination to the local communities	To raise awareness off how to access Wikipedia both at the local wiki centers as in their mobile-devise	June - November, local communities Wakiso, Mpigi and Masaka district
Evaluation	Collect information and evaluate the project.	All through out the project but with focus in November-December, online.
Stakeholder meeting	To sum up the project and see how the work can continue. Workshops in how to form a Wikimedia organisation with identified interested volunteers.	December, Kampala.

EVALUATION

After the end of the project, how do you plan to evaluate whether or not you have achieved your expected results and contributed to the programme objective(s) selected on page 1?

• Statistics in Wikipedia will be compiled in a report
• Stakeholder meeting in December 2015 going through the project achievements
• Evaluation forms for Wiki facilitators and assessment of articles.

SUSTAINABILITY

Explain how you will secure sustainability when the project period has come to an end and funding from the Swedish Institute has ceased?

The project works with organisations that already exists in Uganda and have sustainable activities. The work with Wikipedia shall at the end of the project been implemented in the ordinary work the organisations (URCS, Nature Uganda and Mbazzi farmers association) do. The project will lay a ground for a Wikimedia Uganda organisation that takes care of all the issues around Wikipedia as an encyclopedia in Uganda. WWF Sweden already have plans in expanding their work through future funding applications at SIDA and SWESDESD’s action research will use this project as a case and develop it further. The material created will be available online long after the project ends.

Describe the local capacity to continue the project without your support.

The partner organizations are well established organization and we hope that the use of Wikipedia shall be implemented in the ordinary work of the organizations. By creating a local Wikimedia organisation, funding possibilities through the Wikimedia Foundation, for all Wikipedia related activities are made possible. Several chapters around the world use this sort of funding today, including WMSE.

Mbazzi Wikipedia Centre will investigate other ways to become financially sustainable by leveraging the “down-time” of the equipment to the local communities in various ways.

Budget

BUDGET ITEMS	SPECIFICATION	UNIT	# OF UNITS	UNIT RATE	COSTS
Budget for the Swedish organisation(s)	Specify each of your budget items in this column (mandatory)			(in SEK)	(in SEK)
International travel, visas and similar costs	5 flights	Per flight	5	10 600	53 000
Local transportation (domestic)	Getting around		10	100	1 000
Food and subsistence	Average costs	Per day	27,5	200	5 500
Accomodation	Average costs	Per day	18	350	6 300
Conference room expenses					0
Equipment and supplies					0
Project management/fees (incl. social security contributions)	Around 4 days/month for WMSE	Per month	10	10 000	100 000
Project administration	By SWEDESD and WWF Sweden	Per hour	300	467	140 000
Information expenses					0
Translation, interpreters (external)					0
Expert participation (external)	For the 3 day workshop by WWF ROA (all included)		1	53 700	53 700
Audit costs (external)			1	5 000	5 000
Evaluation costs					0
Other costs	Unforseen costs		1	8 000	8 000
Subtotal Swedish organisation(s)					372 500
Budget for international partner organisation(s)
International travel, visas and similar costs	2 flights	Per flight	2	11 000	22 000
Local transportation (domestic)	Average costs		252	100	25 200
Food and subsistence	Average costs	Per day	313	100	31 300
Accomodation	Average costs	Per day	52	200	10 400
Conference room expenses	Includes both wiki centers and other venues	Per month	10	4 820	48 200
Equipment and supplies	Computer, furniture and other		20	3 600	72 000
Project management/fees (incl. social security contributions)	Local project manager	Per month	10	8 000	80 000
Project administration			0	0	0
Information expenses	Information material		1	3 000	3 000
Translation, interpreters (external)			0	0	0
Expert participation (external)			0	0	0
Audit costs (external)			0	0	0
Evaluation costs			0	0	0
Other costs	Internet, electricity, security. Average costs	per month	10	5 070	50 700
Subtotal international partner organisation(s)					342 800
TOTAL COSTS					715 300
SOURCES OF FUNDING	SPECIFICATION				AMOUNT
	Specify all sources of funding				(in SEK)
Applied amount from the Swedish Institute					500000
Applicant's own financial contribution	WMSE				20 000
Applicant's own financial contribution	WWF Sweden				70 000
Applicant's own financial contribution	SWEDESD				81 400
Applicant's own financial contribution	UCRS				43 900
Contributions from other donors
Contributions from other donors
Contributions from other donors
TOTAL INCOME					715 300