Annual Report 2024/Story: Thematic hub for content partnerships – extensive planning and preparations for 2025

Access

Use

Community

Enabling

Access

2024

In this story, we focus on the development of a thematic hub for content partnerships. Despite changing funding conditions, important steps were taken, including further development of Metabase, support for the Helpdesk project, and collaborations with several Wikimedia organizations. The work continues with a planned funding application in 2025.

Defining the scope, structure, and organization of a thematic hub within the Wikimedia 2030 movement strategy is a challenge that Wikimedia Sverige has been working on for several years. We have actively experimented with developing a thematic hub for content partnerships, complete with various programs where the hub provides a service to the Wikimedia movement.

During the year, we continued to develop the hub model, including various frameworks, functions, and mechanisms. Concepts were tested and iteratively developed, leading to a clearer understanding of how to organize the hub's work effectively and purposefully. We increasingly involved volunteers, Wikimedia affiliates, and partner organizations in this work, including underserved and underrepresented groups. We supported other Wikimedia affiliates in engaging content partners more effectively by developing and sharing tools as well as efficient working methods.

During the year, a major shift occurred, leading us to change focus. At the beginning of the year, we focused on providing practical support with the intention of transitioning from experimentation to implementation of the services offered. In the second half of the year, the focus shifted to further developing our concepts in preparation for a joint application with other Wikimedia affiliates in 2025. This change occurred as funding from the Wikimedia Foundation was drastically altered during the year. A larger application was submitted to the Wikimedia Foundation in June. However, the week after the application was submitted, the Wikimedia Foundation unexpectedly decided to retroactively change the direction of the funding call, completely closing the funding opportunity we had applied for. The new funding requirements now explicitly stated that applications must involve at least two participating Wikimedia affiliates and that a key focus of the project must be how the hub would be jointly governed. This was a major change, and funding could therefore not be secured during the year. As preparation for a planned application in 2025, we therefore redirected parts of our work.

Despite these unexpected changes and the additional work they entailed, several important steps were taken in the development of the thematic hub. These include:

• We developed a detailed plan for the possible structure of the working groups within the Helpdesk. We responded to several requests submitted to the hub's Helpdesk and continued to support multiple Helpdesk projects where the community needed additional assistance in implementing project outcomes. The Expert Committee, which prioritizes the Helpdesk's work, has continued to play a crucial role in this work. To make sure the Helpdesk can develop even more, we published a job ad for secretary at the end of the year to provide structured support and resources for the Expert Committee.
• We implemented a major interview study with current and former Wikimedians in Residence. The goal was to identify the types of knowledge a Wikimedian in Residence needs to do their work. Based on the responses, a report was compiled. Drawing from insights gained from a large number of interviews, we developed a training plan for Wikimedians in Residence within the UN. This plan can serve as the foundation for a larger grant application in this field.
• We wrote a White Paper for Metabase. This document outlines our learnings from setting up a Wikibase instance, how we experimented with structuring information about our association's work, the lessons learned from this process, and how we worked on structuring data about the global movement's activities.
• We created a survey to better understand what educational resources different Wikimedia affiliates are creating. The responses provided us with a better understanding to help prioritize work on Metabase. The results were compiled into a report.
• We secured project funding for the thematic hub through two applications to the Swedish Institute. These projects focus on digitizing endangered natural and cultural heritage and supporting digitization efforts at cultural heritage institutions in Ukraine. This work expands our network and expertise while opening up new funding opportunities. This year's Wikipedia Day, organized in collaboration with the Swedish National Archives and the Army Museum, highlighted various aspects of digital work with cultural heritage in Ukraine.
• We contributed to the development of OpenRefine. This work was prioritized this year partly because the association actively uses the tool itself and partly because it is crucial for responding to Helpdesk requests. This is not a tool we built ourselves; instead, we contributed to an already existing tool in close collaboration with other developers and the user community. Our major development effort focused on adding a new requested functionality for uploading large files, along with several other smaller improvements. We also trained partners on how to use the tool.
• We continued to develop Metabase. By the end of the year, over 4 000 items had been created. Additionally, numerous discussions were held on how data could be structured and included in Metabase as preparation for the coming year's work. Initial efforts to raise awareness and knowledge about Metabase also took place. However, challenges remain, as described in Fail fest: Metabase – growing fast, but few contribute.
• On several occasions, including Wikimania and the General Assembly of Wikimedia Europe, as well as at dedicated meetings, we have discussed synergies between the different hub initiatives. Based on these discussions, we have initiated collaborations and potential partnerships with several regional and language-based Wikimedia hubs. This has resulted in a joint project application and several identified opportunities for future collaboration.

By developing all this material, we have built a solid foundation for structuring the hub's organization with decision-making paths and structures. We have discussed this with several Wikimedia affiliates, and these discussions will culminate in a dedicated multi-day meeting in the first half of 2025. The goal is to develop a joint plan, establish a steering committee, and create a revised version of the application to the Wikimedia Foundation — and potentially applications to other funders as well.