Dear colleagues,
This thread is the consequence of my thinking over Jennifer's concerns [1] to what
I've seen as a routine progress report on Wikimedia Education Program Russia, which
she later kindly deciphered to me off the list (see below for original).
We periodically see signs of various individuals or interest groups using Wikipedia to
their advantage on a limited scale, so Jennifer is rightly pondering on how should
Wikimedians develop relationships with strong partners theoretically capable of abusing
our supposedly neutral projects: governments, businesses, NGOs, various religious &
ideological groups, etc.
Wikimedia communities want to welcome new active users in large numbers, so we are to
follow the principle of good intentions, trust them and help them to learn how to operate
onwiki. At the same time, can we feel comfortable that we can prevent the loss of control
over what's going on in our projects or being fully overtaken by some outside party
interested to push its own agenda using Wikimedia platforms?
I believe we have all means for this. I am also confident that to advance towards the
world of Wikimedia movement vision [2] & Wikipedia purpose,[3] we need to make sure
that every human being feels welcome on our projects & interested in their sustainable
growth.
Before we start similar 360 degree stakeholder engagement initiatives within 6 official UN
languages, those of G20 and maybe even any primary language of a sovereign UN member, my
guess is we might want to test such initiatives in a less tense setting, working closely
with government & publicly-funded institutions, private sector, non-profits or
individuals in an environment with less interference from political, ideological or
commercial interests. Best candidates are probably mid-sized projects in the language of
some non-sovereign ethnic nation that represent little to no interest for whatever outside
organized party to gain control of.
In the Russian Federation, we are currently in the process of such an experiment around
Wikipedia & other Wikimedia projects in Tatar, which I happen to speak by birth within
this language community. When starting on this path in the fall of 2018, I was comforted
to learn about "Kumusha takes Wiki" initiative, that was implemented in
2013-2014 in French-speaking Cote d'Ivoire and English-speaking Uganda with the
support of by Orange Foundation & presented during WikiIndaba 2014.[4]
As a member of Wikimedia Russia, I am documenting our steps in WMRU-wiki both in the
regional [5] as well as in the linguistic development aspects, [6] periodically sharing
progress reports with the wider public via [wikimedia-ru] list,[7] Wikimedia Community
Languages of Russia on Facebook [8] & Russian Wikinews, for my colleagues from other
regions of Russia with strong regional languages & other members of the community to
be able to apply whatever we learn, if they find it appropriate for their socio-economic
environments.[9]
The working hypothesis is that giving all speakers of Tatar or whatever other language the
feeling of collective ownership of respective language Wikimedia projects should be a safe
way forward. Our progress reports are almost exclusively in Russian, which is the best
medium of communication in my case: I am currently working on this almost alone, whilst
local stakeholders reasonably expecting to see some track-record, proofs and other
explanatory materials before getting onboard at every step of the way. Tatar is not
dominant language even within the region with high concentration of Tatar speakers, whilst
the share of English speakers in Russia is @ 5%, even less in case of Tatarstan.
Tatar is a language spoken mainly by an eponymous defacto stateless ethnic group of over 5
million people living predominantly inside the Russian Federation (second in number after
ethnic Russians). It has a second official language status within the Republic of
Tatarstan (a region-subject of the Russian state since 1552, home to about 1/3 of Tatars,
amounting here to slightly over 50%), where Russian is clearly dominant in politics,
economics, education, social life, etc. even among Tatars themselves. With its current
85000 articles & under 100 active participants a month Tatar Wikipedia seems a good
fit - it's in Top-10 websites in respective language (including groups in Facebook
& VK social networks) thanks to being part of Wikimedia constellation.
We seem to be in ideal circumstances to pilot this with least consequences for Wikimedia
movement, as WMF is neither fundraising in Russia (no grant money this way), nor allowing
local affiliates to place fundraising banners/links in respective language Wikipedias
& other Wikimedia projects over the geographic territory of Russia. At the same time,
we received a blessing of a respected Senior elder, retired Ex-President of Tatarstan,
having the title of UNESCO Special Envoy for Intercultural Dialogue,[10] whilst
Wikimedians from other projects in the languages of Russia called on Tatar community to
make it successful to scale it throughout the country.[11]
Going forward, I would suspect Tatarstan goverment that shows its interest to make
Wikimedia Education Program part of Tatar language curriculum might eventually want to
sign an MOU or a similar document with the Wikimedia Foundation and/or local affiliates
(just like Mexican ministry of Culture, Government of the Indian State of Maharashtra,
Italian Ministry of Education or Nigerian Tourism Development Board, to mention just a few
cases I have personally read about). We don't see this happening in the
English-speaking part of Wikimedia world, probably for cultural reasons, but everywhere
else it seems to be a natural step in formalizing partnerships relations. All Tatars are
at least bilingual and bi-cultural, so tolerance levels for differing points of view are
generally quite high edit wars around ethnic, civil & other identity related topics
rare.
regards,
farhad
P.S. Jennifer, Republic of Tatarstan was never an independent state & 2008
independence you mention is likely to be confusion with the Republic of Abkhazia or the
Republic of Southern Osetia that gained their independence from the Republic of Georgia.
Landlocked inside Russia, Tatarstan claimed its limited sovereignty at the collapse of
Soviet Union (as it was unable to become the 16th Republic of USSR due to the dissolution
thereof), at the same time showing it's intent to clearly stay associated with the
nascent Russian Federation. Respective association documents were signed in 1994, some 14
years before the event you mention. We have Russian passports, serving in the Russian
military, our athletes competing for the national teams. First President of Tatarstan
Mintimer Shaimiev & First President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin were
friends & colleagues since Soviet Union times, growing through the ranks in parallel,
having shared many meals together over the decades in power.
[1]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2019-April/092265.html
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Vision
[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Purpose
[4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kumusha_Takes_Wiki/en
[5]
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Smart_region/Tatarstan
[6]
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Smart_region/Multilingualism/Tatar
[7]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-ru/
[8]
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1942496925980407/
[9]
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Умный_регион/Направления/Региональное_многояз…
[10]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2018-October/091151.html
[11]
https://ru.wikinews.org/wiki/Комментарии:Минтимер_Шаймиев_встретился_с_тата…
--
Farhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин
http://sikzn.ru/ Тел.+79274158066 / skype:frhdkazan /
Wikipedia:frhdkazan / Wikidata:Q34036417
23.04.2019, 21:33, "Jennifer Pryor-Summers"
<jennifer.pryorsummers(a)gmail.com>om>:
> Farhad
>
> When a government adds contributing to Wikipedia to its national curriculum,
especially if it involves spending public time and money, it is likely to expect that both
the pre-existing material and the additional controbutions to reflect the requirements of
that national curriculum, which in turn are likely to reflect the national values and
spcific positions. For example, Tatastan has claimed independence from Russia as recently
as 2008. Can we be sure that the Tatar-language and Russian-language Wikipedia entries
will be independent of any official position on this and other sensitive questions of
national importance?
>
> JPS
>
> On Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 8:02 AM Фархад Фаткуллин / Farhad Fatkullin
<frhd(a)yandex.com> wrote:
>> Dear Jennifer,
>>
>> I feel you have put more thought into your question than I can grasp right away.
>>
>> Please give me more context and some examples to help me understand whatever
might be of possible concern in this piece of Wikimedia Education Program Russia related
progress news.
>>
>> I would prefer to respond in full without causing back & forth ping-pong.
>>
>> Thank you in advance,
>> farhad
>>
>> --
>> Sent from Yandex.Mail for mobile
>>
>> 20:15, April 22, 2019, "Jennifer Pryor-Summers"
<jennifer.pryorsummers(a)gmail.com>om>:
>>> Farhad
>>>
>>> I assume that under this arrangement, the editorial independence of the
>>> contributors and content will remain inviolable?
>>>
>>> JPS
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 5:22 PM Фархад Фаткуллин / Farhad Fatkullin <
>>> frhd(a)yandex.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Regional department of education (elementary & secondary education)
&
>>>> Kazan Federal University today received instructions signed by the
>>>> President of Tatarstan on integrating Wikimedia Education Program
>>>> opportunities into the curricula of educational establishments of the
>>>> Republic. I was asked for some guidance on the topic before tonight, so
>>>> prepared what I could in Russian
>>>>
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-ru/2019-April/005086.html
>>>> We are in the country with a centralized education system culture, so
>>>> project owner will be the ministry, with Wikimedians serving as
>>>> stakeholders, consultants & guides.
>>>>
>>>> On March 1st we fielded 2 speakers for EDU RUSSIA 2019 conference
>>>>
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CEE/Newsletter/February_2019/Contents/Russi…
>>>>
>>>> On April 11-12 our Bashkir colleagues (WUG BAK) were invited to speak @
>>>> their regional teachers' conference (photoes & report in Russian
-
>>>>
https://ru.wikinews.org/wiki/?curid=221169 ) & their regional
deputy
>>>> minister recalled our speakers in Kazan
>>>>
>>>> Right now our judges are checking some 200 pre-qualified ttWP articles
>>>> created by 67 previously untrained school teams in the framework of
Tatar
>>>> 4.0 contest. Prizes provided by local partner, introduction to the
contest
>>>> video, Messenger support, participant & article tagging,
prequalification &
>>>> assessing on volunteering time. 10 best teams to be publicly awarded at
>>>> Ğabdulla Tuqay memorial event downtown Kazan on April 26.
>>>> Contest in Tatar -
https://tt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Проект:Татар_4.0
>>>> Lessons learnt in Russian -
>>>>
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Умный_регион/Многоязычие/Татарский/Татар_4.0
>>>>
>>>> This all follows our February presentation
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CEE/Newsletter/February_2019/Contents/Russi…
>>>>
>>>> regards,
>>>> farhad
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Farhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин
http://sikzn.ru/ Тел.+79274158066 /
>>>> skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan / Wikidata:Q34036417
>>>>
>>>> 08.02.2019, 22:23, "Фархад Фаткуллин / Farkhad Fatkullin"
<frhd(a)yandex.com
>>>> >:
>>>> > Some news:
>>>> >
>>>> > I managed to get vocal approval of the proposal to transfer
>>>> Wiki-competencies to Tatarstan public by Federal Deputy Prime-Minister
>>>> Maxim Akimov and had Regional President Rustam Minnikhanov express his
>>>> invitation to the subject-minister (Vice Prime-Minister of Tatarstan -
>>>> InfoComm minister Roman Shaykhutdinov) to prepare necessary proposals
for
>>>> organizing the process in a successful scalable way. I will have to do
more
>>>> thinking and writing now so as to try have this implemented first in my
>>>> Republic, then across Russia.
>>>> >
>>>> > I was given less than a minute during pre-Conference tour of the
project
>>>> stands prepared by corporations and state enterprises (without slides
or
>>>> any visual support), so I had to skim to the very facts and the value
>>>> proposition that would get their attention.
>>>> >
>>>> > On a more tangible side,
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Selet_WikiSchool
>>>> that I started back in 2016, will get support from the regional budget
&
>>>> thus expand. Currently this is on the shoulders of a team consisting of
>>>> high-school senior, a University freshman and a sophomore/junior from
one
>>>> rural school.
>>>> >
>>>> > regards,
>>>> > farhad
>>>> >
>>>> > --
>>>> > Farkhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин
http://sikzn.ru/
Тел.+79274158066 /
>>>> skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan
>>>> >
>>>> > 17.01.2019, 18:35, "Фархад Фаткуллин / Farkhad Fatkullin"
<
>>>> frhd(a)yandex.com>gt;:
>>>> >> Dear colleagues,
>>>> >>
>>>> >> You can track my preparation in English @
>>>>
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Умный_регион/05.02.2019/en (date move to
>>>> accommodate VIP participants' schedules).
>>>> >>
>>>> >> I had to skim my original 18 minute text to under 7.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> I intend to touch on most of what had to go via the Slides
which will
>>>> accompany my talk.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Tatar components will be prepared last, as Russian and English
are
>>>> best tools for getting feedback from across the Wiki-world.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> regards,
>>>> >> farhad
>>>> >>
>>>> >> --
>>>> >> Farkhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин
http://sikzn.ru/
Тел.+79274158066 /
>>>> skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan
>>>> >>
>>>> >> 14.01.2019, 19:10, "Фархад Фаткуллин / Farkhad
Fatkullin" <
>>>> frhd(a)yandex.com>gt;:
>>>> >>> Dear colleagues,
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> This is a heads-up on the fact that on Jan.29 I will be
speaking in
>>>> Tatar (with simultaneous interpretation of my words into Russian) at
the
>>>> Republic of Tatarstan Ministry for ICT closing conference for 2018 in
front
>>>> of the President of the Republic, Russia's Federal minister for
ICT,
>>>> members of Tatarstan government, industry & the press, possibly
some
>>>> participants from nearby regional ministries.
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> I will have some 7-10 min to present on
>>>>
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Smart_region , rough English translation
>>>> for the base page completed today.
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> It will be a basic intro level talk accompanied by slides
about
>>>> some things that can be appropriately mentioned without overburdening
the
>>>> public hearing about Wiki-community activities for the first time in
their
>>>> lives. I will email you draft text around the end of the week (once I
am
>>>> comfortable with it), with some ideas on the slides I will play along
my
>>>> speech and a list of recommended follow-on measures.
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> Expected outcome: Presidential instruction to the
Tatarstan
>>>> government to for a cross-departmental working group to study what ICT
>>>> ministry led Wikimedia working group (since August 2018) has came up
with &
>>>> look into possible way of integrating this into Tatarstan social life
(I
>>>> was offered to formulate it myself today).
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> Other related Wikimedia Russia news:
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> * On or around Feb.8, we are to have first follow-on
introduction of
>>>> Wikipedia Education Program to wider professors & students' body
of Kazan
>>>> Federal University Institute for International Relations, with director
of
>>>> which we had a productive meeting on Dec.21, following the events
described
>>>> in
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CEE/Newsletter/December_2018/Contents/Russi…
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> * On Feb.28-March 1 we are invited to field speakers for
>>>>
http://eduforumkazan.ru/ (attended by Russia's Federal Minister for
>>>> Education and her team)
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> regards,
>>>> >>> farhad
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> --
>>>> >>> Farkhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин
http://sikzn.ru/
Тел.+79274158066 /
>>>> skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> 05.11.2018, 17:22, "Фархад Фаткуллин / Farkhad
Fatkullin" <
>>>> frhd(a)yandex.com>gt;:
>>>> >>>> Dear colleagues,
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> Below is my October activities report & description
of upcoming
>>>> events
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> 1) On Oct.13-14 at
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Meeting_2018 we presented
>>>> some of the things we are doing in Russia (FYI: without any WMF
grants).
>>>> See details at
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CEE/Newsletter/October_2018/Contents/Russia…
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> 2) On Oct.20 I had a two hour long meeting with the
Deputy head of
>>>> Tatarstan Presidential Adiministration responsible for internal policy
>>>>
http://president.tatarstan.ru/eng/apparat/structure?person_id=19792&dep…
>>>> who officially invited me to engage Wikimedia Russia and other
Wikimedia
>>>> movement volunteers to develop "Smart wiki-region" roadmap for
regional
>>>> authorities throughout the Russian Federation to start learning about
the
>>>> Wikimedia movement and understanding how partnering therewith could be
of
>>>> mutual interests. This was a follow up of the Oct.1 meeting with
Mintimer
>>>> Shaimiev
>>>>
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2018-October/091151.html,
>>>> but mainly around my last year's musings I finally finished
translating
>>>> into English today @
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Frhdkazan/Wiki4RegionalDevt
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> 3) On Oct.23 We have started growing the project on
WMRU-wiki at
>>>>
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Умный_регион (currently in Russian only),
>>>> using also eponymous thread at [wikimedia-ru] mailing list (last
message
>>>>
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-ru/2018-November/004914.html
>>>> ).
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> 4) In mid-November we are expecting to have a
presentation of the
>>>> project and our domestic experience
>>>>
https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Selet_WikiSchool at the large meeting
>>>> called on by the ex-President of Tatarstan, State Councillor to the
>>>> Republic, UNESCO Special envoy for Intercultural Dialogue Mintimer
Shaimiev
>>>>
http://shaimiev.tatarstan.ru/eng - with invitation of
>>>> >>>> * First Deputy Head of the Tatarstan Presidential
Administration (
>>>>
http://president.tatarstan.ru/eng/apparat/structure?person_id=32&depart…
>>>> ),
>>>> >>>> * a large body of regional ministers
>>>> >>>> ** Tatar community affairs
>>>>
http://prav.tatarstan.ru/eng/pravit/3.htm
>>>> >>>> ** Education and science
>>>>
http://mon.tatarstan.ru/eng/rukov/minister.htm
>>>> >>>> ** ICT
http://mic.tatarstan.ru/eng/minister.htm
>>>> >>>> ** Culture
http://mincult.tatarstan.ru/eng/rukov/minister.htm
>>>> >>>> ** Youth affairs
>>>>
http://prav.tatarstan.ru/rus/pravit/ministr-min-molodezhi
>>>> >>>> * head of regional media holding
>>>>
http://tatmedia.tatarstan.ru/eng/director.htm
>>>> >>>> * head of the Institute of Tatar encyclopedia
>>>>
http://antat.ru/ru/ite/staff/5679/
>>>> >>>> * head of the House of Friendship of Nations of
Tatarstan
>>>>
http://addnt.ru/house/management/director/
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> 5) Tomorrow morning I will be meeting with the
Vice-Primier -
>>>> Minister for the ICT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Shaykhutdinov
>>>> for preliminary discussions, then my high-school senior Timerkhan
>>>>
https://tt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кулланучы:Тимерхан will assist him the
next
>>>> day at the preparatory meeting with
>>>>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mintimer_Shaimiev.
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> 6) I didn't yet have time to think in detail about
the potential
>>>> schedule or invited participants of the first public Wiki-seminar in
>>>> Tatarstan, meant to expose locals to the Wikimedia movement and its
best
>>>> practices even if only via the video-conference (which I mentioned in
the
>>>> previous update), because I am doing this in between of my rather
demanding
>>>> work and some limited family life. The topic will most likely surface
among
>>>> other things tomorrow.
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> regards,
>>>> >>>> farhad
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> --
>>>> >>>> Farkhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин
http://sikzn.ru/
Тел.+79274158066 /
>>>> skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> 04.10.2018, 08:32, "Pine W"
<wiki.pine(a)gmail.com>om>:
>>>> >>>>> Hi Farhad,
>>>> >>>>>
>>>> >>>>> I'm very impressed with your successes so far.
>>>> >>>>>
>>>> >>>>> My main concern is how much of this you seem to be
doing by
>>>> yourself. I
>>>> >>>>> hope that you have a group of people who are
collaborating with
>>>> you so that
>>>> >>>>> you don't feel responsible for doing everything
personally, and
>>>> that you
>>>> >>>>> aren't putting yourself into personal financial
difficulty due
>>>> to the
>>>> >>>>> amount of time that you're spending on
Wikimedia activities.
>>>> >>>>>
>>>> >>>>> Regarding which people would be good to invite to a
conference,
>>>> I think
>>>> >>>>> that GLAM and educational organizations would be
natural
>>>> partners so I
>>>> >>>>> suggest starting with them.
>>>> >>>>>
>>>> >>>>> WMF might be willing to provide you with some
advice and/or
>>>> funding for
>>>> >>>>> GLAM or education related work if you request it,
although the
>>>> wait times
>>>> >>>>> for WMF "Rapid Grants" funding seem to
have become lengthy, so I
>>>> suggest
>>>> >>>>> that if you want funding from that program that you
should
>>>> request it at
>>>> >>>>> least two full months in advance and not rely on
receiving it in
>>>> time for
>>>> >>>>> any particular deadline.
>>>> >>>>>
>>>> >>>>> I'm glad to hear that you're participating
in Wikimedia CEE and
>>>> I hope that
>>>> >>>>> the affiliates in that group can provide you with
good advice.
>>>> >>>>>
>>>> >>>>> Best wishes,
>>>> >>>>>
>>>> >>>>> Pine
>>>> >>>>> (
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> >>>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
>>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
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>>>> >>>>> Unsubscribe:
>>>>
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>>>>
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