[WikiX-l] Fwd: [Wmfcc-l] Wikipedia for World Heritage- start date

Wed Jun 8 09:26:17 UTC 2011

Dear Tinu Cherian,

the concept was first introduced to the Wikimedia chapters at the Wikimedia
Conference in Berlin, March 2011. The initial idea goes back to plannings
for the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia. That's when it was brought up. I'll
just paste the English version of our press release (see wikix-l) below, for
further information.

As always, I tirelessly invite everybody to get the latest on Wikipedia for
World Heritage on the wikix-l-list or on ten.wikipedia.org ;-)

Best
Michael

PRESS RELEASE

Berlin, 26 May 2011

*
**Wikipedia for World Heritage! *

*
*

*Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales calls for signatures to be collected and
presented to the UNESCO.*

On Monday, 23 May 2011, Wikimedia Deutschland started a worldwide collection
of signatures for the Wikipedia for World
Heritage!<http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>initiative. People
are invited to join the list now by signing an online
form <http://wikipedia.de/wke/Main_Page?setlang=en>. The list will
ultimately be presented to the World Heritage
Committee<http://whc.unesco.org/en/comittee>at the beginning of 2012.
To date more than 7000 people from over 100
countries have already signed the petition. Each signature supports the
initiative’s claim that Wikipedia as the largest collection of human
knowledge should be recognized as the first ever global and digital World
Heritage site. Altogether there are ten UNESCO criteria for recognition as a
World Heritage site. The first of those criteria demands that World Heritage
sites “represent a masterpiece of human creative genius”. The online
petition is quoting these exact words. By signing it participants confirm
that Wikipedia has universal value and that the claim is true in its case.
This petition is the starting point for a global discussion of Wikipedia’s
cultural meaning. Currently the free encyclopedia provides free access to
more than 18 million articles in over 280 languages. Since the beginning of
the new millennium Wikipedia has evolved into the collective memory of the
world. Having Wikipedia recognized as a Unesco World Heritage site is a huge
step towards preserving its cumulative knowledge for future generations.

 “Millions of people take Wikipedia for granted. They use it each and every
day. Still, free access to the sum of human knowledge is not a matter of
course in many places. It is a global challenge to recognize, support and
preserve the work that hundreds of thousands of volunteers invest in this
community project. The key to free exchange of knowledge is public
recognition”, says Pavel Richter, CEO of Wikimedia Deutschland.

The initiative was introduced in March 2011 at the international Wikimedia
Chapters Conference in Berlin. Chapters from all over the world will
accompany the initiative's activities regarding Wikipedia’s recognition as a
World Heritage site. Wikimedia Deutschland will entertain an expert round on
the subject on 31 May 2011 at the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. The event
will be a public kick-off. Further activities with the international
community will follow. Additionally, public discussion provides a chance to
explain how to deal with free knowledge and to stress its meaning for
society. The advertising agency Leo Burnett supports Wikimedia Deutschland
in the initiative’s realization.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales was the first to sign the petition. In a video
statement <http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page> he calls for support of
the initiative. In his appeal Jimmy Wales puts emphasis on how important
international awareness is to the free encyclopedia: “A lot of people think
of Wikipedia as a technical phenomenon, a technical achievement. But in fact
it isn't. What Wikipedia is, is a cultural change, a cultural achievement.
We are going to try to get as many people as possible to sign the petition.
Just like Wikipedia itself, the more people we get involved, the greater the
chance that we'll achieve our goal. Please sign the petition!”

2011/6/6 CherianTinu Abraham <tinucherian at gmail.com>

> Wikipedia for World Heritage- A reporter is asking me when did the campaign
> idea came out and when it was officially started?
>
> -Tinu Cherian
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wmfcc-l mailing list
> Wmfcc-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wmfcc-l
>
>

-- 
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Eisenacher Straße 2 | 10777 Berlin
Tel. (030) 219 158 260

http://wikimedia.de <http://www.wikimedia.de>

Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch freien Zugang zu der
Gesamtheit des Wissens der Menschheit hat. Helfen Sie uns dabei!

*Helfen Sie mit, dass WIKIPEDIA von der UNESCO als erstes digitales
Weltkulturerbe anerkannt wird. Unterzeichnen Sie die Online-Petition:*
http://wikipedia.de/wke/Main_Page?setlang=de

Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.

-- 
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Eisenacher Straße 2 | 10777 Berlin
Tel. (030) 219 158 260

http://wikimedia.de <http://www.wikimedia.de>

Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch freien Zugang zu der
Gesamtheit des Wissens der Menschheit hat. Helfen Sie uns dabei!

*Helfen Sie mit, dass WIKIPEDIA von der UNESCO als erstes digitales
Weltkulturerbe anerkannt wird. Unterzeichnen Sie die Online-Petition:*
http://wikipedia.de/wke/Main_Page?setlang=de

Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e.V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985.
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