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“Strengthening the Wikimedia Voice in Public Policy” will be the first global Wiki Advocacy meet-up for Wikimedians who conduct advocacy and public policy activities to protect and promote the Wikimedia model.
- The meeting will take place on May 3rd and 4th, 2024 in Santiago, Chile.
- Application and scholarship process are open from November 27 to December 22, end of day anywhere on Earth.
In May 2024 Chile will host the Unesco World Press Freedom Day with a conference that will reunite regional and global governments, academics and researchers, and civil society representatives. The aim of the conference is to discuss the future of freedom of press and the access to information in a shifting world full of new challenges like a rapidly changing informational ecosystem crossed by new content platforms and technologies.
Wikimedia Chile will use this unique opportunity to host “Strengthening the Wikimedia Voice in Public Policy”, the first global Wiki Advocacy meet-up for Wikimedians who conduct advocacy and public policy activities to promote and protect the Wikimedia model and its role in assuring access to relevant online information. The meeting will be a side event of the Unesco conference, and will take place on May 3rd and 4th, 2024 in Santiago, Chile.
Application process now open
Knowing this is a very specific topic and that the meeting will have a practical approach (with several workshops and collective exercises) we will have limited seats for it. If you want to participate, please complete the application form by December 22, 2023, at the end of the day in your country.
If you have any doubts about the questions to be completed in the application, please refer to the FAQ section of our Meta page. Using the application form will be mandatory for all those who are interested in participating.
People coming from other open knowledge or digital rights ecosystem organizations that share values with the Wikimedia movement are also encouraged to apply.
Scholarships
To ensure participants' diversity and global representation we will grant 20 full scholarships to Wikimedia representatives and 5 partial scholarships for participants coming from outside the Wikimedia movement.
The scholarship application is also open through the general application form.
Important dates
- Applications open: November 27 – December 22
- Communication of applications and scholarship decisions: January 2024
- Travel logistics: January – March 2024
- Pre-conference online workshops: January- April 2024
- Meeting will take place on May 3rd and May 4th
About the meeting
The ongoing changes in regulations concerning the Internet will continue to affect Wikimedia projects. This first Global Wiki Advocacy Meeting aims to underscore the increasingly crucial role of Wikimedia affiliates in shaping public policy and supporting free access to knowledge in digital enviroments.
Between September and October 2023, Wikimedia Chile circulated a Conference Engagement Survey among the Wikimedia community, which was answered by more than 100 people around the world. Based on those responses, the main objectives of this meeting are:
· identify strategies and tactics to face the challenges posed by Internet regulatory developments that have been identified as relevant around the world for the Wikimedia movement.
· improving advocacy capacity building and knowledge sharing among Wikimedians.
· Strengthen the network of Wikimedians interested in advocacy and public policies.
These topics and conversations will be conducted hosted by Wikimedia Chile with the support of the WMF Global Advocacy Team.
“The people who lead these projects are best placed to advocate for the needs of the Wikimedia community in their own countries and to partner with the Foundation to promote Wikimedia’s unique vision of a public interest-focused Internet where decentralized community-led governance and content moderation models can thrive. The Chile workshop is an important step in coordinating the public policy advocacy work of affiliates and the Foundation", said Franziska ("Ziski") Putz, Senior Movement Advocacy Manager in the Wikimedia Foundation.
Learn more
To stay updated on the Conference and know more about scholarships and the application process, we recommend that you visit the Conference page on Meta. The main language of the Conference will be English. Unfortunately, we will not have live translation.
If you have any questions or require further information, please feel free to reach out to us (in English or Spanish) at: contacto@wikimediachile.cl
