Hi Illia,
thanks for letting us know. I understand the constraints you must be dealing with, and I
wish we could have announced this earlier (not limited to your situation - this is
desirable for other reasons too). Please know that it was not our intention to announce it
last minute, but that we realized too late that time was running out for this in the way I
explained. Hopefully we can indeed better meet the timeliness expectations going
forward.
Lodewijk
On Fri, Jan 19, 2024 at 1:04PM Ilya Korniyko < intracer(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Lodewijk,
WLM Ukraine's organizing team is interested in this discussion, but it's difficult
to find time for it on such a short notice -- because of the armed conflict most Ukrainian
Wikimedians have to simultaneously fit into their agendas their main work, Wikimedia
volunteering and activities we have to do because of the war. For example, I have an
emergency casualty care training this Sunday, and another team member cannot join because
she goes to a training area for drills on the same day.
We ask that you take these circumstances into consideration and notify us in advance in
the future.
Regards,
Illia
On Wed, Jan 17, 2024 at 2:23AM effe iets anders < effeietsanders(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>Hi all,
>(with apologies for the delay in sending this announcement)
>This email discusses a sensitive topic of armed conflict, and may contain triggers for
some of our community members. While we appreciate your input, please prioritize your own
mental wellbeing and don't feel obligated to respond or participate. I have tried to
frame this as sensitively as possible, but welcome constructive suggestions on how to do
this better off-list.
>Summary : On Sunday 21 January (08:00 PST, 16:00 UTC), the international team of Wiki
Loves Monuments will organize an office hour/community conversation on: How should an
international federated photo competition like WLM handle national teams, international
finalists and communication in the case of geopolitical armed conflict. We will announce
the link later, and you can register here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2023/Office…
>Topic : In the past years, our communities have been confronted with the question how
to deal with a number of geopolitical armed conflicts. This question came up in the past
years in a few different ways: whether photos of heritage from certain countries should be
allowed to be represented or compete in international competitions like Wiki Loves
Monuments, whether and how photos of heritage in disputed areas can participate
(especially when that dispute becomes an armed conflict) and there are probably more ways
ahead that various armed conflicts can make an international competition and communication
about the competition complex. There is no question whether human and cultural destruction
is desirable, and every war is likely one too many.
>Why now : It is particularly hard to discuss these sensitive topics when they are
current: it is a painful conversation for everyone to have, especially because the people
who are living through the real-life consequences are given an additional burden of
engaging in these discussions, under the pressure of time.
>For this reason I believe it would be helpful to discuss this topic without focusing
on a specific conflict - but rather to discuss principles. How would we, generally
speaking, international competitions such as Wiki Loves Monuments like to be influenced by
armed conflict? Are there guidelines that they could maintain? At this point, we don't
know who the winners of Wiki Loves Monuments are, and we can still have an abstract
conversation. I don't expect this conversation to conclude right away, but hope that
we can continue it in a few months after the dust of the winning images has settled.
>While this is already very soon, we have settled on Sunday 21 January, 16:00 UTC to
avoid getting too close to the announcement of international winners.
>Framing : Some questions that come to mind as useful conversation starters would
include:
>* Under what conditions could or should a national team be disqualified from
participating in an international federated activity such as WLM?
>* If yes, who should make the decision whether to disqualify, and using what criteria?
Who should they consult?
>* Under what conditions could or should the national submissions be disqualified, if a
national competition already has taken place?
>* Should the international team make efforts to not appear to support an armed
conflict when communicating about the competition, or even previous events? What are some
guidelines that they could follow?
>I would invite others to contribute in framing a constructive conversation (publicly
or privately - when in doubt, just email me privately).
>Conversation timeline : We want this to be the start of a constructive community
conversation with national organizers, international organizers and other community
members who feel they can constructively contribute. We welcome contributions from
organizers of other similar international competitions/activities. The conversation will
be in English but if there is sufficient interest, we can see if we can organize
translation resources in future conversations. You can sign up here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2023/Office… . Please
do sign up, in case we have to share the link privately.
>As mentioned, I don't expect this conversation to be "one and done".
It's a first step, and I expect to follow up with a next conversation in a few months,
and again around Wikimania - if there is sufficient interest.
>I will guide this conversation as a former WLM international team member and a current
advisor.
>Warmly,
>Lodewijk _______________________________________________
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>http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org
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