Hello everyone,

*In a nutshell*

- 2021's competition can be organized for any 30/31 days during the months of September and October. - The deadline to submit the top 10 national winners will be December 5, 2021. - National organizers should publish information (username or name) of jurors and rounds organized on this page https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Juries . - We have a budget this year as well to award special prizes - please share if you have any ideas by July 15. - And, if you are interested in organizing, please signup here https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Participating_countries .

*Full announcement (also available at https://w.wiki/3a5s https://w.wiki/3a5s)*

It's that time of year again when we get started for Wiki Loves Monuments. By 2020, we have completed ten iterations of the international edition. Thanks to all other organizers, participants, sponsors and partners, who collectively achieved this feat. With the onset of a global pandemic, last year has been particularly challenging for many organizers to keep the photo competition running. Nevertheless, we received 200,000+ images.

Though it is great to see several countries recovering to normal life after a long period of lockdowns and restrictions, many countries aren't quite there yet. Since February this year, we have been organizing office hours to have inputs from community members regarding various aspects related to the competition, which also includes the timeline. The framework for 2021 is based on all consolidated feedback from these conversations and surveys we did for 2020 (sorry for the delay in publishing those reports!)

- *Responsibility for national organizers:* We would like to emphasize that the international team coordinates the national competitions: we are not qualified to tell you exactly how to organize your competition. National teams are best placed to decide whether and how to organize a competition in your country. We will try to help set an international framework, and assist in the exchange of best practices. We expect that national organizers will follow the guidelines and regulations set by their national governments and health authorities. Note that funding and WMF affiliate recognition may come with additional guidance/requirements. - *Transparency of national juries:* The international team has been receiving feedback over the last couple of years for better transparency of national juries, to avoid potential conflict of interest organizers may have with jurors. So from this year on, national organizers should publish their information (username or name) of jurors and rounds organized on this page https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Juries .

- *Extended timeline:* Many organizers welcomed the extended timeline last year. Though we will be continuing that this year, but not exactly as we did last year. National organizers have the opportunity to choose a different range of dates for their national competition. You can pick any range of 30 or 31 days within the period of September-October 2021 as your upload dates. That means that one country does not have to use the same upload dates as another. This will allow flexibility according to the situation in various countries. - The last date for all uploads is 31 October 2021, and any uploads beyond that date will be ineligible for consideration. - The jury deadline will be December 5, 2021, for all countries.

- *Exchange of knowledge:* National organizers innovate in many ways to make their competitions successful. While some try out new social media campaigns, some organize an interesting photo walk, and others use Wikidata to make the upload process easy. It would be helpful for other organizers to learn from these practices. Here is a page https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Knowledge_Exchange on Wikimedia Commons where you can share your strategies and let the community know what worked, what didn’t and any suggestions for others interested in the idea.

- *Special awards in 2021:* Though the international team tried to organize special awards last year, we couldn’t make it work. We have a budget this year as well to award special prizes. We would like community members to suggest ideas for these special prizes. For example, underrepresented regions, the most numbers of unique monuments covered etc. Please send in your ideas via email or by posting on the Commons talk page by July 15.

Lastly, and most importantly, if you are interested in organizing the competition for your country/region, please sign up at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Partici... .

If you need any support with organizing, please reach out to one of the international team members https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021/Organizers, or you can also post to the mailing list, or on the help desk https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons_talk:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2021 on Wikimedia Commons.

Best, Krishna Chaitanya, for the International Team

PS: If you are interested in helping with the international coordination, please check out the roles here https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments/Documentation/International_team and let us know if anything interests you.