Good day everyone.
I’m Nikolai Bulykin, the co-founder and organizer of North-West Russia Wiki-Historians User group. You may have heard about us in connection with the previous CEE Meeting in Tbilisi. For those who haven’t - we’re thematic user group focused on the topics of history, culture, nature and geography of North-West Russia that can be simply described as «Saint Petersburg and its near and far surroundings». The affiliate was created in 2019 and we’ve managed pretty descent level of activity, at least it’s more than we’ve expected at the beginning. Also, as far as I know, we’re remaining the last active Russian-language Wikimedia affiliate in Russia while others are closed (Wikimedia RU) or just dropped their activities almost to zero. There is a bit of Tatar activity in sight, tho.
We started this affiliate on the idea to unite all the editors who works on the similar topics and organize them, because we believe that 15 organized Wikimedians can do more than 90 un-organized ones. Being honest, the idea of this group was there long before my debut in the community and, maybe, even before my first edit. As an affiliate, we managed to get assistance from the Foundation that gave us plenty of experience and insights. We were happy to share them, but then COVID happened and all international relations in Wikimedia have shrinked to 50-70-person Zoom calls that didn’t give us such opportunity. Sad but ok, that was the circumstances and we still managed to maintain high level of activity both offline and on-wiki.
When the COVID have ended we had a new treat — you all know what Russian government did (and still do) and that have closed the barely opened gates of financial aid for us. Some of us had to flee the country and others passed the opportunity to visit CEEM in North Macedonia because of travel safety concerns and suddenly appeared visas. And that also were the circumstances.
In 2023 we were hit by bad news — we were not eligible for a scholarship to send delegates to CEEM in Tbilisi. The reason provided by Mehman Ibragimov was that we’re not a language or a country community and we didn’t participate in CEE Spring (although we’ve added our articles lists to the contest). But with the help of some other Russian Wikimedians, mostly Anastasiya Lvova (who later joined us) we’ve presented the poster that described ourselves and our work. We thought it would be easier in the next year and while we consider 2023 situation as wrongful, we learnt our lesson on the «new rules».
So in 2024, after the closing of Wikimedia RU Anastasiya have convinced us to lead CEE Spring in Russian Wikipedia. But to our surprise, we weren’t even listed in 2024 CEEM affiliates and communities list. After a bit more than a week we received an answer that we’re not considered as a CEE Affiliate.
Representatives of the Foundation claim that local communities know better, so why does the CEE community knows that we are part of it, while the people making decisions about scholarships for CEE events don't know this and make references in their replies about reasons not to invite us on a page that anyone can edit, seemingly with little regulation?
If equity is among the values of the Foundation, its plans, and Wikimedia community as a whole, why are special rules introduced for us regarding preference for the language community, even though we meet all the criteria (reports, activity)? And should we still do this «representative work» if we're still considered as outsiders?
Links:
Our page — https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North-West_Russia_Wiki-Historians_User_Grou…
Our annual reports — https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North-West_Russia_Wiki-Historians_User_Grou…
Our activity page — https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North-West_Russia_Wiki-Historians_User_Grou…
Our poster at CEEM-2023 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NWR-Hist-Poster_2023_curves.pdf
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Nikolai Bulykin (User:Красный).
Written by myself, discussed by Organizing committee of North-West Russia Wiki-Historians: Ekaterina Borisova (User:Екатерина Борисова), Paul Kaganer (User:Kaganer), Anastasiya Lvova (User:Lvova).
Good morning,
We're excited to announce the release of the *May 2024 issue of
the CEE Newsletter*! This edition is filled with captivating stories,
community highlights, and collaborative achievements from across the
Central and Eastern Europe region in the Wikimedia movement.
Read the Newsletter here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CEE/Newsletter/May_2024>
*In This Issue:*
- *International Updates:* Stay informed with the "Wikimedia
International Update Corner", covering key events and initiatives in the
international Wikimedia space for 2024.
- *CEE in the News:* Discover notable mentions of CEE region activities
in "This month in Education" and "This month in GLAM" newsletters.
- *Updates from Communities:* Learn about the advocacy efforts for fair
internet regulations in Poland, the second edition of Wiki Loves Earth
Czechia, and the recognition of the Wikimedia Community User Group Cyprus,
among other community updates.
- *Special Highlights:* Read about Wikimedia Czech Republic's advocacy
for open online platforms, the latest on Wiki Loves Earth 2024, and the
impressive contributions during Wikipedia’s Women’s Month on Czech
Wikipedia.
- *Community Spotlight: *Explore the International Roma Day Editathon in
Albania and Kosovo, and get insights from the WikiLive conference in Serbia.
- *Events and Workshops: *Catch up on the Wiki Photo Workshop in
Tashkent and the Summer of Wikivoyage Editathon in Kruja, Albania.
We hope you enjoy this issue and find inspiration in the diverse stories
and impactful work being done by our CEE communities. Thank you for being a
part of our journey toward promoting free knowledge and collaboration.
You can read the full newsletter here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CEE/Newsletter/May_2024>. We hope you
enjoy the inspiring stories and achievements showcased by our
vibrant CEE communities.
Happy reading!
Toni Ristovski | Тони Ристовски
*CEE HUB | Program Officer*
Tel. +389 72 565 409
Web. www.wmceehub.org
Dear Wikimedians,
Scholarship application for WikiConference Nigeria 2024 is now open.
Wikimedians can now apply for a scholarship to attend the maiden edition of
the conference which will take place in September in Abuja, Nigeria.
More details about the scholarships and all questions in the application
form can be found on the scholarship page on Meta-wiki: https://w.wiki/AFzW
To apply for a scholarship, fill out the application form on:
https://forms.gle/VvXav52CasbkFCfG7
The deadline for submitting a scholarship application is June 15.
Applicants will be notified of decisions in July.
Best,
Ammar
On behalf of the Conference Scholarship Committee
Dear all,
I would like to kindly inform you that the deadline for registering
Affiliate/Community Delegates for the Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2024 is
approaching. You can register by June 15th. Please note that the deadline
for registration will not be extended, and the organizers will not be able
to provide you with a scholarship after this date.
Best,
Caner
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Yılmaz Caner Özyayıkçı
Member & Designer
Wikimedians of Turkic Languages User Group
Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey
Wikimedia username: Kurmanbek
[image: emailAddress] caner.ozyayikci(a)wmturkic.org
[image: website] https://wmturkic.org/
[image: address] Türkiye (Turkey)
Hi all,
Today Wikimedia Ukraine, the nonprofit organization that supports Wikipedia
and free knowledge in Ukraine, turns 15.
We are really grateful to everyone in the Wikimedia movement who've
supported us and participated in our projects over the years – whether by
lending a hand at the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, by
writing about Ukraine on Wikipedia within Ukraine's Cultural Diplomacy
Month or CEE Spring, by sharing your experience with us and learning from
ours, and in countless other ways.
To mark the anniversary, we prepared a brief Diff post listing ten of
Wikimedia Ukraine's achievements over the past years & four perspectives
about what WMUA means to our volunteers:
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/05/31/celebrating-15-years-of-wikimedia-ukr…
We would love to hear your stories about Wikimedia Ukraine and its projects
if you have them. Share your memories on social media with the hashtag
#WMUA15 and tag us in your posts – https://x.com/wikimedia_ua;
https://www.facebook.com/Wikimedia.Ukraina/;
https://www.instagram.com/wikimedia_ukraine/.
Hope to see everyone at Wikimania 2030 in Kyiv ;)
Best Regards
Anton Protsiuk
Programs Coordinator at Wikimedia Ukraine