This is a legitimate concern as several users have dared to ask questions as you can see at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Ukraine%27s_Cultural_Diplomacy_Month We need more transparency regarding this decision. Granted, there was a campaign last year around this time, but was it advertised at a global scale? At least, I can't remember that. On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 8:28 AM Ariel Glenn WMF <ariel(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

The list archive probably has an answer to your question on 9 feb 2021. But regardless, writing about Ukrainian culture is never more prudent than when it is under threat. Whatever one's personal opinion on this war, I don't think anyone will deny that Ukrainian cultural heritage is at risk? Asking people to go outside and take photos, that may be a bit much right now, but this is a writing exercise. That is the beautiful thing about Wikimedia: we document things regardless of how much we 'like' them. Lodewijk On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 9:59 PM 4nn1l2 <4nn1l2.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Absolutely. I am not a fan of government propaganda, but not it is not the best moment to discuss it. Best Yaroslav On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 7:23 AM effe iets anders <effeietsanders(a)gmail.com> wrote:

These are days when geography, culture and topics about Ukraine will be most consulted worldwide. I'm trying myself to make some articles about geography at eu.wikipedia, regardless of my opinion about the war itself. BUT... "diplomacy month" seems a bad title for this effort at the current moment. Take care outside. Galder ________________________________ From: Gnangarra &lt;gnangarra(a)gmail.com&gt; Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2022 12:48 PM To: Wikimedia Mailing List &lt;wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt; Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Re: [Wikimedia Announcements] Ukraine's Cultural Diplomacy Month: We are back in 2022! Given previous experience, past examples of this project editors are free to make any contributions so I see no issue with governments, institutions or even private corporations supporting knowledge sharing activity. The best time to share knowledge is now, the second best is when its under threat, what we cant do is share knowledge once its destroyed. What I do see as unacceptable is saying we shouldn't be sharing knowledge because a society and cultures' future is being threatened. We need to be doing everything we can to ensure we collect and document as much as we can. We have seen many museums and heritage places lost in the last 20 years due various natural and unnatural events. On Thu, 24 Feb 2022 at 16:53, Yaroslav Blanter <ymbalt@gmail.com<mailto:ymbalt@gmail.com>> wrote: Absolutely. I am not a fan of government propaganda, but not it is not the best moment to discuss it. Best Yaroslav On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 7:23 AM effe iets anders <effeietsanders@gmail.com<mailto:effeietsanders@gmail.com>> wrote: The list archive probably has an answer to your question on 9 feb 2021. But regardless, writing about Ukrainian culture is never more prudent than when it is under threat. Whatever one's personal opinion on this war, I don't think anyone will deny that Ukrainian cultural heritage is at risk? Asking people to go outside and take photos, that may be a bit much right now, but this is a writing exercise. That is the beautiful thing about Wikimedia: we document things regardless of how much we 'like' them. Lodewijk On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 9:59 PM 4nn1l2 <4nn1l2.wiki@gmail.com<mailto:4nn1l2.wiki@gmail.com>> wrote: This is a legitimate concern as several users have dared to ask questions as you can see at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Ukraine%27s_Cultural_Diplomacy_Month We need more transparency regarding this decision. Granted, there was a campaign last year around this time, but was it advertised at a global scale? At least, I can't remember that. On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 8:28 AM Ariel Glenn WMF <ariel@wikimedia.org<mailto:ariel@wikimedia.org>> wrote: This campaign was conducted last year at around the same time: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ukraine%27s_Cultural_Diplomacy_Month_2021 Let's keep any unwarranted speculations off of this list please. Ariel Glenn ariel@wikimedia.org<mailto:ariel@wikimedia.org> On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 5:55 AM 4nn1l2 <4nn1l2.wiki@gmail.com<mailto:4nn1l2.wiki@gmail.com>> wrote: The timing of this campaign is of real concern and not prudent, I think, especially for those of us who strive for neutrality. On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 2:47 AM Samuel Klein <meta.sj@gmail.com<mailto:meta.sj@gmail.com>> wrote: Thanks for sharing -- a nice idea and gorgeous page; nice to see the wikigap challenge model proliferating. On Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 6:00 PM Valentin Nefedov <nefedov.valentin@gmail.com<mailto:nefedov.valentin@gmail.com>> wrote: Hello, dear Wikipedians! Wikimedia Ukraine, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Ukrainian Institute, has launched the second edition of writing challenge Ukraine's Cultural Diplomacy Month<http://ucdm.wikimedia.org.ua>, which lasts from 17 February to 17 March 2022. The campaign is dedicated to famous Ukrainian artists of cinema, music, literature, architecture, design and cultural phenomena of Ukraine that made a contribution to world culture. The most active contesters will receive prizes. We invite you to take part and help us improve the coverage of Ukrainian culture on Wikipedia in any language! Sincerely, Valentyn Nefedov a.k.a. Renvoy _______________________________________________ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l _______________________________________________ WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list -- wikimediaannounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimediaannounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimediaannounce-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimediaannounce-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org> -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org… To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org… To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org… To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org… To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org… To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org… To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org<mailto:wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org> -- GN.

Hi. We at Wikimedia Ukraine are preparing a longer response to the concerns raised here, but in brief: * The challenge overall and the CentralNotice campaign in particular were planned long before, as a general effort to enrich Wikipedia on Ukraine-related topics, not as a specific political statement. Its first edition was held last year within similar dates and advertised similarly. Its idea first emerged back in 2018, and we've been actively working to organize it since 2020. * The challenge is supported by the Ukrainian government, but it has no influence on the content of articles, and neither does Wikimedia Ukraine. All participants have to follow relevant Wikipedia rules. Organizers only provide suggested topics for the challenge and prizes for most active participants (dependent on the level of activity, not the content of articles they created), as well as contribute to promotion efforts. Hopefully, we'll be able to ship physical prizes despite the Russian aggression; otherwise, we'll find other ways to award winners. * On a personal note – advancing free knowledge by creating and expanding Wikipedia articles is a powerful tool to fight authoritarianism and unfreedom. Regardless of whether you want to support Ukraine (as I think the world should do), developing free knowledge in all ways compatible with Wikipedia principles and rules is the goal we're all united around. Best Regards Anton Protsiuk Programs Coordinator at Wikimedia Ukraine On Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 2:30 PM Andy Mabbett &lt;andy(a)pigsonthewing.org.uk&gt; wrote: