Dear Sirs,

This is a request regarding steps I should take to reactivate Russian Wikidia & open one in Tatar language as well.

I am Farhad Fatkullin of Wikimedia Russia, 2018 Wikimedian of the Year from Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, currently working on piloting Smart Region project within my region [1] with the objective of scaling it throughout the Russian Federation & beyond.[2] With Wikimedia Community Languages of Russia colleagues, we are seeing tangible benefits of strengthening domestic regional multilingualism,[3] which I will be presenting in various aspects and formats during Wikimania-2019 in Stockholm this August.[4]

The demand for bringing back Russian & launching Tatar Vikidias is based on the interest of the Republic of Tatarstan's authorities (ex-President, UNESCO Special Envoy for Intercultural Dialogue Mintimer Shaimiev),[5] current President Rustam Minnikhanov [6] & regional Ministry of Education to introduce Wiki in Education in all languages used as mediums of instruction for school subjects in order to develop media literacy, critical thinking, public writing & generating knowledge of local children and youth, beginning from elementary school level as early as September 2019.[7] Thus your project, directed at giving 8-13 year olds to describe the world in their own language, started having special importance for the region I am living in.

Polilingual & Policultural environment is an important cornerstone of Tatarstan culture for millennia, so regionally we must develop this simultaneously at least in Tatar,[8] Russian & English. Based on my Wiki-experience, elementary school age kids won't feel comfortable creating topical content in Wikipedia, especially two latter ones - so the chance to use your platform would have great educational value. We have experience working with high-schoolers using Wikipedias since 2016,[9] sharing it with colleagues at various Wikimedia conferences.[10]

I decided to write you after discussions with Susanna Mkrtchyan of Wikimedia Armenia,[11] who successfully worked with you to start Vikidia in Armenian [12] after some experience with WikiKids. We know of letopisi.org Wiki for Russian & a possibility to host kids-Wiki within Wikipedia,[13] but Vikidia with interwikis, media from Wikimedia Commons & single Username for various language projects seems much more attractive for us.

I would be grateful for your positive response and guidance.

regards, farhad -- Farhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин http://sikzn.ru/ Тел.+79274158066 / skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan / Wikidata:Q34036417

[1] Smart Tatarstan - https://w.wiki/6HB [2] Smart Region project - https://w.wiki/6HA [3] Why Regional Multilingualism matters - https://w.wiki/6Hi (in Russian) [4] Wikimania-2019 Stockholm 14-18 August: "Imagine a world in which every human is a Wikimedian" poster - https://w.wiki/6AA , "Smart Region: Building the ecosystem for Wiki-community growth" talks - https://w.wiki/6A8 [5] Ex-President of Tatarstan meets Tatar Wikimedians - https://ru.wikinews.org/?curid=186485 (in Russian with photoes) [6] Tatarstan pilot of «Smart Region» initiative presented to Tatarstan President & the Russian Federation Deputy Prime-Minister - https://w.wiki/6HN [7] On Tuesday, July 16 Tatar Wikimedians were invited to the meeting at the Tatarstan Presidential Administration together with representatives of Tatar Encyclopedia and Region's Ministry of Education. On Thursday, July 18, right after presenting my part at the Wiki-session at Regional Youth IT FORUM https://w.wiki/5wX (in Russian, with photoes), I received a phonecall from the responsible in the Department of Education to provide them with a step-by-step implementation guide for teachers. [8] list of main Wiki-projects run in Tatar @ Wikimedia Russia wiki - https://w.wiki/6HD [9] https://ru.wikimedia.org/wiki/Selet_WikiSchool , photoes https://w.wiki/6Hf [10] articles in English: https://w.wiki/6Hg @Wikimedia CEE 2018, https://w.wiki/6Hh @Selet WikiSchool Conference 2018 [11] Susanna Mkrtchyan of Wikimedia Armenia @ Wikidata - https://w.wiki/6HP [12] Vikidia in Armenian - https://hy.vikidia.org/ [13] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_wikis_for_children#Txikipedia,_the_b...