Following up on this thread from 2 months ago: 

I can say that we are certainly going ahead with this now and that we're just trying to 'iron out' the details. I know that several Wikimedia Chapters have already written this into their published annual plans, so we have a critical mass to say that this is happening. This email is a kind of 'pre-announcement' to hopefully get you interested and planning! 

Furthermore, I propose to change the scope (and name) of this mailing list to be about this forthcoming project and not only the 'Art History Challenge' which is concluded.

The most important aspects of this forthcoming project are here below, summarised from the planning document https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cXxjqxB5UXsFB8H-hUJ8XHb0Uw4-YiiOeUFV4PbquFU/edit#

1) *The theme* will be "1914-18", corresponding with the ongoing centenary of World War I and the matching Europeana project http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/

1.1) This does not mean the topic is restricted to writing articles about battles: For example, a dozen places adopted Women's suffrage, some national independences were declared and there were two Russian revolutions - and that was just 1917!

2) *The format*. In a deliberate departure from previous wikimedia 'challenges', this one will not be about 'points', nor will it be about individuals competing to do the most of a fixed activity. Instead, participants will be any Wikimedia Affiliate (Chapter, Thematic org or User Group) - and from anywhere ( not just those in the E.U.). Furthermore, participation can take any form that the Affiliate wishes and which fits with their skills/resources/interests - Diverse but valid types of participation could include: Editathons with women's history organisations about suffrage; public campaigning for Freedom of Panorama of WWI Cemeteries; WikiExpeditions to take monument photos and improve OpenStreetMap of the [ex] battlefront; Wikidata ingestions; transcription parties... 

Any affiliate can make several actions too - the only restriction is that at least one activity from each participating affiliate must be in collaboration with a Europeana partner GLAM, or using a Europeana project (e.g. the 1914-18 website above). 

2.1) The great flexibility of this is to encourage *diversity, quality and innovation* of projects - in order to demonstrate to the world what interesting kinds of re-use and community engagement can happen when free-access to cultural heritage is made possible. These will be the three criteria of the jury too. 

This also means that participating affiliates are very welcome to claim their existing projects as part of this campaign too (as long as they fit the theme), and because it's not a competition for points - joint projects between affiliates is encouraged. For example, if two affiliates are already planning writing challenges for early 2017, supporting the translation of each other's articles relating to the 1914-18 theme would be a great, valid, collaboration for this project.

3) *The timeline*. I expect to formally 'launch' the project page on Meta in mid-December and the qualifying activities themselves can take place any time in the first half of 2017. That's six months to do as many interesting and innovative activities as we can think of. I and other Europeana staff will be willing and available to help support the planning and execution of these activities along the way.

4) *The result*. Since this isn't about 'points' or about fulfilling a specific pre-defined goal, what is actually being produced? Participating Affiliates will undertake as many and various activities as they wish, and at the end of the period, each will produce a "portfolio" describing their actions, outcomes, and interesting results. These reports will be compiled on Meta and judged by a expert jury. The collection of these portfolios will be displayed in the Europeana 1914-18 website as a showcase of collaborative possibilities. 

Practical questions:

- What should this be called!? I have a feeling that "the Europeana 1914-18 challenge" sounds like we're declaring war... And I don't want to call it a "competition" since I hope it will be more collaborative than competitive. "EuropeanaONE" was just a placeholder name before the theme was chosen (in order to differentiate from 280). Any suggestions?

- What should the prizes be? It is difficult to offer a prize to an organisation as a whole, especially since the Affiliate might not want to be seen to 'take the credit' for the work of their local volunteers - so what are the kinds of 'reward' that can be motivating and helpful? For starters, I have already confirmed that the major prize will be a scholarship to travel to attend the next Europeana conference and present the winning activities.

Do you have any other questions or suggestions? Please write (on list, or privately)!

Sincerely, 

-Liam / Wittylama