Overview
Wikimedia CH believes in using its unique position in the field of information exchange to be an influencer on issues concerning open access and open knowledge — in Switzerland, throughout Europe and across the globe. We offer our viewpoints on copyright, digital sustainability, technology and more, creating partnerships and reaching out to other actors in the various fields wherever possible. In 2021, our activities focused on national advocacy to influence policy while building upon existing relationships and starting new ones with like-minded organizations. For example, we continued our longtime affiliation with Parldigi, the Swiss parliamentary group on digital sustainability founded in 2009 that became an association in 2021. We also presented projects and examples of our work promoting free knowledge at the first Swiss Virtual Expo.
Furthermore, we began exploring a new focus on environmental issues and climate change. We collaborated with Klima-Allianz Schweiz, a new alliance for our chapter, and Alliance Digitale, which added the topic of climate change to its activities.
Our fundraising remained crucial to obtain a budget for 2022 activities, while our communication activities supported all our initiatives.
Highlight activity
As the Program Community highlight mentioned, the WikiSwiss Awards Ceremony was a half-day event that brought the community, donors and partners together for meaningful discussions and networking opportunities. While honoring the dedication of our volunteers, we also took time to discuss the future of data. Attendees were given the following prompt ahead of the event to spark discussion.
The monopolization and capitalization of knowledge: What is knowledge worth in the digital age? Who will control access to knowledge in the future? How can knowledge be made more democratic?
Two keynote speakers addressed this theme. The first was Monique Morrow, an American telecommunications engineer and president and co-founder of Humanized Internet, a nonprofit organization active in protecting the digital identities of underrepresented populations. The second speaker was Hannes Grassegger, who is, among other things, a technology reporter, economist, former financial analyst, member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Experts Community and author of “Das Kapital bin Ich” (Kein & Aber Verlag, Berlin/Zürich, 2014) about why we should own our data. After the keynotes, four panelists discussed the same theme with attendees. (Watch our video about the ceremony, which includes highlights of the presentations.)
Key program activities
- Participated in Parldigi meetings around topics like open knowledge, electronic identification devices and data privacy. Attended a hybrid online parliamentarian dinner on artificial intelligence.
- Of note among our activities as part of Parldigi: Wikimedia CH has worked for years at the political level to shape opinions about open knowledge. A key example is our advocacy for free access to images made on behalf of the government (e.g. see the 2019 impact report discussing our past work). The issue won major support this year when the Federal Council supported a motion approving the copyright release of images created on behalf of the Confederation.
- As a founding member, officially launched WikiFranca under Swiss legislation at the French-speaking WikiCon in November. The nonprofit association will build partnerships with institutions and cultural networks, providing the French-speaking community with reliable and diversified sources.
- Conducted significant outreach around Wikipedia’s 20th anniversary. Activities included (1) singing “Happy Birthday” live on Zoom with the team, partners and Jimmy Wales (access via Facebook); (2) producing a video (see it at 57:34 of this YouTube video) for Wikipedia’s global virtual birthday party, which we shared on all channels; and (3) incorporating a celebration for longtime Wikipedians at the first-ever WikiSwiss Awards (described in the Community and Outreach highlight sections).
- Joined online meetings for the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU (FKAGEU) and the Alliance Digitale, the latter of which included adding the topic of climate change to the alliance’s activities.
- Joined the Klima-Allianz Schweiz, an alliance of civil society organizations committed to climate justice. Also worked with other diverse stakeholders on environmental topics related to data.
- Continued professionalizing our communication and fundraising practices, including creating new plans, sending out successful fundraising campaigns, improving our donor database, allowing donations through Twint and ensuring outreach tools are compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Spoke at Swiss Post in Bern as well as on other occasions to share best practices around transparency, virtual work, women in leadership and organization.
- Presented projects and examples of our work to promote free knowledge at the first Swiss Virtual Expo, a virtual 3D exhibition for companies, people and projects that animate the Swiss business scene. Our partner organization ated - ICT Ticino hosted the expo for its 50th anniversary.
- Continued supporting Kiwix, which was selected as a finalist for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MIT Solve Challenge in Digital Inclusion, coming out on top of 1,800 other applicants this year.
- Collaborated on international public relations concerning China blocking the Wikimedia Foundation request for observer status at the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), issuing media releases in Switzerland in German, French, Italian and English: China again blocks Wikimedia Foundation’s accreditation - Wikimedia.
- Launched Wikimedia CH’s new YouTube channel in August – a useful outlet for video material.
- Began work on key messages around Wikimedia CH’s vision, mission and work. This work is critical to better position the chapter, communicate the value of its work and develop consistent, cohesive outreach messages for the whole team.
Program impact
- Wikimedia CH helped attain a positive result from advocacy work around free access to images, earning the Federal Council’s support of Motion 21.4195 to release Confederation images on the Open Government Data Portal. This motion was on the agenda of the National Council on 18 December. Since a member of parliament opposed it, any decision was postponed to 15 March 2022. However, the principle of public access defined in the Open Government Data Strategy should be applied to images. In the future, they should be accessible to all and usable free of charge.
- We built up our newsletter outreach, increasing our subscribers by more than 7,000, a 33% increase from January 2021 to January 2022.
- We collaborated closely with the Wikimedia Foundation’s communication team for the first time. As a result, Jimmy Wales joined our Zoom celebration of Wikipedia’s 20th anniversary. Plus, we got a global echo on our awareness campaign with ICOM to protect Afghanistan’s cultural heritage.
- The chapter advanced our climate change activities by creating a new partnership with Klima-Allianz Schweiz and strengthening our existing partnership with Alliance Digitale.
- We emphasized a collaborative approach with partners to communicate about events, even teaming up to create several key visuals for our social media campaigns. Examples are the edit-a-thons at the EPFL and the edit-a-thon Les femmes du Jura with the Canton of Bern and Memoires d’ici.
Looking ahead
Wikimedia CH is a founding member of WikiFranca. As such, in 2022, we will continue supporting and helping to develop its new structure as a nonprofit association, aiming to build a viable partnership that continues to grow in its service to the French-speaking Wiki community.
More broadly, our chapter will continue maintaining and expanding current activities and advocating for issues important to the Wikimedia Movement, such as copyrights, freedom of panorama and net neutrality. We’ll also remain committed to environmental issues and climate change – a topic we began exploring in 2021 – especially as they relate to data and open knowledge. Wikimedia CH will analyze how to support and align with the Wikimedia Environmental Sustainability Covenant. Finally, we will proceed with defining the chapter’s key messaging to align with our vision, mission and values.
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Photo credits
- Lake Lugano, Paradiso. Photo by Gabrielle Merk, own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- This slide is from a presentation describing Wikimedia CH’s belief in and advocacy for open access and open knowledge — in Switzerland, throughout Europe and across the globe. Image by Ilario, own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- A community member asks a question during the panel discussion at the inaugural WikiSwiss Awards in June 2021. Photo by Kerstin Sonnekalb (WMCH), own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- At the WikiSwiss Awards Ceremony in June 2021, attendees also took time to discuss the future of data using the following prompt from Wikimedia CH: The monopolization and capitalization of knowledge: What is knowledge worth in the digital age? Who will control access to knowledge in the future? How can knowledge be made more democratic? Photo by Kerstin Sonnekalb (WMCH), own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Wikimedia CH presented projects and examples of our work to promote free knowledge at the first Swiss Virtual Expo, a virtual 3D exhibition for companies, people and projects that animate the Swiss business scene, hosted by our partner ated - ICT Ticino for its 50th anniversary. Image by Ilario, own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- New webpages on the Wikimedia CH site, including a link to the chapter’s new YouTube channel launched in August 2021. Image by Ilario, own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Multiple scans from the Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite have been stitched together to create this complete image of Switzerland. The southern part of the country is dominated by the Alps, some of which are snow-capped. One of the more obvious features in the lower central part of the image is the curved x-shape of the Aletsch Glacier, the largest in the Alps. Owing to climate change, the glaciers in this region are showing long-term retreat. Photo by the European Space Agency, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
- Following the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Wikimedia CH set up a project page to share the ICOM appeal to preserve the country’s art and cultural treasures on Wikipedia and other Wiki platforms. This image is of a head of Buddha meditating from Haḍḍa, a Greco-Buddhist archeological site in Afghanistan. This sculpture is featured in the Musée Georges Labit Toulouse, an archaeological museum located in Toulouse, France, dedicated to artifacts from the Far-Eastern and Ancient Egyptian civilizations. Photo by Didier Descouens, own work, public domain.
- Bern at sunset. Photo by Giles Laurent, own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Lake Thun and Niesen, a mountain peak in the Bernese Alps. Photo by Gabrielle Merk, own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.