2019:Advocacy/Make people care: using SDGs to talk about Free Knowledge

Advocacy/Make people care: using SDGs to talk about Free Knowledge

Title

Make people care: using SDGs to talk about Free Knowledge

Description

Wikimedia 2030 is all about reaching out. We have big ideas – about the kind of internet we want, the knowledge we want people to have access to, the impact we believe people can make, if they are able to share their knowledge. To realize these ideas we need partners though, lots of them. Frequently, we are actually already working on realizing similar ideas as other communities, institutions, NGOs, but we don’t necessarily use the same language when we talk about them. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a common reasoning, a common language to talk about the change we want to make happen – and they can function as a reminder to talk about those big ideas as tangible stories of how Free Knowledge is making a difference: the local history preserved, the research made possible, the m ap created and the impact it has on one life or many.

This workshop invites anyone working towards more impactful communication, growing the Free Knowledge community, and/or gaining new partners and funding opportun ities to develop a clear narrative of how our (volunteer) work relates to specific Sustainable Development Goals. In smaller groups, we will discuss how specific areas of our work for Free Knowledge (education, tech, advocacy, etc.) relate to different SDGs and how that fits within the larger narrative.

We also want to start collecting stories of the impact we as a movement are already having in our local communities. During the workshop, and followed up by an open invitation to create video stories with us at a community village stall during this Wikimania, we want to collect case studies to build up a Meta-Wiki page as a communication resource for everyone from edit-a-thon planner to journalist to explain Free Knowledge and the impact it has.

Relationship to the theme

This session will address the conference theme — Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals — in the following manner:

The workshop takes up the question of how the movement and the strategic direction ‘Wikimedia 2030’ fit in with the global discourse and advocacy around SDGs. We want to try to develop a common line of communication and showcase specific stories of local impact of Free Knowledge within the framework of the SDGs.

Session outcomes

At the end of the session, the following will have been achieved:

Workshop participants will have developed a better understanding of where our goals fit within the SDG discourse and how SDG-related storytelling could benefit community growth, facilitate advocacy, and enable us to find new partners and funders. In addition, we will build upon the workshop results to start an open resource page on SDGs and Free Knowledge and case studies showing local impact.

Session leader(s)

Maiken Hagemeister (WMDE)
Lisa Dittmer (WMDE)
Jan Apel (WMDE)
Tjane Hartenstein (WMDE)

Usernames

Affiliation/country (if any)

Wikimedia Deutschland

E-mail contact (optional)

lisa.dittmer@wikimedia.de
maiken.hagemeister@wikimedia.de

Session type

Each Space at Wikimania 2019 will have specific format requests. The program design prioritises submissions which are future-oriented and directly engage the audience. The format of this submission is a:

Facilitator-led workshop open to all.

Requirements

The session will work best with these conditions:

Room: Workshop setting with possibility to move around, build sub-groups.

Audience: Likely maximum of 30-40 people, no prior experience or skills necessary, ideal for community leaders as well as anyone interested in communication and community growth.

Recording: tbc.

Note: This workshop could be part of either the Advocacy or the Wikimedia 2030 space.