2019:Theme/FAQ/ms

The Wikimania 2019 Official Theme will be Stronger together: Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals. An introduction to the theme, with relevant background and context, can be found at the theme page. This page aims to give answers to questions that are expected to arise. If you think any question is missing, please write it down at the talk page so we can add it here if relevant.

What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

In September 2015, nearly all countries in the world agreed on a “universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.” The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were thus announced, all of them aiming towards a sustainable world. The goals are a central part in the work to fulfilling Agenda 2030, the U.N.’s agreed agenda on how to reach a sustainable world in the upcoming decade.

The seventeen SDGs have given people, organizations and governments across the world a shared framework for their work, efforts and investments. They cover a broad range of areas, including social, economic and ecological development. The goals highlight the importance of cooperation between global, regional and local actors, and are broken down into 169 measurable targets. When all targets are met, the SDGs can be said to have been fulfilled. The seventeen goals are:

1. No poverty
2. Zero hunger
3. Good health and wellbeing
4. Pendidikan bermutu
5. Gender equality
6. Clean water and sanitation
7. Affordable and clean energy
8. Decent work and economic growth
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure
10. Reduced inequalities
11. Sustainable cities and communities
12. Responsible consumption and production
13. Climate action
14. Life below water
15. Life on land
16. Peace, justice and strong institutions
17. Partnerships for the goals

What is the significance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the Wikimedia Movement?

Wikimedia is a part of something larger. We develop our projects not for profit and have for years contributed to the greater good. Presenting our work within the framework of the SDGs will increase the understanding of what effect our work have had and will have in the future.

As with the SDG’s the current Movement Strategy is lasting until 2030. The Wikimedia Movement Strategy process has put focus on ''free knowledge as a service'' and on ''knowledge equity''. This is an opportunity to stop and think about how we can achieve our strategic goals and move in the identified direction long term. We continuously need to discuss how the choices we make at the local level have global impacts, and vice versa.

We need to have awareness and consider how technical trends bring both benefits and drawbacks to the Wikimedia projects. As more people in the world come online and digital content is growing, we must discuss who are not visible and are excluded from engaging in the sum of all knowledge.

Our hope is that this theme can help Wikimedians consider the long term impact and what the future has in store for us as a movement. Wikimania is an opportunity to bring people with different perspectives together and contribute with a range of knowledge and skills to identify challenges and solutions standing in front of us.

We hope to achieve a conference format which calls for participants to share the high level impact of their activities, instead of highlighting past or completed projects. We believe that this theme will help get us there.

Why did Wikimedia Sverige choose this as a theme?

There are several reasons for why Wikimedia Sverige chooses this as Wikimania 2019 theme. The central one is of course that we think it is important. It is not up to one or a few actors to build a better world. It is up to all of us who inhabit this planet. All of us have to do our share, and the SDGs are currently the language spoken to communicate with others who want to help out. Institutions, NGOs, governments and ordinary people across the world are integrating the SDGs into their work, to find out how they can contribute and where they can partner with others. We want the Wikimedia Movement to join that talk, work and commitment. The Wikimedia Movement hosts some amazing platforms, and do a lot amazing work. The SDGs are a great tool to use to start communicating with others, to start strengthening each other.

Wikimania 2019 takes place in Stockholm, a city in the front run internationally when it comes to sustainability and sustainable development. If there is one place where the Wikimedia movement should start looking into the SDGs, it's in Stockholm. If there is one place where there are people within the sustainability sphere who would be interested in the Wikimedia Movement, it's in Stockholm. It's an opportunity too good to miss out on.

What outcomes are sought for?

• A Wikimedia movement realizing its own potential in the work towards fulfilling the SDGs.
• Outreach and impact in Stockholm and Sweden when it comes to the SDGs in relation to Wikimedia.
• New partnerships and collaboration projects between the Wikimedia movement and relevant organizations.

Who will be involved?

Currently the following organizations are confirmed to take part (The list is subject to change):

• Wikimedia Movement
• Stockholm City
• Musikverket
• Museum of the United Nations - UN Live

Is Wikimedia really contributing to all the goals?

Wikimedia could potentially have significance to all goals, but some of them are closer connected to our core work than others. Goals that may be specifically close to the Wikimedia Movement's values include the right to quality education (goal number 4), a reduction of gender inequalities (goal 5), ensuring innovations (9), empower people regardless of their background (10), support to develop global partnerships (17) and achieving sustainable societies (11-15).

The seventeen SDGs are further broken down into 169 measurable targets. All goals contain targets that are relevant or very relevant to the Wikimedia Movement. Many of the targets could also be connected to projects run by volunteers within the Wikimedia movement, even though it doesn't appear to have an explicit connection at start. Examples within each goal of targets that do have or could have a connection to projects within the Wikimedia movement:

1. No poverty

• "By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance"

2. Zero hunger

• "By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment"

3. Good health and wellbeing

• "By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes"

4. Quality education

• "By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development"

5. Gender equality

• "Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking in political, economic and public life"
• "Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women"

6. Clean water and sanitation

• "Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management"

7. Affordable and clean energy

• "By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology"

8. Decent worth and economic growth

• "Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors"
• "Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services"

9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure

• "Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending"
• "Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States"
• "Support domestic technology development, research and innovation in developing countries, including by ensuring a conducive policy environment for, inter alia, industrial diversification and value addition to commodities"
• "Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020"

10. Reduced inequalities

• "Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions "

11 Sustainable cities and communities

• "Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage"

12. Responsible consumption and production

• "Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle"
• "Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities"
• "By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature"
• "Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production"
• "Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products"

13. Climate action

• "Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning"
• "Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management"

14. Life below water

• "Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels"
• "Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries"

15. Life on land

• "Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities"

16. Peace, justice and strong institutions

• "Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels"
• "Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements"

17. Partnerships for the goals

• "Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism"
• "Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed"
• "Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation"
• "Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries"
• "Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships"
• "By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts"
• "By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries."