Wiki Movimento Brasil Strategy 2023-2025
WIKI MOVIMENTO BRASIL 
STRATEGY 2023 - 2025
Executive summary
The Wiki Movimento Brasil (WMB) Strategy defines and guides WMB' s agency on the activation, coordination and social transformation of open knowledge. The axes of this strategic planning, to be implemented between 2023 and 2025, are:
- (Re)imagine the sociotechnical infrastructure of the Wikimedia Movement
- Coordinate Brazilian Wikimedia agencies
- Foster and diversify partnerships for open knowledge in Brazil
- Promote knowledge equity
- Deepen and direct networks of governance within the Wikimedia Movement
Methodology
This document is the result of a year-long strategic process organized by Wiki Movimento Brasil, started on November 1st 2021. The application of this planning begins in 2023 and hard a trienio. The implementation of this plan begins in 2023 and will continue for three years. The document was approved on November 2nd 2022, at the General Assembly of Wiki Movimento Brasil. The research, drafting and consolidation methodology is available for consultation. A glossary of key-terms is also available for consultation.
Short visual version of the Strategy of the Wiki Movement Brazil
History
Wiki Movimento Brasil emerged from some community organization experiments dating to 2005 and 2006. Those strictly volunteer and informal experiments aimed to organize groups of editors and outreach the Wikimedia projects in Brazil.
The Grupo de Usuários Wikimedia no Brasil, whose trade name is “Wiki Movimento Brasil”, was recognised officially by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2013.
Six founding members came together in 2016 to elaborate the first strategy for Wiki Movimento Brasil. In the following year, the association had its statutes registered in a notary’s office and established a professional structure.
Although it was derecognized by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2018, Wiki Movimento Brasil did not interrupt its activities and was recognized by the Foundation again in 2019. It consolidated its professional team in the following year and increased the number of associate members.At the time of group-wide writing of this multi-year strategy in 2022, Wiki Movimento Brasil has 32 associate members and is a key component of the Wikimedia Movement.
Institutional statements
Purpose
To be a Brazilian Wikimedian agent of activation, coordination and social transformation for open knowledge.
Organizational profile
Who we are
What we are
What we do
How we do it
- Emancipatory practices;
- Social empowerment;
- Decentralized andterritorialized governance;
- A culture of positive disagreement; and
- Welcoming and safe environments, with certainty over expectations.
Our personality and style
Wiki Movimento Brasil is:
- Utopian, yet realistic;
- Solution oriented;
- Empathetic;
- (Self)critical and (self)conscious; and
- Compassionate.
What we believe
Wiki Movimento Brasil practices are committed to:
- Open knowledge;
- Deep democracy;
- Social justice, especially epistemic justice; and
- The affirmation of plural emancipatory protagonisms.
Where do we want to go
Wiki Movimento Brasil seeks to strengthen the sociotechnical infrastructure of the open internet with equity, reliability and security.
We hope to:
- Develop voluntary, collaborative practices on the internet in Portuguese, strengthening the sense of community and visibility of underrepresented knowledge;
- The consolidation of the scientific culture and the processes of free knowledge in Brazil; and
- Improve the quality, diversity, reliability and veracity of the available information in Internet in Portuguese.
What we want and what are our challenges
Wiki Movimento Brasil aims to:
- Expand, improve and diversify content in Wikimedia projects;
- Expand, enable, diversify, retain and welcome communities in Wikimedia projects;
- Strengthen and consolidate the open knowledge ecosystem in Brazil;
- Defend the adoption and deepening of rules for the freedom of knowledge;
- Act for the recognition of open collaborative projects in Brazil;
- Support the integration of Lusophone communities in regional and international processes of the Wikimedia Movement;
- Develop and support new leadership and collective strategic processes in the Lusophone communities of Wikimedia projects; and
- Support the entry of social organizations into Wikimedia projects as the basic infrastructure for sharing open knowledge.
Pillars
The pillars that guide Wiki Movimento Brasil are:
- Collaboration & Sharing;
- Sustainability;
- Diversity & Decoloniality;
- Interconnection & Partnerships;
- Social relevance;
- Learning; and
- Reception & Belonging.
Mission
To act on the activation, coordination and social transformation for open knowledge.
Vision
To consolidate the equity, reliability and safety of the sociotechnical infrastructure of the open internet.
About us
Wiki Movimento Brasil (WMB) is a Brazilian non-profit association affiliated to the Wikimedia Foundation. Founded in 2013, WMB seeks, among other goals: to amplify, improve and diversify the content and community among Wikimedia projects, especially Wikipedia; and support the role of social organizations in the open knowledge ecosystem.
Strategic axes
Wiki Movimento Brasil’s strategic axes guide the organization of projects and the focus of collaborations between 2023 and 2025, in an attempt to translate and transform general objectives into actions.
(Re)imagine the sociotechnical infrastructure of the Wikimedia Movement
Lead processes and develop products and technologies via an autonomous South-South manner.
- Action points
- Research and identify needs of the Wikimedia Movement that can be addressed by developing or improving tools;
- Connect social and technical resources to explore solutions that facilitate the entry and retention of new contributors and partners;
- Collaborate with the Wikimedia Movement and with external stakeholders to develop open technologies that share the strategic direction of knowledge as a service;
- Strengthen a culture of documentation and sharing of processes and learning, including the creation of training spaces; and
- Act from a Global South perspective for global Wikimedia Movement discussions about access, user experience and innovation across platforms.
Coordinate the Brazilian Wikimedia agencies
To contextualize autonomous Brazilian protagonisms in networks, participatory governance and safe spaces.
- Action points
- Identify needs of the Lusophone community and organize programs accordingly, seeking new ways to generate consistent engagement in Wikimedia projects;
- Enable people according to their interests and experiences, in order to distribute leadership across Brazil;
- Organize and distribute resources to encourage activities led by volunteers, respecting their local contexts;
- Encourage community health through new communication spaces and integration between experienced volunteers, new contributors, cultural, educational, social organizations and other partners of open knowledge;
- Create opportunities for continuous learning among peers, with the formation of new networks of volunteers;
- Adopt and promote welcoming practices in projects and activities so that everyone can contribute without compromising their individual safety; and
- Support decentralized communitary governance for the creation of new initiatives and groups operating in Brazil.
Foster and diversify partnerships for open knowledge in Brazil
To weave sustainable networks of cooperation and dissemination between peers of open knowledge and Brazilian Wikimedia agencies.
- Action points
- Explore new ways of communicating about Wikimedia projects and present them as allies for the development of scientific culture in Brazil;
- Expand the list of collaborations within cultural and educational institutions, activist groups, government entities and open knowledge organizations, spread throughout the different regions of Brazil;
- Elaborate strategies to reach new audiences, including the partner networks, in order to encourage both readership and contribution to Wikimedia projects;
- Develop campaigns focused on the use of Wikimedia as an instrument against misinformation; and
- Establish an action of advocacy for the protection and outreach of open knowledge in Brazil.
Promote knowledge equity
To critically recognize the absences and activate the blossoming of marginalized communities and knowledge with fair and safe methodologies.
- Action points
- Articulate individuals and groups to act on knowledge gaps or on the systemic bias in the content of Wikimedia projects;
- Promote epistemic justice and critical thinking about practices on Wikimedia Movement;
- Recognize needs and provide support so that communities of marginalized knowledge based in Brazil can act with autonomy and independence within Wikimedia projects;
- Experiment in new ways to include diverse formats of knowledge in the Wikimedia projects; and
- Strengthen the representation of diverse communities in decision-making spaces in Wiki Movimento Brasil and in the Wikimedia Movement.
Deepen and direct networks of governance within the Wikimedia Movement
To coordinate strategic processes of the Lusophone community, partner affiliates and emerging political structures in the Wikimedia Movement.
- Action points
- Organize collective strategic processes to strengthen and expand international and thematic cooperation of Wiki Movimento Brasil;
- Ground and diversify the network of Lusophone representatives in strategic discussions and decision-making spaces of the Wikimedia Movement;
- Integrate the Lusophone community into their own collective strategic processes;
- Cooperate with affiliates and other stakeholders in discussions and decisions about the emerging governance structures in the Wikimedia Movement;
- Identify shared challenges in the Wikimedia Movement to develop a community of mutual learning; and
- Ensure equitable environments where people find the necessary resources to build and integrate Wiki Movimento Brasil.
Objectives
- Build partnerships with cultural and educational institutions and similar organizations, ensure sustainable performance in Wikimedia projects, developing and promoting a continuous network for open knowledge in Brazil;
- Carry out activities and programs to consolidate and diversify the volunteer Wikimedia community in an open knowledge ecosystem, promoting sustainable programs in the community, especially for the effective and safe participation of underrepresented groups and knowledge;
- Organize activities and events within the Lusophone community to communicate and discuss the strategic processes of the Wikimedia Movement;
- Support initiatives to improve content of Wikimedia projects, with special attention to solving knowledge gaps and take action on topics of impact, continuously promoting campaigns against misinformation and the promotion of democracy, citizenship and human and climate rights;
- Develop innovative solutions, both in processes and in products and technologies of the open knowledge ecosystem, for effective action in Wikimedia projects and to foster a culture of open development and collaborative innovation, prioritizing South-South initiatives;
- Promote decoloniality in the global ecosystem of the Wikimedia Movement;
- Document learning and processes to facilitate the reproduction of initiatives by similar organizations that work in favor of open knowledge;
- Foster an organizational culture of well-being, reflection and acceptance, continuously developing internal capacities, in addition to acting in accordance with the Diversity Plan, the collaborative practices of the Management Methodology and the Good Governance Codex regulations; and
- To act within the international and thematic integration in the Wikimedia Movement, in tune with the context and the Brazilian wikimedian agency.
Environment analysis
Strengths
Wiki Movimento Brasil’s strengths are related to the organization of internal processes and to the articulation with institutional partners and other stakeholders of the Wikimedia Movement. Over the last years, the affiliate has developed a series of protocols for the its internal operations and processes for organizing activities in different workflows. It also established a professional team in line with its maturation as an organization. Therefore, one of the main Wiki Movimento Brasil’s strengths is its ability to adapt and innovate, with continuous action, even in scenarios of external instability. WMB's array of expertise and its ability to engage and coordinate with different stakeholders allows the establishment of projects and discussions both with institutional partners and with volunteers and affiliates of the Wikimedia Movement, in addition to the Lusophone community. As a result, WMB now has political capital, local and global visibility and the structure to be a leader within this environment.
Weaknesses
The weaknesses of Wiki Movimento Brasil are related to communication and the challenge of mobilizing volunteers. The limitations in communicating about Wiki Movimento Brasil or even about the Wikimedia projects are a great bottleneck that prevents the expansion of a volunteer base. It hinders to some extent the expansion of partnerships and funding outside the Wikimedia Movement. There are also internal limitations for political advocacy in Brazil. The challenges of mobilizing people in WMB activities creates difficulties to attract, engage and retain participants and volunteer organizers. Although there is an effort to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the professional team and the organization of volunteer activities, the professional team is still overloaded by the high demand for projects with different stakeholders and the lack of more volunteers in leadership positions.
Opportunities
Wiki Movimento Brasil's opportunities involve expanding its operations inside and outside Brazil. WMB has partnerships with cultural and educational institutions, open knowledge organizations and government entities. Connecting to these partners' networks can be a way to broaden the reach of WMB and open up avenues for new contributors to enter the Wikimedia projects. It is possible to increase the recognition of Wikimedia and WMB projects on academic platforms and environments, as well as develop high school education programs with apprentice Wikimedians. Brazil, due to its size and cultural diversity, presents an opportune scenario for the experimentation and development of varied projects, adjusted to take into account local contexts. There are also fundraising opportunities from various sources, such as public calls. In terms of outreach, there are ways to communicate about the Wikimedia projects and WMB that have not yet been explored. The very need in the country for low-cost resources for the development of scientific culture expands the list of possibilities for action with Wikimedia projects in Brazil. In addition, the changing governance of the Wikimedia Movement offers WMB the opportunity to cooperate and lead across diverse themes and regions. WMB can also seek to meet the movement's technological infrastructure needs.
Threats
The threats to Wiki Movimento Brasil include the social lack of interest in acting in the open knowledge ecosystem, which can lead to a significant decrease in the number of volunteers and partnerships. Also, the emergence of a restrictive sociopolitical situation to Wikimedia's activities and the intensification of legal persecution, especially in a context in which the WMB has increasing visibility. Threats also include insufficient funding and the lack of qualified people in the job market, given that WMB's professional positions and services are highly specialized. The tendency to over centralization should also be considered as threats due to organizational complexity and increasing statutory formalization, which lead to poorly open governance structures, the lag of the technological interface in relation to the uses of devices and social expectations for the production and circulation of content , and the lack of safe and welcoming practices and protocols in the Wikimedia Movement, both for voluntary and professional contributors and for the various collective entities that make up Wikimedia at a regional and global level.
Implementation plan
This implementation plan established the general guidelines for the execution of Wiki Movimento Brasil strategic planning between 2023 and 2025.
General responsibilities
The General Assembly of Wiki Movimento Brasil approved during an extraordinary meeting, on November 2nd 2022, the strategic planning for its implementation to take place in the 2023-2025 triennium.
It established the creation of the Strategy Committee, responsible for the coordination of the implementation of the strategic planning, consisting exclusively of associated members of Wiki Movimento Brasil.
It established the professional team of Wiki Movimento Brasil is the main responsible for the execution of the strategic planning.
It was defined that the associated members of Wiki Movimento Brasil will act on the orientation and evaluation of the execution of strategic planning.
It was defined that the Wikimedia Movement, especially the Brazilian community and the Wikimedia Foundation, should be transparently and regularly informed about the progress of the implementation of the strategic planning of Wiki Movimento Brasil.
Strategy Committee organization
The Strategy Committee is responsible for coordinating the implementation of Wiki Movimento Brasil’s strategic planning. The composition and the governance of the Strategy Committee will be defined by the executive board of WMB, in delegation of the General Assembly, after receiving nominations and comments in regular call for participation. The responsibilities of the Strategy Committee are:
- Organize operational processes of formation, constitution, decision and meeting of the Strategy Committee;
- Establish the governance structure for the implementation of Wiki Movimento Brasil's strategic planning;
- Monitor the community processes of orientation and evaluation of the implementation of Wiki Movimento Brasil's strategic planning; and
- Validate and submit the Wiki Movimento Brasil strategic planning implementation reports for approval by the General Assembly.
Subcommittees will be formed for each of the five strategic axes of Wiki Movimento Brasil's strategic planning. The composition, functioning and responsibility of the subcommittees will be defined by the Strategy Committee.
Evaluation cycles of the implementation of strategic planning
It was established that the evaluation of the implementation of the strategic planning of Wiki Movimento Brasil should consider, among other points, the six learning axes listed in the Theory of Change of Wiki Movimento Brasil:
- Well-being, leadership and diversity in the Lusophone Wikimedia projects and community;
- Sustainability and strategic processes in an open knowledge ecosystem;
- Renown and recognition of Wikimedia;
- Partnerships for the sustainable infrastructure of open knowledge;
- Process and product innovation; and
- Organizational culture and integrated documentation and learning processes.
