Building Wikimedia Movement Hubs Together 

Following the share out of the draft Global Council, which started our third community conversations on Meta-Wiki, we are happy to share the next draft chapter of the Wikimedia Movement Charter, which focuses on Hubs, for your review and feedback. This draft is accessible in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian. We are excited to continue this journey with you all. Share your feedback on the Talk page, join our upcoming conversation on July 30, or speak with us at an upcoming regional or thematic community event. 

Note-taking during the MCDC Meeting in Utrecht June 2023. CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Origins of Hubs

The idea of a Wikimedia hub most recently comes from the 2030 Movement Strategy recommendation “Ensure Equity in Decision Making”. Hubs were envisioned as agile and flexible structures to convene communities and affiliates and to empower them with capacities and resources. At their core, Hub structures are about sharing resources and moving decision-making closer to communities. 

Currently, within the movement, there are various conversations taking place at different maturity levels, for example a pilot hub is developing in the CEE region while scopes are being discussed in the MENA and LATAM regions, among others. Discussions on Hubs grounded in the Movement Charter and combined with the lived experiences of Wikimedians involved in their piloting and experimenting will be an excellent base for future collaborations to build more intentional and inclusive support structures together.  

Hubs Draft content 

The Hubs draft chapter presents the Committee’s attempt to define the purpose of these structures. It articulates their goal of being support structures that empower Wikimedia communities to make and implement their own decisions, fostering knowledge sharing, mutual learning, and collaboration across the movement. 

The Hubs chapter elucidates the core responsibilities by providing guidelines. It recognizes the immense potential of local contributors in understanding and addressing thematic or region-specific challenges. Hubs are encouraged to undertake projects that empower communities and provide support where it was not available previously. The chapter also delves into conversations on fundraising and funds dissemination as well as setup and governance process. 

We invite everyone to let us know what you and your community think about these concepts. Given previous conversations on hubs such as the Hubs co-creation workshop in November 2021, Hubs Dialogue, Hubs Global Conversations in March 2022 and Hubs Global Conversations in June 2022, we are especially interested in hearing from the hub organizers from different communities. 

Participants in an online Hubs discussion on January 2021. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How can you share feedback?

The Movement Charter Drafting Committee recognizes the significance of collective wisdom in shaping the Hubs structures. Therefore, everyone in the Wikimedia movement is invited to participate and provide feedback on any part of the draft. Your input is vital in refining the Hubs concept to ensure it resonates with the diverse needs of our communities globally. We hope that it will be something that will empower communities and open many more doors of opportunities. 

You are invited to share feedback on the Hubs draft Talk Page. In addition, let us invite you to the open community conversation a.k.a. the MCDC Launch Party to celebrate our work so far and exchange ideas on July 30 at 14.00. Please let us know if you need language support by signing up here for the Zoom call. You can also sign-up on the Movement Strategy Forum to receive a notification 30 minutes before the call.  

Movement Charter Community Conversations Support Grants 

Are you interested in organizing a community gathering with your Wikimedia friends and colleagues on the topic of hubs? Do you need some financial support to cover basic expenses? There are humble support grants available to support you. Please check out the grant page to apply by July 30 and do not hesitate to reach out to the Regional Specialists of the Movement Communications team if you have any questions or require further assistance.  

MCDC Meeting in Utrecht – June 2023 Wrap-up of Discussions. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons