Explored new ‘territories’ in the Wikimedia movement – review of the Year 2 of the CEE Hub

We are pleased to announce that the CEE Hub team has completed its second year which included the implementation of various pilot initiatives within the movement, such as the Microgrant Programme and Community Building.

Remark: This blog post was written by the CEE Hub Staff and it reflects the staff’s perspective.

We are in the process of finalising our Year 2 report (here), which is quite comprehensive. This exercise has illuminated the extensive range of activities undertaken throughout 2024. In our previous Diff blog, we concluded with announcements of our Microgrant programme and Community Building initiatives for smaller CEE communities. We are excited to share some of our findings in this post.

CEE HUB MICROGRANTS PROGRAMME

As this was the first ever WM regional scheme for microgrants, we recognized the importance of careful preparation, which required considerable time to establish the programme. The design of the implementation process took two months, marking it as a pilot in our movement.

We were pleased to officially launch the programme in early April 2024, with a budget of €8,000 allocated for its duration until the funds are fully utilized. Initially, the programme was restricted to Central and Eastern European countries; however, following the CEE Meeting in Istanbul in October 2024, we expanded eligibility to include Wikimedian communities in Central Asia.

The primary goal of the Microgrant Programme was to provide financial support to communities lacking assistance from the Wikimedia Foundation’s annual grants. This initiative has proven successful, as we concluded the year by funding nine projects out of a total of twelve, specifically directed toward individuals and communities not benefiting from the General Support Fund grant.

Furthermore, we designed the programme to ensure quick access to funding, allowing communities to receive their funds within one month of application and a response within two weeks. In most instances, the CEE Hub staff were able to meet these timelines, apart from cases where additional information from grantees was needed.

Over the span of just eight months, we received 15 eligible applications for this pilot project, affirming the Microgrant Programme’s success within our Year 2 plan. Consequently, we intend to continue this programme into 2025.

You can find reports for our Microgrants in 2024 on Meta-wiki, and below you can find some of the images taken during the supported microgrants.

Community Building

It all started with a bold idea: what if Wikimedia communities that never had full-time employees or consistent funding got the chance to experience what a dedicated staff member could bring to the table? Would it spark growth, streamline operations, and build stronger engagement? With this question in mind, we set out on a journey that would test the resilience, adaptability, and creativity of some of the most passionate Wikimedia communities.

Our first step was rooted in research. We turned to the research ‘Studying barriers of smaller affiliates and communities in CEE Region and ways to create more engagement and connections, based on their context and needs’, which helped us identify communities that could benefit the most from temporary staffing assistance. By early in the year, the CEE Hub steering committee made its decision: support would be offered to the Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova User Group, the Wikimedia Community User Group Greece, and the Wikimedia Community User Group Cyprus.

The idea was simple: a Romanian-speaking employee would assist the Romanian and Moldovan communities, while a Greek-speaking employee would support both Greek and Cypriot Wikimedians. But when we reached out to these groups, they had a different vision. Instead of one full-time staff member, they proposed splitting the role into two part-time positions—one for each specialized area of need. And just like that, our adventure truly began.

This shift set the stage for a dynamic, collaborative process. We worked closely with each group to define the roles they needed most, assisted with the hiring process, conducted interviews, onboarded new team members, and held regular check-ins. The final hiring choices reflected the unique priorities of each community:

• Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova brought on an educational expert and a communications specialist to enhance outreach and engagement.
• Greek and Cypriot communities hired an administrative assistant and a strategic planning and grants expert to focus on long-term development.

The beauty of this initiative lay in its flexibility—there was no one-size-fits-all approach. Each community defined its own path, demonstrating that growth and sustainability come in many forms.

Now, after ten months of this pilot program, the results speak for themselves:

• The Greek and Cypriot groups developed their first mid-term strategy, a major milestone for long-term planning.
• Both groups successfully applied for their first annual grants, securing funding from the Wikimedia Foundation.
• The Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova significantly boosted their online presence, including platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Their efforts included local campaigns, informative content, and interactive live sessions. Two very clear example of accomplished growth are: Wikipedia română Facebook page that in July 2024 had 2948 followers currently has 4,689 followers and #Open Access Week had the largest participation of editors by now and good media coverage in quality independent media outlets (G4Media.ro, HotNews.ro and ComunicatedePresa.ro). Also, 13 new volunteers wrote on Wikipedia as part of the campaign and thanks to their involvement, the Romanian Wikipedia is richer by 336,288 bytes, contributed by the 23 newly created articles and added substantial improvements to existing pages.
• The Romanian and Moldovan community forged new academic partnerships, launching a pilot program with two faculties at the University of Bucharest. Nine students participated, integrating Wikipedia engagement into their university curricula while earning academic credits. Read more about this in the newest issue of the CEE Newsletter.

But make no mistake—this journey wasn’t without its challenges. Like any great adventure, it had its share of twists and turns. Misunderstandings occurred, expectations needed to be aligned, and additional measures were put in place to ensure that progress remained on track.

In the end, we’ve learned an invaluable lesson: where there’s a will, there’s a way. Building communities takes more than just resources—it requires respect, patience, and open communication. If this pilot program is indicative of future trends, the outlook for Wikimedia’s smaller communities seems quite promising, contingent upon adequate support from those in positions to facilitate its growth.