Strategy 2025-2026
This page features Wikimedia Ukraine's strategic plan for 2025-2026.
Mission, vision, and values
Mission
To assist the realization of the human right to use the common heritage of mankind through supporting initiatives on generating, developing, sharing, and popularising free knowledge.
Vision
The world in which everyone has access to knowledge in their native language and can competently use it.
Long-term vision of the Organization
Wikimedia Ukraine is a leader of a widespread, diverse and distinctive volunteer movement for free knowledge. The organization supports generating and popularising free knowledge, as well as open access to it. Wikimedia Ukraine supports sharing content in Ukrainian and other languages, especially languages of the ethnic groups traditionally inhabiting Ukraine, as well as active and quality development of wiki-community's capacity.
Values
- Free knowledge. We create conditions for generating and sharing free knowledge and for open access to it.
- Quality. The quality of our work is important for us, and we strive for constant improvement.
- Openness. We take decisions transparently and openly, and we try to be as public as possible.
- Volunteering. We are primarily an association of volunteers.
- Independence. We are independent of political actors and commercial interests.
- Collaboration. Collaboration built on the principles of equality and mutual support is our core.
- Diversity. We support knowledge equity and are open to everyone who supports our values.
External environment, Wikimedia Ukraine during the war
Wikimedia Ukraine depends on the environment — on the rapidly changing world and the place of Ukraine in it.
The primary factor is the situation in Ukraine during the full-scale Russian invasion, which has been going on since 2022 and affects all aspects of Ukrainian society, including the wikicommunity.
This strategic plan is based on the assumption that Ukraine will continue to fight the Russian invasion for all or at least part of the 2025-2026 period.
The plan is informed by the ways in which the organization can be useful to Ukrainian society during the ongoing war. Particularly, those include:
- support to Ukrainian community members in crisis situations;
- support for initiatives to combat disinformation;
- communication about Ukraine at the international level, improving coverage of Ukraine in other languages;
- promoting protection of Ukrainian cultural and natural heritage;
- continuing to develop free knowledge in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages.
Working during a full-scale war requires the organization to be resilient and flexible, to have the ability to quickly adapt its work to changing external conditions. Overall, our work is impacted by various factors:
- Social: Our activities depend on the social situation in Ukraine, namely: level of development of public opinion and mass media, the situation with freedom of speech, as well as the culture of volunteering and fundraising in Ukraine.
- Political: We are influenced by the political climate in Ukraine; in particular, it defines the ability of legislators, political leaders, and opinion leaders to pay sufficient attention to the issues that we are fighting for.
- Legislative: Our activities are based on the legislation of Ukraine: laws of Ukraine and international treaties signed by our country; changes to the legislation may influence us considerably.
- Technological: Wikimedia Ukraine operates in the conditions of rapid technological development — the spread of the Internet, the increasing importance of big data, the emergence and spread of new models of media consumption.
- Economic: Our development depends on the economic situation in Ukraine and the general economic situation in the world, particularly on donors' ability and will to support the development of free knowledge.
- Ecological: The Organization exists in conditions of the rising importance of climate change issues and environmental protection questions.
Wikimedia Ukraine is a part of the international Wikimedia movement and therefore depends on the global environment: economic, technical, social, and other changes that will influence Wikimedia projects will influence us as well. In addition, we depend on the political, economic, and social situation in the United States of America as a country of operation of the Wikimedia Foundation, an organization that supports the technical infrastructure of Wikimedia projects and disseminates funds which Wikimedia Ukraine depends on.
Strategic directions and goals
- See also: metrics for each strategic goal (in Ukrainian)
Content enrichment
- Bridging text content gaps
- Analyzing content gaps on Wikipedia and its sister Wikimedia projects
- Working with volunteers to bridge gaps on Wikipedia and sister projects:
- organizing contests and other thematic campaigns, with and without external partners;
- supporting community initiatives (thematic weeks etc).
- Improving content related to local context
- Support initiatives to upload sources published under free licenses
- Enhancing quality of content
- Organizing targeted improvement of key articles
- Improving access to information on Wikipedia, Wikidata and other Wikimedia projects: arrangement, structuring, and categorization of information which already exists
- Facilitating and supporting new initiatives to enhance quality (such as expert evaluation and combatting disinformation)
- Attracting media content
- Attracting media content to document Ukraine's cultural and natural heritage (photo contests Wiki Loves Monuments and Wiki Loves Earth etc.)
- Supporting initiatives to collaborate with institutions and experts to attract thematic media content (GLAM program etc.)
- Supporting volunteer initiatives to bridge Ukraine-related content gaps on Wikimedia Commons (wikiexpeditions, photo grants etc.)
- Priority goals for 2025-2026 (what should be improved relative to the baseline)
- Develop and implement a detailed system for assessing content gaps, including analysis and development of criteria for assessing the existence of gaps; determining their importance and relevance; determining the quality of Wikimedia Ukraine's work in this area and the need for the organization's involvement.
- Develop and implement a strategy for cooperation with institutions and specialists to attract thematic media content within the GLAM program.
Increasing participation
- Attracting new editors to Wikimedia projects
- Organizing training sessions to attract new editors to Wikipedia and its sister projects
- Developing online courses and other instructional materials to each the general public how to edit Wikipedia and its sister projects
- Working to attract specific groups of experts to Wikipedia and its sister projects (educators, scientists etc.), particularly using content campaigns
- Education program: supporting integration of reading and editing Wikipedia and its sister projects in education
- Increasing diversity of the community of editors
- Organizing events to attract underrepresented groups of editors to Wikipedia and its sister projects
- Supporting development of communities of Wikipedia's sister projects
- Supporting the development of projects in the languages of ethnic groups that have traditionally inhabited Ukraine (primarily Crimean Tatar Wikipedia)
- Priority goals for 2025-2026 (what should be improved relative to the baseline)
- Develop and implement mechanisms to engage underrepresented groups of editors (e.g. women, youth, senior citizens, people with disabilities etc.)
- Develop and implement a mechanism for the long-term development of the Crimean Tatar Wikipedia
Wikimedia projects community support and development
- Instruction for community members and facilitation of experience sharing
- Identifying skills that are in demand among the community, as well as target user groups that need support (e.g. neurodiverse contributors)
- Organizing relevant trainings and other educational events for the community
- Organizing Ukraine's annual Wikiconference and other events for exchange of experience between contributors; supporting initiatives to develop tools for improving cooperation between volunteers
- Organizing hackathons and other events to help spread technical knowledge about Wikimedia projects
- Supporting participation of community members in international Wikimedia events for experience exchange and skills acquisition
- Increasing the community's resilience, motivation and awareness
- Supporting Ukrainian community members in crisis situations, particularly during the war
- Supporting community initiatives for distinguishing and motivating editors (virtual and physical rewards, support of newbies)
- Improving communication, informing about and popularizing the Organization's activity among the community of Wikipedia and sister projects
- Priority goals for 2025-2026 (what should be improved relative to the baseline)
- Develop and implement a system of support for experienced volunteers of Ukrainian Wikipedia (administrators and patrollers): organize training and exchange of experience, help in conflict resolution and boosting motivation.
- Improve the mechanisms around how the organization responds to requests from the community: raise awareness of the opportunities for support (in particular by simplifying the application process), become more flexible in responding to requests.
Awareness about Wikimedia
- Media support and promotion of Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects
- Developing and implementing a consistent set of communications practices for the organization
- Working with news media to increase awareness of the organization's work, Wikimedia projects and free licenses
- Spreading information about the organization's activities, Wikimedia projects and free licenses via publication on social media, thematic and other information resources
- International communication: spreading information about the the organization's and the Ukrainian community's activities and needs among the international Wikimedia community
- Organizing promotional events (press conferences, lectures etc.)
- Working with readers and the general public to increase awareness
- Cooperation with national and international partners in the field of free knowledge
- Organizing surveys for readers and target audiences
- Developing information materials about Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects and free licenses
- Organizing and participating in events for increasing awareness about Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects and free licenses
- Priority goals for 2025-2026 (what should be improved relative to the baseline)
- Improve communication about the organization's activities and projects within the Ukrainian wikicommunity.
- Raise awareness among the general public about Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects by developing communication in video formats (creating video materials, communicating on social media etc.).
Advocacy
- Working on the development of free knowledge in Ukraine
- Supporting initiatives to advance the introduction of "freedom of panorama" in Ukraine
- Promoting the use of free licenses by state institutions and public broadcasters, local governments at different levels
- Supporting initiatives to advocate for other changes that benefit the development of free knowledge
- Monitoring relevant changes in legislation (especially with regard to European integration), particularly by collaborating with national and international partners
- Priority goals for 2025-2026 (what should be improved relative to the baseline)
- Develop free licenses advocacy
- Develop and implement a partner strategy for advocacy
- In cooperation with partners, define the role and capabilities of the organization in advocating for the introduction of “freedom of panorama” in Ukraine
Institutional development
- Priority goals for 2025-2026 (what should be improved relative to the baseline)
- Increasing involvement of the Wikimedia community in the organization's activities
- Improving training, onboarding and offboarding practices of key volunteers, improving the process of transferring institutional memory
- Attracting additional sources of funding with the participation of other organizations and institutions, supporting grant applications of partners
Map of risks
The risk map gives an idea about the risks of various levels (strategic and operational) that may affect the Organization and its activities. These risks and the ways to minimize them should be reviewed regularly by the Board.
Strategic risks
- Low-impact, unlikely
- The organization's inability to adapt to significant changes in the environment
- High-impact, unlikely
- Rise to power of undemocratic forces
- Collapse of the financial (banking) system
- Repressive measures against the Organization by the authorities
- Raider takeover of the organization
- Loss of relevance by Wikipedia and wikiprojects
- High-impact, likely
- Large-scale escalation of military actions (relative to the situation at the end of 2024), particularly in Kyiv
- Lack of sustainable financing
- Adoption of legislation that significantly limits the activities of NGOs
- Rejection of the activities of the organization by the Wikimedia community
- Low-impact, likely
Operational risks
- Low-impact, unlikely
- Outgrowth by staff members and contractors of their role in the organization
- High-impact, unlikely
- Delay, substantial reduction or loss of funding from the Wikimedia Foundation
- Unpreparedness of the organization's staff, contractors and volunteers, as well as its established practices, to the dynamics of its growth
- Weak mechanism for a prompt response to external events
- High-impact, likely
- Prolonged full or partial power blackout in Ukraine
- Loss of confidential information
- Sudden outflow of key staff members, contractors or/and volunteers for the organization
- Low-impact, likely
- Lack of internal monitoring and evaluation in the Organization
See also
- Strategic process