Software
Joining forces for Free Knowledge!
In a world that is increasingly characterized by conflicts, crises and the spread of disinformation, the work of the international Wikimedia movement is more important than ever. Across the globe, thousands of people promote free access to knowledge – whether as volunteers in Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia or Wikidata or as full-time employees in the various national organizations. With 170 employees and well over 100,000 members, Wikimedia Deutschland is the largest and most well-resourced of the 38 Wikimedia chapters.
Strategic direction: our guidelines until 2030
Wikimedia wants to become the world’s largest knowledge infrastructure by 2030 – at the same time being more diverse, participatory and equitable. To achieve this, the global strategy process “Wikimedia 2030” was developed. As a contribution to the implementation of this strategy, Wikimedia Deutschland 2023 has adopted its own strategic direction. It states that with everything we do, we commit to value human diversity, to strive for comprehensive Knowledge Equity and to enable equal participation.
These are the strategic priorities of Wikimedia Deutschland:
→ Strong infrastructure of Free Knowledge: The technical, social and financial infrastructure of Free Knowledge should be resilient and sustainable. With the greatest possible involvement of the various communities, we are working on creating, maintaining and developing key elements of this infrastructure or, if necessary, on discontinuing support for less sustainable elements.
→ Vibrant and enduring communities: We want to promote and strengthen communities within the Free Knowledge network that share our vision and values. To achieve this, it is important that we both support existing communities and attract many more people to participate.
→ Greater diversity and equal participation: We aim to ensure that more people from structurally disadvantaged groups who experience discrimination due to societal power structures can participate effectively in all areas of our work. By breaking down barriers that currently prevent such participation, we want to live up to our responsibility as an influential player in the network of Free Knowledge.
→ More use, easier access: We want to ensure that the content of Wikimedia projects is used by many more people. At the same time, we want to create easier, fairer and more accessible ways to access this content.
→ Broad political and social support: We work to ensure that more decision makers use their skills and influence to promote a world where everybody can participate, use and increase human knowledge.
These priorities will form the basis for our association’s plans and goals in the coming years.
Wikimedia Europe: Connecting what belongs together
After Wikimedia Deutschland and other Wikimedia organizations decided to found Wikimedia Europe, the members met for the first time at the General Assembly in Prague in the summer of 2023. Executive Director Anna Mazgal emphasized the rapid progress the organization has made since its founding in November 2022: Among other things, statutes were drafted, a board was appointed, and Belgium was chosen as the location of the organization’s headquarters.
As the youngest part of the Wikimedia structure, Wikimedia Europe is already one of the movement’s success stories, contributing directly to the global movement strategy. Wikimedia Europe consists of 27 Wikimedia organizations and other supporters. Together, we want to play an even more active role in developing and shaping European legislation in the areas of Free Knowledge, access to information and freedom of expression in order to strengthen the promotion of Open Knowledge and the protection of fundamental rights in the digital space.
Despite war and crises: Willingness to donate to Wikipedia and Free Knowledge remains high
Wars, inflation and the economic downturn have concerned and influenced people in Germany in 2023. According to the German Donations Council, the general willingness to donate has fallen to its lowest level since 2005. In light of this development, we also had mixed feelings about the Wikipedia donation campaign. In the end, the campaign closed successfully on 29 December 2023, albeit by a narrow margin: Over 350,000 people supported Wikipedia and Free Knowledge with a donation, and the donation target of 9.7 million euros was reached after 60 days.
It is also encouraging that more and more people are deciding to become members of Wikimedia Deutschland. In 2023, the number of association members rose by 3,912 to 111,254 (as of 31.03.2024).
»We are very pleased that hundreds of thousands of people in Germany have once again made it clear with a donation that free access to knowledge and independent information on the internet is important to them, especially in times of crisis.«
Christian Humborg
How the donations are used
A large proportion of the donations flows directly back into the Wikipedia community. The association offers volunteers extensive support services, finances local Wikipedia rooms, improves the software behind the wiki projects and organizes and supports community events. In addition, the donations further many other Free Knowledge projects. As Wikipedia is a global project, some of the funds go to the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates, promotes and develops Wikipedia and related projects worldwide. The use of funds shows in detail how the donations will be distributed in 2024.
Against hate speech and disinformation: Wikimedia Deutschland turns its back on X
For many years, the short messaging service Twitter, now X, was also an important platform for Wikimedia Deutschland to provide information about its commitment to Free Knowledge and to engage with the public. Following the takeover by Elon Musk, hate speech and disinformation have increased and the climate of debate has shifted noticeably to the right. This development is ultimately no longer compatible with the values of Wikimedia Deutschland, which is why we decided to shut down our account in October.
The values of Wikimedia Deutschland
Participation, diversity, free and open access, equity, sustainability and respectful collaboration – these values are at the core of Wikimedia Deutschland. Their purpose is to guide the association in its work and serve as a basis for the Supervisory Board, the Executive Directors and all employees when they make strategic decisions, develop the programmatic direction and weigh up difficult issues. Find out more at wikimedia.de/werte.
