Wikimedia User groups
Wikimedia User groups and Wikimedia Chapters together are named as WMF Affiliates.
Chapters were accredited the first 14 years of Wikipedia (2001) and Wikimedia (2003) as a (larger) national representation of the Wikimedia Foundation. There exist some 40 national chapters. Chapters exist mostly in Europe and North America. Wikimedia Belgium (2014) was one of the last founded chapters.
Since 2015 only (national) user groups are recognised. There are some 157 user groups. They are mostly located in Africa, and Asia.
There exist also some thematic organisations (Amical Wikimedia and Wiki Project Med), and linguistic user groups.
Furtheron there are groups of affiliates (Wikimedia Europe, WikiFranca). Should these become hubs?
Known problems
[edit]Too many user groups?
[edit]- Maybe some user groups are rather a (repeated, list of related) activity?
- New user group creation is suspended until April 2026, attending for new procedures
- Differences between affiliate types
- Coordination between affiliates
- Alignment of goals, targets, and results?
Budgets
[edit]- Budgets are growing
- It becomes difficult to manage budgets
- User groups are not necessarily legally founded
- Fiscal sponsorship might be required
- User groups could receive grants from chapters?
Cultural differences
[edit]- Grant management needs to be regionalised (GRDC, Community Fund)
The role of hubs
[edit]- What is the future, and role of hubs?