Wiki Movimento Brasil 2025 Strategic Process/Theory of Change

Teoria da Mudança

ApresentaçãoPreâmbuloTeoria da MudançaMetodologia

Problem

One of the main obstacles to the expansion of Wikimedia in Brazil is the country's own socioeconomic reality: diverse and unequal. While some regions have easy access to the internet, others have limited connectivity, and the populations in these areas often face significant socioeconomic barriers to engaging in voluntary activities on Wikimedia projects, such as editing Wikipedia. To move toward making Wikimedia the essential infrastructure of the free knowledge ecosystem in Brazil, it is necessary to act intentionally in favor of knowledge equity and to combat epistemicide. Furthermore, efforts must be made to ensure that everyone who wishes to contribute to collaborative production, in digital and/or analog public-interest projects, can do so equitably. In other words, it is essential to proactively and strategically free the processes of knowledge production and consumption.

Wiki Movimento Brasil must work to promote the conditions for social empowerment, according to the contexts of each region and community, throughout the Brazilian territory. A localized strategy requires the organization to have the capacity to adapt to diverse realities, ensuring autonomy and effectiveness in local action, as well as a coordination and communication infrastructure, enabling the establishment of a shared identity.

Key Principles

In order for the actions of Wiki Movimento Brasil to be intentional in addressing the highlighted problem, the following interdependent principles are envisioned:

• Web of networks;
• National cooperation;
• South-South articulation;
• Programmatic sustainability; and
• Contextual technological development.

Objectives

In view of these established principles and the challenges associated with each of them, WMB must coordinate efforts to:

• Facilitate contact and ensure collaboration between synergistic partner entities and related projects in support of open knowledge;
• Act with equity across the entire territory, considering the economic, social, and technological inequalities of Brazil;
• Promote the autonomous and sustainable formation of local groups and build a shared Wikimedia experience in the country;
• Work on the consolidation and institutionalization of partnerships with underrepresented communities in Portuguese-speaking countries, with affiliates from the Global South, and re-center Wikimedia on peripheral realities;
• Plan and promote practices and strategies that ensure the long-term economic and community sustainability of WMB as a coordination hub and autonomous promoter of networks in support of free knowledge;
• Contribute to the improvement of open technologies and consolidate the digital infrastructure for public interest according to regional realities and needs;
• Position Wikimedia in Brazil in relation to digital transformations and internet governance in support of information integrity, epistemic justice, and free knowledge.

Expected Impact

From the direct actions of Wiki Movimento Brasil, we expect that...

... educational, social, and cultural organizations with diverse purposes recognize Wikimedia as a sociotechnical infrastructure for their projects and networks of partner entities.

... the Wikimedia community is consolidated in various Brazilian territories, remains engaged, and is empowered for autonomous and sustainable action.

... our relationship with other Wikimedia affiliates in the Global South and Portuguese-speaking countries deepens and becomes the foundation for shared positions in decision-making within the Wikimedia Movement.

... the culture of open knowledge becomes more widespread in Brazil, so that more leaders emerge and spread the principles and strategy of the Wikimedia Movement.

... open collaborative technologies for the public interest remain relevant in the face of digital colonization by large commercial platforms.

In the long term, we hope that, from this action...

... groups of volunteers and partner entities will be able to develop projects on Wikimedia autonomously.

... communities across the entire Brazilian territory are involved in the local knowledge production process in Wikimedia projects and recognize them as the basic infrastructure for their activities.

... underrepresented knowledge and groups have greater visibility in the Wikimedia ecosystem.

... open technologies and collaborative methodologies remain relevant even in areas with limited internet access.

Systematization of learning

Learning area	Strategic learning topics	Assessment indicators	Evaluation tools
Partnerships and promotion of open knowledge	How did WMB promote the connection between institutions and the community for the joint creation of projects? How did WMB initiate programs and partnerships and encourage pathways toward autonomy? How did WMB support autonomous initiatives and networks in favor of open knowledge and the digital commons? How did WMB's activities foster the culture of open knowledge aligned with the Diversity Plan?	Profile of partnerships established Content production and indicators on impact topics Activities and programs in areas of underrepresented knowledge Connection between institutions and partner Wikimedians	Case studies on the establishment and trajectory of partnerships Diagnoses and strategic planning of socially relevant niches Surveys, questionnaires, and/or interviews with participants
Community growth	What strategies did WMB adopt to support the creation of user groups and expand the reach of wiki projects to various territories in Brazil? How did WMB act in welcoming, engaging, and retaining new editors? How were sustainable projects developed with other countries in the Portuguese-speaking Wikimedia communities and with other affiliates from the Global South?	New engaged users Communication in community channels Partnerships with other affiliates Diversity of Brazilian states covered by activities and programs Diversity of Portuguese-speaking countries covered by activities and programs	Case studies Interviews and focus groups Aggregated reports
Participation in Wikimedia and relevance of the projects	How were WMB's projects engaged with the issues of epistemic decolonization and underrepresented groups in public-interest digital projects? To what extent did WMB actively participate in decision-making processes within the Wikimedia ecosystem with positions aligned with other Global South groups? What strategic actions did WMB undertake to increase Wikimedia's visibility in Brazil, particularly for impactful topics?	Participation in Wikimedia Movement decisions Content production on topics for impact Notability across wider audiences Connection of Wiki according to diverse realities	Process and learning documentation Media clipping report Scholarly production analysis
Organizational consolidation and movement-wide projection	How has WMB advanced in spreading wiki values, such as the practice of voluntary contribution and collaborative culture? To what extent has WMB contributed to the debate on the future of the internet and positioned itself regarding regulatory practices? How has WMB directed its activities toward the development of new leadership within Portuguese-speaking communities?	New engaged users Participation in events, councils, and coalitions focused on debates about internet rights and governance, as well as topics of interest to Wikimedia projects Leadership capacity building	Activity report and case study Report on participation in advocacy spaces for open knowledge
Process documentation and technological development	How has WMB diagnosed, proposed solutions, and acted to resolve technical challenges in Wikimedia projects? To what extent has WMB maintained transparency in documenting and sharing its internal processes with the Wikimedia community? To what extent has the organizational culture of WMB aligned with the principles and strategies of the Wikimedia Movement?	Documentation of all areas of learning Technological evolution of Wikimedia projects Communication in community channels Developed products and other deliverables	Activity and learning reports Cost-impact report Case studies Documented products and processes

Risk Analysis

The implementation of this Theory of Change entails a series of risks that concern not only WMB's planned activities but also external factors beyond the group's control. It is up to us, WMB's association volunteer members and staff team, to identify these risks in advance so that we can prepare as effectively as possible, mitigate their consequences, and find creative solutions to the obstacles we may face.

WMB may face challenges in the objectives outlined here, especially as they assume the strengthening of other groups within the national territory. To mitigate the risks related to the autonomous actions of individual users, it is important to plan and guide a federated governance model. Supporting other groups is crucial to the success of Wikimedia’s mission in Brazil, as it can both encourage cultural diversity and the appreciation of underrepresented knowledge, and facilitate organizational management in such a vast and unequal territory. A single centralizing body is likely to encounter more organizational challenges than a federated model. With a diversification policy for the professional staff already in progress and the effort to train local leaders, the expectation of increasing participation from people across the five regions of the country in Wikimedia platforms may, gradually, be realized.

Communication and user retention challenges must also be a focus of attention, as they can limit Wikimedia's growth in Brazil and, consequently, hinder the achievement of the objectives outlined in this Theory of Change. Maintaining and regularly reviewing the communication plan should be a central element of the strategic approach, especially by aligning it with a plan for sustainable engagement and support of new users and partner entities. The sustainability of the Movement largely depends on the ability to engage and organize new users, particularly young people.

There is also the reality surrounding us beyond the Wikimedia platforms. Socio-economic inequalities, gaps in Brazilian education, localized impacts of the climate emergency, and setbacks in scientific development in the country challenge the success of some of the objectives set, such as overcoming the technological barrier for the popularization of open collaborative platforms. The solution to these issues lies within the scope of public management, and in these cases, WMB must increasingly occupy spaces for advocacy in favor of broad and democratic digital rights.

WMB's stance should be characterized by intentionality in defending collaborative, open public-interest projects. In an internet increasingly dominated by big techs and with the growing use of natural language technologies, it is essential to discuss the sustainability of socio-technical solutions for open access to digital information and the relevance of Wikimedia projects. This discussion takes place within the overlap of national and global contexts, as internet regulation policies unfold at various levels, and it is necessary to guide Wikimedia's contribution in Brazil in response to the new challenges of the internet.