Alek Tarkowski
I am a cofounder and Director of Strategy at Open Future, a think tank for the digital commons, and a Board member at Wikimedia Europe. I have 20 years of experience with movement activism and advocacy work for openness and the digital commons. In the past, I have been involved in the Wikimedia Movement strategy process (Partnerships working group), co-chaired the Creative Commons network strategy process, sat on the Board of Creative Commons and co-founded Communia, the association for the digital public domain, and founded the Polish digital think tank Centrum Cyfrowe.
Session
🎥 Session recording: https://youtu.be/81EZ9ALM9Ng?list=PLhV3K_DS5YfJtMBKTkOdmzfP3ENS24BJ-&t=14849 🎥
This session will showcase our work on developing a shared vocabulary to ensure coherence in explaining the Wikimedia project model. Led by the Wikimedia Movement Advocacy Network, we aim to strengthen how we communicate Wikimedia’s value to policymakers, editors, and the public. We focus on terms used in policy discussions that help frame Wikimedia projects as digital public goods, emphasize their commons-based governance, and highlight their role in public digital infrastructure. The panel will feature members of the advocacy network, a representative from the Digital Public Goods Alliance, and a Latin American expert in commons governance. Together, they will explore how this framing can inform advocacy, policy, and community engagement. The recent recognition of Wikipedia as a digital public good adds momentum to this participatory conversation, which invites insights and reflections from across the Wikimedia Movement.