Do you want to help us use Wikipedia to fight climate-denialism and contribute to climate-related activities?
Code for Africa in partnership with International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) and Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is seeking Wikipedia contributors, editors, and wiki writers interested in contributing quality, credible, and verified information about climate change to Wikipedia.
This volunteering opportunity is part of the Bridging the Gap: using Wikipedia to fight climate-denialism campaign led by a group of CfA’s Wikimedia-in-Residence fellows from Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa. Contributors will collaboratively work with our fact-checking team from PesaCheck, investigative analysts from the iLAB, and Wikimedia-in-Residence fellows to tackle issues such as climate denialism or delayism and related mis/disinformation on Wikipedia.
Selected contributors will be involved in Wikipedia editing, research, and uploading of climate-related information on a weekly basis. More specifically, the contributors will participate by:
- Helping to review and update/correct existing content on climate change issues or related topics already on Wikipedia.
- Helping to identify coordinated edits/uploads that distort Wikipedia content.
- Helping to research and upload debunks/clarifications/corrections on persistent misinformation.
- Helping to research and upload new relevant and topical information relating to climate change issues on Wikipedia.
This is an honorary, non-compensated position. Contributors will benefit from:
- WiR Community: Upon ‘completion’ you will be inducted into Code for Africa’s Wikipedian-in-residence (WiR) community, a pan-African network of volunteer Wikipedia editors and contributors across Africa.
- Mentorship: You will receive intensive mentoring from our in-country PesaCheck/iLAB investigators and international ISD/climate experts.
- Fellowships: You will have the opportunity to collaborate with CfA technical teams at PesaCheck and iLAB on capstone projects.
- Networking: You will be invited to participate and speak at CfA’s network events or to present at major continental conferences.
- Certificate: Fellows will receive a certificate of participation, depending on their level of engagement.
Are you interested? Please join the campaign by completing this form. Application is on an ongoing basis. The deadline for applications to join the first cohort of volunteers is 30 November 2022.