Anna Mazgal, Senior EU Policy Advisor at Wikimedia Deutschland

Tanveer Hassan, Senior Program Officer, Community Resources at Wikimedia Foundation

Alek Tarkowski, Strategy Director at Open Future Foundation, member of the Wikimedia Poland Association

Open sharing of free knowledge, commons based peer production is increasingly seen as not only a challenge but also an enabler of concentrations of power online - this is the "Paradox of Open". In early 2021, Alek Tarkowski co-authored (with Paul Keller) an essay describing this paradox. During the session we will conduct a conversation on this paradox and see how it applies to the Wikimedia Movement, often seen as one of the most significant achievements of the free knowledge / openness movement. In particular, we will reflect how we can solve this Paradox and combat unjust concentrations of power, as we implement the new Movement Strategy. The discussion will be led by movement members and partners who have been engaged in both current and past stages of the Movement Strategy 2030 process.

• Participants will understand the Paradox of Open: challenges connected to the core production and sharing model of free knowledge
• Participants will gain insights relevant for the implementation of the Movement Strategy and future growth of Wikimedia
• Participants will learn about other free knowledge projects, from beyond the Wikimedia Movement, that are relevant to the bigger ecosystem