Putting the ICIP Guide into practice on Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia Australia is pleased to announce that we are partnering with Terri Janke and Company (TJC) again to extend our work around respecting Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) and Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDSov).
For open knowledge platforms like Wikipedia to truly be equitable, we must actively respect and protect Indigenous knowledge. Over the last year, we built a strong foundation with our ICIP and IDSov Guide and CultureStrong white paper, but we know guidelines on paper aren't enough – our volunteer community needs practical, real-world tools to help them do this work properly and with confidence.
Phase 2 of our work with TJC is designed to put the Guide into practice and support its implementation across Wikimedia projects. Working with the same TJC team – Dr Terri Janke, Shevaun Wright and Matilda Langford – we’re shifting our focus from theory to practice. Together, and with your help, we will develop practical on-wiki tools and resources to help editors better understand and apply ICIP principles and respect IDSov.
The resources will include a list of CultureStrong sources evaluated using the ICIP Guide, decision trees to support editors in navigating ICIP considerations, an online training module through WikiLearn, case studies, other supporting materials and information sessions.
An important first step will be creating a dedicated CultureStrong Project page for the Australian editing community to participate in the work, share knowledge about the intersection of ICIP and wiki policies, and help shape these resources collaboratively.
This is an exciting opportunity to bring the ICIP Guide to life, translating its principles into practical tools and on-wiki practice, while building a broader CultureStrong movement across our Wikimedia community. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the TJC team, Wikimedia contributors and wider free knowledge community to explore how we can respectfully share Indigenous cultural knowledge, in line with data sovereignty, in open knowledge spaces. Together, we can redefine what respectful, open knowledge looks like for the better.
Elliott Bledsoe
President, WMAU
What is CultureStrong?
CultureStrong is about making open knowledge more respectful of Indigenous cultures, rights and responsibilities – not just making more knowledge available, but thinking carefully about how it is shared and who has the authority to make those decisions.
In practice, it means recognising that not all knowledge is freely available for anyone to share, interpret or reuse. Some knowledge has cultural protocols, restrictions or responsibilities attached to it, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should have a say in how their cultural knowledge is represented and used on-wiki and elsewhere.
For Wikimedia, a CultureStrong approach means helping editors to:
- Respect cultural authority – recognise who has the right to speak for, share or make decisions about particular knowledge
- Understand cultural protocols – consider whether knowledge, images, stories or other materials can appropriately be shared publicly and in what ways
- Make informed decisions – use practical guidance and resources to help editors navigate these questions
- Support self-determination – enable Indigenous peoples and communities to guide how their knowledge is represented on Wikimedia platforms, rather than having decisions made for them.
In the context of WMAU's ICIP and IDSov project, the aim is to turn these principles into practical tools that editors can use in their everyday work.
The GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) and university sectors have been working for decades to develop more culturally respectful approaches to Indigenous knowledge, which has led to better outcomes, more accurate and culturally informed knowledge, and stronger relationships with Indigenous communities. Wikimedia has an important opportunity, and responsibility, to build on this work, applying these principles across our projects so that the knowledge we share is more accurate, culturally respectful and shaped by the people and communities whose knowledge it represents.
CultureStrong is about making sure Indigenous cultures, knowledge and authority are respected when sharing knowledge in open spaces like Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.
We invite you to join us as we continue to learn together and build a more inclusive and stronger open knowledge ecosystem.
