Next 25 - Meta-Wiki Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Wikimedia News Translations Recent changes Special pages Random page Help Babel Community Wikimedia Forum Mailing lists Requests Babylon Reports Research Planet Wikimedia Beyond the Web Meet Wikimedians Events Movement affiliates Search Search English Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide Beginning 1 Context 2 Actions 3 Artifacts Toggle Artifacts subsection 3.1 Meetings 3.2 Public email threads 3.3 In internal and external media 4 Related artifacts and initiatives Toggle Related artifacts and initiatives subsection 4.1 General strategy 4.2 Innovation 4.3 Grant making and capacity building 4.4 Multi-generational sustainability 4.5 Decision-making and governance 4.6 2030 Strategy recommendations and initiatives 5 Parking lot Toggle Parking lot subsection 5.1 Capacity building ideas 5.1.1 Improving WikiLearn discoverability 5.2 Online and offline events 5.3 Affiliates and grantmaking Toggle the table of contents Next 25 Add languages Add links Content page Discussion English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Print/export Create a book Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Appearance move to sidebar hide From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki Next 25 is an informal ad hoc set of community members assembled in Q2'2026 to discuss the future of the Wikimedia movement. It is mainly a reaction to many discussions about Wikipedia's traffic and growth challenges, in the face of artificial intelligence and reduction in referral traffic (see Google Zero). After the Wikimedia Futures Lab in January 2026, AI-BRIDGES symposium, extended discussions on the Wikimedia-L mailing list and ahead of Wikimania 2026, a number of community members assembled for a call on 7 July 2026, and subsequently labeled the continuing conversation as "Next 25." Ongoing conversation is being held on Telegram, using the former SWAN Telegram channel. (Join Next25 link) This page is to gather discussions, materials and initiatives about the current trends and the next 25 years of Wikimedia. Context [edit] Some Wikimedians are concerned about current trends on readership, editorship and general knowledge distribution. There are different initiatives across the movement on that topic, but they are scattered, loosely coordinated and without clear unified direction. The Next 25 effort attempts to make those efforts more coherent and collaborative. Actions [edit] /Discussion grounding /Strategy reading matrix /How can we make Wikipedia Better - 2012 and 2013 /A proposal to frame Next 25 Artifacts [edit] Meetings [edit] Event:This is not a meeting - First meeting on July 7th 2026 Etherpad Meeting summary Event talk:This is not a meeting Related: email threads on Wikimedia-l Public email threads [edit] Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay) Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay) As we wake up the question of openness in the AI context [was Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call] Experiments *everywhere* (was Re: Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay) Google Zero is coming [was Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay)] Discussion about a way forward Was: Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay) Wikipedia at 25: The Encyclopedia That Might Not Last Wiki, plus video [was Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay)] Do we even know what a good AI Optimization strategy would be for Wikipedia? Re: Re: Google Zero is coming [was Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay)] In internal and external media [edit] "Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call" essay, as republished in The Signpost from the original email /Telegram logs Related artifacts and initiatives [edit] General strategy [edit] "Solving puzzles together", an essay by former Wikimedia Foundation CEO Maryana Iskander (WMF) "Demystifying the 2026–27 Annual Plan", an overview of a published draft of the plan by User:Sohom Datta Innovation [edit] Futures Lab (recent history) "Futures Lab in a box" may become a recurring smaller-scale event, such as in chapters or hubs IdeaLab (historical but perhaps should be revived) Individual Engagement Grants (historical) Grant making and capacity building [edit] Online trainings for partnerships Multi-generational sustainability [edit] WikiCamp EduWiki Hub Decision-making and governance [edit] Governance Study Group "We need to innovate with Wikimedia decision-making", opinion piece by User:Lodewijk 2030 Strategy recommendations and initiatives [edit] Chart of 2030 strategy recommendations and initiatives, by User:Fuzheado Parking lot [edit] I don't have time to structure things properly so I'm dumping here things Capacity building ideas [edit] Improving WikiLearn discoverability [edit] - from Telegram - Four ways off the top of my of head: Referrals from on-wiki help and planning pages. Referrals from grant program officers to applicants. CentralNotice campaigns to reach editors not involved in affiliate work. Just-in-time proposals made by Mediawiki itself: imagine if, when an edit you made got reverted, the wiki notification would not just tell you it happened, but offer you links to learning modules on NPOV and Verifiability. This requires a software change of course. We have been lobbying for this in the past year, but Product has not included it in its annual plan for the fiscal year just started. I still think it would be a powerful link. Online and offline events [edit] Future of Affiliate Gatherings Affiliates and grantmaking [edit] Updating the ecosystem of Wikimedia organizations Updating the ecosystem of Wikimedia organizations/Recognition and Funding for Movement Organizations, comment period through 7 August 2026 Also mentioned under the Events category: Future of Affiliate Gatherings Retrieved from "https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Next_25&oldid=30929283" Categories: Wikimedia Movement Strategy Innovation This page was last edited on 17 August 2026, at 00:20. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Privacy policy About Meta-Wiki Disclaimers Legal & safety contacts Code of Conduct Developers Statistics Cookie statement Mobile view Search Search Toggle the table of contents Next 25 Add languages Add topic