Announcing the First Round of Grants for the Community Activities Fund

Last month we announced the Community Activities Fund as part of our ongoing efforts to support the activities of CC communities and beyond. Creative Commons is committed to building and fostering a vibrant global commons through the activities and projects they undertake. Our fund was created in response to direct community requests, and we could not be happier to announce that the following projects have been granted financial support through this fund:

Uruguay: Copyright Reform Brochures

CC Uruguay is currently in the middle of a hard fight for a copyright reform in Uruguay that includes strengthening limitations to copyright for purposes of citation and parody, as well as exceptions for libraries and education, freedom of panorama, orphan works, and others. The CC Community Activities Fund will help the team print brochures that explain the copyright reform work and the CC Licenses.

Zimbabwe: First CC Community Meetup

Until recently, Zimbabwe did not have an active Creative Commons community. We’re supporting a small group to host the first CC event in Bulawayo which will bring together various stakeholders and interested parties with a view to kickstart a broader CC Zimbabwe team.

Uganda: OER Workshop

In Uganda, like many places in the developing world, access to education is increasingly limited to the few that can afford it as instructional resources becomes more exam-oriented and teacher centered. We’re supporting a team from Uganda to host an OER workshop for high school teachers to expose them to the benefits of OER and strategize how to adopt it in their schools.

Tanzania: CC Training for Young Lawyers and IT Students

Awareness-raising about Creative Commons remains a top priority in Tanzania, and the CC TZ team is  targeting young lawyers at the Institute of Judicial Administration (IJA) – Tanzania. Their goal is to train these lawyers on CC licenses and get them involved the in CC community in Tanzania, and globally.

India: CC Outreach to Startup and Business Communities

We received several applications from India and we’re glad to be supporting an initiative to reach out to the startup and business communities  in the Coimbatore and Bengaluru to talk about open issues.

Nepal: Introduction to Creative Commons Event

Until recently, Nepal is another country that hasn’t had an active CC presence. We’re supporting a team there to host a two day CC Nepal event themed “Introduction to Creative Commons in Nepal”. This event will be an orientation for students, researchers, lawyers, open advocates, activists and professionals from different fields about the core concepts of Creative Commons.

Ghana: Summer Open School

Returning to the theme of awareness-raising, a team in Ghana is planning a Summer Open School—a three day conference to bring students together and introduce them to the Open Movement, with lessons on two main subject areas: Creative Commons and Wikipedia. We’re supporting some of the logistics to put on this event.

So far, we’ve received and reviewed over 200 applications from all 5 regions around the globe. The highest number of applications came from USA, India, Nigeria, Canada, France, Tanzania, Australia and Ghana. Of those that applied for the grant, 76 applicants are CC affiliates and 128 are not CC affiliates.

The CC Community Activities Fund is still open and we’re receiving and reviewing applications. Please consider submitting an application.

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