User:Elonka/Reconciliation projects

Overview

Reconciliation projects are a part of the Wikipedia dispute resolution process. They are one means by which extremely complex disputes may be resolved, by providing a central location in which editors, disputed issues, and affected articles can all be discussed in one place. Reconciliation projects include elements of Mediation, Requests for comment, Consensus-building, and sometimes, requests for administrator intervention.

Early projects were created for complicated areas such as Israeli-Palestinian disputes, Hungarian-Slovakian disputes, Sri Lankan disputes, and others.

Elements

• Editors who are willing to constructively solve the Wikipedia problems arising from real world conflicts
• Centralized location for discussion
• Usually also:
  • One (or more) uninvolved mediator
  • One (or more) uninvolved administrator (can be the same as the mediator)
  • List of affected articles
• Sometimes also:
  • List of participants

Administrators

It is often the case that for complex ethnic or cultural disputes, administrator backup and monitoring is essential. The admin acts as a mentor, and sometimes as an enforcer.

The preferred method is always that the participants learn to deal with their own disputes, in an atmosphere of mutual respect. However, if there are not enough editors to yet collectively "keep the momentum of reconciliation", administrator action can be helpful in making course corrections. Administrators can block sockpuppets, restrict the editing of certain editors who may be inserting non-neutral information, and or to protect pages which have become targets of edit wars.

Dedicated watchlists

Where a topic has a large number of disputed articles, it can be helpful to set up a dedicated watchlist

See WP:SLR#Watchlists, Wikipedia:SLR/bluebox and this link

Moderators

Different projects may try different methods of moderation. In some, the moderation may be a group effort, where all members are allowed to do such tasks, independent of one specific "leader". Other projects may wish to choose one specific moderator, either permanently or on a rotating basis.

Setting up the central page

See WP:WORKGROUP#See also for examples of how other projects have started.

• Create a page
  • Decide on initial structure:
    • Moderated or unmoderated
    • Admin-supervised or not (and which admin!)
    • List key affected articles
    • List other recent elements of Dispute Resolution which have been tried (administrator threads, RfCs, mediation, ArbCom, etc.)
• Add the page to Category:Wikipedia dispute resolution
• Link it from Wikipedia:Reconciliation projects (or wherever)
• Announce the page at related WikiProjects and noticeboards
• Identify articles which are the target of current disputes, and make an announcement there as well
• Invite specific editors who are involved in disputes, or who have been successful in mediating previous disputes

Setting the tone

• It is very important that the moderator be perceived as neutral and fair
• Don't worry about responding to every single complaint that comes in (and they may be coming in fast and furious). Instead, focus on identifying the key participants, and getting them to communicate in effective ways.