OKFestival 2014 is happy to announce that we will be providing Financial Aid to support the attendance of those with limited financial resources at this year's festival in Berlin. Diversity and inclusivity are a huge part of our festival ethos and we are committed to ensuring a broad variety of participation from all corners of the world, creating a forum for all ideas and all people.
Our grants cover travel and accommodation costs and you can find details of each below.
Travel costs:
This year, we will be allocating travel grants on an individual basis. Here's how this will work:
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If your application for financial aid is successful, you'll receive an email from us to let you know. You will then have 3 days to buy your OKFestival ticket and send the ticket invoice number to us via the form provided within the notification email.
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When we have confirmed that your ticket has been purchased, we will establish the cost of flights to and from the city of your departure at that time, send you that information and deposit enough to cover those specific flights into your bank account.
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You will then have 5 days to book your flights and provide proof of purchase to the OKFestival team. If the price of flights increases over those 5 days, we will not cover any increase from the price at the time at which we sent you the information. There will be no exceptions to this 5-day limit.
Accommodation costs:
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We will be offering a per night rate of €50 per person for a maximum of 3 nights for those coming from Europe and a maximum of 4 nights for those coming from outside Europe.
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We will allocate these funds to you as soon as we have received proof of purchase for your flights, and we expect you to then book your own accommodation using this money. You can find a range of options for Berlin listed in the Accommodation section of this page.
What's not covered:
Our commitment to the community is demonstrated by giving these funds to those for whom attending the festival is important, and we ask that you show your reciprocal commitment by buying your own tickets while we aim to cover your essential travel costs.
The grant will not cover :
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The cost of the festival ticket itself
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Any cost associated with getting valid international travel document, such as passport and visa
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Any other incidental expenses – such as food and drink – beyond what is stated here
Who will we give grants to?
These grants are intended for those who can make a significant contribution to the event, but who are unable to realistically reach Berlin without some help.
We are unable to give grants to all applicants and so we will prioritise grants in the following way:
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to assist those who will be contributing to the programme e.g. active participants in OKFestival who may have proposed sessions
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to assist those who are keen to blog or create social media around the festival
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to assist active members of the open movement whose presence would benefit the festival's mission of “Open Minds to Open Action”.
All grant applicants must agree to produce a blog post or talk about their experience at OKFestival (in your preferred language), and share this with their own networks and with the Open Knowledge Foundation after the festival. Blog posts and videos may be considered for publication on our blog and newsletter.
How to apply?
Please fill out the form by clicking on the button below. The deadline for the applications is Sunday 4th May.
How will I know if I've been selected for the travel grant?
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Those applicants selected will receive a notification email in May and will have 3 business days to purchase their OKFestival tickets and fill out the form which will come with your notification email.
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If we haven't received the completed form within 3 business days from the time of sending the notification email, we will rescind the grant and offer it to someone else. At that point, we will not be able to re-offer the grant to the original recipient under any circumstances.
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If you do not receive an email alerting you that you've been awarded a travel grant between the aforementioned dates, please take this as confirmation that we sadly cannot provide you with a travel grant this year.
How to claim your grant:
Grants should be claimed by purchasing your OKFestival ticket and submitting the form containing the ticket reference number within 3 days of receipt of the notification email. The detailed guidelines for claiming the grant will be provided with the confirmation email.
Other Grants
Wikimedia Travel Grant for OKFestival 2014
As a part of Wikimedia UK’s continued efforts to support the Wikimedia community the the UK, Wikimedia are kindly offering two travel bursaries to OKFestival 2014 to UK-based interested applicants. These bursaries will cover the cost of festival tickets, economy class travel to Berlin, accommodation for the duration of the festival and a per diem to cover local expenses. You can find out more about the Wikimedia bursary and apply for it here by Sunday 20th April.