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An assembly is a group of members of an organization who meet periodically to make decisions about a specific area or scope of the organization.
Assemblies hold meetings, some are private and some are open. If they are open, it is possible to participate in them (for example: attending if the capacity allows it, adding points to the agenda, or commenting on the proposals and decisions taken by this organ).
Examples: A general assembly (which meets once a year to define the organisation's main lines of action as well as its executive bodies by vote), an equality advisory council (which meets every two months to make proposals on how to improve gender relations in the organisation), an evaluation commission (which meets every month to monitor a process) or a guarantee body (which collects incidents, abuses or proposals to improve decision-making procedures) are all examples of assemblies.
Decidim Public Institutions Committee
International collaboration to strengthen the governance of Decidim
About this assembly
Barcelona City Council, the Government of Catalonia, Barcelona Provincial Council, Localret, New York City and the Federal Government of Brazil join forces to coordinate the democratic digital platform.
Foundational text:
Context
All institutions using the Decidim software use the source code, which comprises the basic functionalities offered by the digital platform. The main responsibility of the Association is the maintenance of the source code, so all organizations using Decidim depend on this work.
In other words, the Association is the entity in charge of ensuring the proper functioning of the technology that is then made available to public institutions, governments, and organisations. For example, if a security vulnerability is found, the Association's technicians are in charge of fixing the problem and making the solution available to the entire community. The Association is also in charge of working for the continuous improvement of the platform, defining and developing some of the improvements that are then made available to the whole community.
The code needs maintenance, just like any other type of physical infrastructure. If no one were to take care of this task, Decidim's technology would become obsolete and unusable. For this reason, the work of the Association is in the public interest, as many administrations and public institutions benefit directly from it.
Collaboration with institutions
The Barcelona City Council and the Government of Catalonia make an annual transfer of financial resources. For their part, the Consorci Localret and the Barcelona Provincial Council support the Association through various types of collaboration agreements. These collaborations are based on a framework agreement for collaboration with all Catalan public administrations. We are currently reviewing this agreement with a view to renewing it in 2026 for a further four years.
In recent years, the international extension of the project has led the Decidim Association to start collaborating with other governments in different parts of the world. In this sense, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government of Brazil marks a very important milestone, being the first collaboration agreement with a government beyond the Spanish borders. Recently, the Association has been working with the Civic Engagement Commission of New York City to sign an MoU, which is expected to be finalized during the last quarter of the year.
All this shows the growing interest in collaborating with and supporting the Decidim Association, thus recognising its role as a central actor in the project. At the same time, it also acknowledges the key role played by the public institutions mentioned above in the development, expansion and improvement of the project. This is why we propose the creation of a Committee of Institutions to coordinate all the institutions that support the Association. The following is the initial proposal for the functioning of this committee.
The Institutions Committee
The Committee of Institutions is a space for coordination made up only of those public institutions that have a signed collaboration agreement with the Decidim Association. The Committee of Institutions is the space that allows institutions to participate in governance and to transmit their needs and proposals for improvement to the Decidim team.
The objectives of this Committee are:
To recognise the institutions that support the work of the Decidim Association.
To provide a space for institutions to participate in the governance of Decidim.
To share experiences and common needs with regard to the product.
Encourage inter-institutional collaboration to work on the improvement of Decidim as a digital public good.
Encourage more public administrations to sign collaboration agreements and support the Decidim Association.
Support the work made by the Association, and its role as maintainer of the project.
Working together to ensure the sustainability of the Association.
Promote the use of Decidim and the growth of the community.
Members
Barcelona City Council
Generalitat de Catalunya
Localret
Diputació de Barcelona
Federal Government of Brazil
Civic Engagement Commission (NYC)
Operating rules
Minimum an annual meeting chaired by the Decidim Association at which the annual work plan, the product roadmap and the status of the project are presented.
Committee members may propose topics for inclusion on the agenda, including the sharing of their own roadmap for Decidim.
Committee members can share their needs and requests to improve the Decidim platform.
Governments that sign a collaboration agreement with the Decidim Association may apply for membership of the Institutions Committee.
If a member ceases to support the Association due to the termination of the collaboration agreement, they will lose their membership.