Creation of a Local Chapter for Switzerland

Purpose
The highest purpose of the Swiss Decidim Local Chapter is to support, promote and apply the mission of Decidim in Switzerland as expressed in the Social Contract.

Moreover, the Swiss Decidim Local Chapter commits to:

• Stand as a non-profit & neutral Decidim expert in Switzerland

• Improve collaboration between actors and with the Decidim Association on common useful resources such as documentation, tutorials and best practices as well as index available modules and existing use cases in the country.

Legal Form & binding to the Decidim Association
The Swiss Decidim Local Chapter MUST be a non-profit, public utility association registered in Switzerland.

The statuses of the Swiss Decidim Local Chapter MUST respect the agreement on Internationalization and Local Chapters as defined by the Decidim Association. Any activity of the Swiss Decidim Local Chapter breaching this agreement is forbidden.

Services
The Swiss Decidim Local Chapter CAN provide the following services or perform the following activities:

• Coordinate co-funding of module developments between Swiss cantons, cities and other civil society associative structures

• Onboard Swiss members into the Decidim Association

• Educate and support admins in the use of Decidim Software

• Contribute with translations and documentation

• Centralise needs of technical adaptations to the Decidim software to the Swiss context

• Fund community activities such as hackathons and workshops

Limitations
The Swiss Decidim Local Chapter CANNOT provide the following services or perform the following activities:

• Paid installations or technical maintenances of Decidim platforms

• Feature development such as external modules for Decidim platforms

Rights

• The right to be contacted first for new projects in Switzerland

Actors
Participants in the Swiss Decidim Local Chapter CAN be the following:

• Cities & cantons

• Associations & civil society representatives

• Participation experts

• Thematic partners

• Academic Research Partners

Founders

• @larskaiser(Opens in new tab) (Urban Equipe / ZH)

• @naadjjaa(Opens in new tab) (Luzern)

• @llangton(Opens in new tab) (Octree)

• @hadrien_froger(Opens in new tab) (Octree)

Context & final note

In Switzerland, Decidim professionals and enthusiasts need a neutral, official entity to collaborate around use cases of Decidim in the Swiss context and to facilitate the widespread use of Decidim as well as the values aligned with the project. Collaboration between actors on a national scale takes time and energy, that’s why a non-profit, official entity is required to fund these activities.

Keep in mind we are a country of bureaucrats speaking at least 3 different languages, so it also makes sense to stay connected through a relevant but neutral organisation.