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A participatory process is a sequence of participatory activities (e.g. first filling out a survey, then making proposals, discussing them in face-to-face or virtual meetings, and finally prioritizing them) with the aim of defining and making a decision on a specific topic.
Examples of participatory processes are: a process of electing committee members (where candidatures are first presented, then debated and finally a candidacy is chosen), participatory budgets (where proposals are made, valued economically and voted on with the money available), a strategic planning process, the collaborative drafting of a regulation or norm, the design of an urban space or the production of a public policy plan.
About this process
Hello and welcome to the community! đđźââď¸
It's great to have you here. Keep reading to learn what Metadecidim is and how you can participate.
The Decidim community is called Metadecidim, and it is made up of people and organizations that use the software and want to help improve it. It's open to anyone who wants to participate, you don't have to be a geek to get involved đ. Whatever your skills, we're sure there's a way to contribute.
But, first letâs start at the beginning:
Where am I?
You are in Metadecidim, the community of Decidim, the free software digital platform for participatory democracy. Since its beginnings, the project has had an active, diverse and increasingly global community that collaborates in the design of the platform and the construction of the project.
In Metadecidim, key aspects of the Decidimâs orientation are discussed, new functionalities are proposed, working groups are set, community conferences such as the DecidimFest are organised, and all the activities of the Decidim Association are reďŹected and carried out. It is the key space of participatory governance and governmentality of the project.Â
Why Metadecidim?
If you have arrived here we guess you are interested in participatory democracy, technopolitical spaces, citizen initiatives and movements or just curious about contributing and getting to know whatâs happening here. Our objective is to build a collaborative platform where people can help develop a participatory and democratic software paradigm that goes beyond free software where participants design and contribute to the governance of the project.Â
What can I do here?
In Metadecidim you can take part in different collaboration spaces to improve all aspects of the platform. Hereâs all you need to know:
đ Participate: We have different spaces for open participation to improve all aspects of the platform. For example, you can make proposals for new features, report a bug, or improve documentation and translations.
This is for you ifâŚ
You want to interact with the platform, either as a participant or someone who manages the admin panel, or contributes to the code.
đ Meetings: We like to meet each other, either in person or online, to address different topics related to Decidim, democratic participation, free technologies or other issues related to the project. There are a wide range of spaces for community discussion and collaboration structured into community meetings and thematic groups. In all of them you would be able to participate in the multiple dimensions of the Decidim project, discuss and present new features, answer questions and empower civil society to take ownership of the tool.
This is for you ifâŚ
You would like to contribute to improve and rethink the design of the platform (join the design monthly calls), if programming and developing is your thing (join the implementers monthly calls), if you will like to simply think about community dinamisation, knowledge sharing and Decidim growth (join the community meetings)...As you can see there are a bunch of open, reflective and collaborative meetings spaces to contribute to Decidimâs development and be partners in its construction.Â
đ¤ Our Governance: This is the governance space of the community. We self-organize through the Decidim Association, which is in charge of governance of the community and of organizing different committees and working groups. You can become a member and actively participate in them. The Association is formed by different work and decision spaces. Currently, the active groups are:
The General Assembly: a space in which the sovereignty of the Association resides, where issues related to the governance of the community are discussed and decided. To be able to participate in this space you must be a member of the Association.
Coordination Committee: Manages and represents the Association. Its members are elected by the General Assembly.
Thematic Committees: These are the channel that we have designed so that people who want to can actively contribute to the project, anyone can be part of them. These groups can work on issues related to software improvement, academic research or participatory methodology. They should be coordinated with the Coordination Committee or the team.
This is for you ifâŚ
You want to take part of the community and participate in the governance of the project.Â