Sustainability, governance and partnerships of Decidim
Participatory process to define Decidim's management model and sustainability strategy
Currently, the Decidim Association is highly dependent on public funding. Specifically, it receives two subsidies from Barcelona City Council (100k) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (50k). This income allows it to support the Technical Office and pay for other minor expenses. In addition, there is a contract from Barcelona City Council through which Decidim's maintainers are hired.
However, depending so much on public funding and so few institutions is a risk. As we have already seen, we can lose that money for bureaucratic reasons - as happened to us with the 50k from Barcelona City Council last year - or because of changes in governments, which could lead to the withdrawal of institutional support. This is why it is imperative to work to diversify the Association's sources of funding, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
This debate seeks to discuss what strategies to follow in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the project.
Questions for the debate
- How can the Association obtain resources from all the economic activity generated around Decidim?
- How can we expand the number and type of actors that can support the project, beyond Catalan institutions? In particular, would it be possible for public institutions, NGOs, etc. that are users of the Decidim SW to support the project?
- What kind of services can the Association offer?
- What other sustainability strategies should we explore?
*It is necessary to take into account those aspects that are already defined in the Statutes of the Association:
Article 4.3. Defines services as an activity of the Association.
Article 20. The management of public and private subsidies corresponds to the coordination committee.
How can I participate?
- By leaving your comments below. You can answer the questions or write your thoughts on the topic addressed in this debate.
- Upvote for the comments you agree with. Your votes will be taken into account when drafting the document.
Remember to express your opinion respectfully.
.jpg)
Report inappropriate content
Is this content inappropriate?
Close debate
What is the summary or conclusion of this debate?
Comment details
You are seeing a single comment
View all comments
Conversation with Carol Romero
On this point I agree with Xabier on the reasons for offering services, especially 3b and 3c, and I don’t share Lucien's or Valentin's concern.
I mean, I don't think we're talking about the Association being dedicated to deploying instances of Decidim. IMO, on the tech side, it must work to ensure a robust framework that allows others to build on it. But politically, it should participate in those projects that are more strategic, offering consulting and occasionally some development if required, in most cases in collaboration with a partner. Plus, being close to key stakeholders will make it easier to reach possible agreements and collaborations.
As for other types of services, I think certifications deserve their own discussion, but I'm already getting long-winded, so we can talk about it on Wednesday.
To recap: by combining (more) partners + (more) agreements + some services, Decidim’s structure could be covered. There are also private funds. But almost all of them are focused on developing a specific project, not on maintaining the infrastructure. So it must be taken into account that they will almost always require hiring people who are not part of the structure.
If we are willing to give up autonomy in favor of more stability, we could explore the hypothesis of creating a public agency, hand in hand with a government that understands and respects the community nature of the project.
If, on the other hand, autonomy is non-negotiable, I'd put our energy into obtaining funds from big donors, as many other projects do.
I think that about services we have to be careful, because yes it brings money, but it also uses resources.
If any services is sold, it should be on something that the project needs to make it better or help it to move forward. Else it would just be an "excel management" improvement.
Loading comments ...