Sustainability, governance and partnerships of Decidim
Participatory process to define Decidim's management model and sustainability strategy
Economic sustainability
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.
List of Endorsements
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
Hi Xavier, maybe I didn't explain it well enough, sorry! What I mean is that the Association is regulated by the Catalan law. If any public entity becomes a member, automatically the association would be equated to any other public administration in contractual terms (governed by the public procurement law, with the restrictions that this implies). It is a legal issue.
Their participation in governance is not a problem, on the contrary! Actually, several cities have been doing so from the beginning, and I would look for ways to include many more. But if we talk about their participation as members (paying a fee and participating like any other member), we need to know the legal aspects.
Loading comments ...