Date: 2023-06-06 meet.jit.si/karrot
Facilitator: Nick
Minutes: All
Participants: Nathalie, Vasilis, Nick, Bruno
1. Opening
10 min Check in
5 min ADMIN
attendance (write down participants)
duration: 10/11
information: any (non-karrot) announcements? unavailabilities?
next meeting:
next Wednesday co-working: Nick
[Nathalie] can someone reply to the emails? I won’t make it tomorrow
next Tuesday general: Nick
pick facilitator for next week: you? your karrot needs you!: maybe Vas
2. Consent to agenda
2 min
3. Review last week’s Actions/Outcomes
make/check a time poll for a feedback session [vas]
co-work on CSA/CSX [vas and nick]
add to feedback log thing what daniel said:
An export feature containing at least all the places’ details would be nice so that these data could be exported manually from time to time as a backup.
share notes from FOSC meeting with Karrot team [Nathalie]
4. Discussion points
CSA talk [E]
vas has created a framework in which to discuss it, and grounds the topic, within platform capitalism, CSA, CSX, and commons peer-production
superficial/initial parallel between CSA → CSS (community supported software)
how to pin it down, make it simple, so we can initiate discussion
is one thing that’s discussed in current paper, not main focus
Nick has been thinking a lot about sustainability of open source as a model
some uncertainty how hybrid remote works
Nathalie’s contribution to Karrot [E]
two parts
recently linked an article about consent and membership in the karrot forum, Ted talking about leaving a circle is very unilateral, but could be a proposal, to think about the needs of the organisation (to see what responsibilities people have)
periodically thinking about leaving, putting karrot aside, for some time, or for good. have several projects, and deprioritize contributions to karrot, so karrot would be first to cut if something else came up
wondering how it’s going, not one reason, but some little things, things that feel uncertain, which makes it easier to let go
sociocracy stuff feels higher priority, looking for some other projects, and if taking another project then need to free up time
history of karrot and personal connection influencing present, which echoes into the present, wondering why it bothers
need to be independent, and a sense of entanglement, and uncertain belonging, moving away from foodsharing somewhat, and still some ties there
wondering about the flow of work and the type of tasks, not so wanting to relive the structural topics, inside the team in karrot being the one looking for more structure, but not so much wanting to think about all these topics in karrot, feels heavier than in other spaces looking from the outside
did enjoy the nlnet flow, designing features, and wondered about getting more into software and maybe coding things. is this the right space for that though, thinking about who is investing time. looking for something where more people are contributing more work, with a bigger team. more focused projects.
could grow time, but question of money, would we all grow our time, not clear. wonder if it’s a tension for Nick too, if he would do more time. don’t feel like stepping up do participate more in karrot, and the topics to engage with are too big to manage with a small time
calls and co-working have a nice atmosphere, so feels nice, so still thinking. karrot days were nice, meeting in august would be nice.
wondering a bit more when off screen
unresolved tension plays some part, although not the main thing
thinking how long I would stay, what would be the process of leaving, or whether something would change. hear the efforts to find comfortable, but without feeling a future there, maybe not fair to accept process to find a place
interested to hear comments and reactions, and hoping for some clarity after hearing us
Vasilis:
two levels, emotional level and practical level
feel sad thinking about Nathalie leaving the project, as it’s worked super nice, really trust her, the energy she brought shifted karrot in a different direction that is more promising than it was before, was chatting with people in the house and the way we run the meetings and the structure she introduced led to more effective meetings, have learned a lot from her perspective, a lot of things brought to the discussions, e.g. discussions around the organic structures, which are embedded in capitalism, etc… blah
emotionally would find ways to motivate her to stay in project as a friend
on the practical level, we do suffer from not enough contributors, so would be an issue, can see sometimes she might feel lost, and uncertain of own contribution, although clearer with phd to work on
seasonal karrot thing, so maybe going through a summer, seasons change, e.g. with nlnet, karrot is still quite foodsaving centric, but heard potential interest in her about engaging in other contexts
Nick:
appreciate sharing it, when leaving a circle having a process around it, pll leaving karrot thorugh the years and almost faded away, dissaperead,slow divorce, appreciate the intentioanlity to make it clearer,
reflecting on relationship therapy stuff, when sb is ready to leave and bring up all the topics to motivate and make things appeall to stay
noticed for sometime what ur contribution could be, find the pathway for ur contribution, wouldl be happy to support this process
sadness of the autumn tries as the winter sets in, seasonal things is sth that I embrace, natural cycles not lines
my main thing woud be doing higher priority than the project’s itself
it is dif for Karrot to meet a more solid infrastructure/stucture of a well-flowing team, in reality Karrot atm is not that, it is frindge/exprimental, it was even more in the past, efforts to bring it in the current economy but this is really hard, if Karrot to be my only financial source I dont think this will happen, but Karrot keeps going, Karrots severly underesourced still makes this project vs other well funded pilots that die off quickly
I d prefer if it was most stable, would like it to bring in enough money, or have enough stuff done and have a more stable team, that is uncertain though, wonder a lot if it is needed as a piece of software, what groups would do? smooth transition? thinking more of the value we offer…same dillemas probs to which we have been encountering
Bruno:
(has kid on lap, and distractions around)
discussion brings up a lot of thoughts
wondering what things I enjoy, and don’t enjoy, or don’t meet my needs, etc. what keeps me going
regarding Nathalies exploration, thinking about leaving, agree with what’s being said, really sad, want to try and understand the reasons, kind of clear to me, but not fully
tend to try and say, nono stay! but at the end up to you, like that open up the possiblity of exploring, to actually see if there is something deeply embedded in karrot culture that doesn’t fit, or maybe we can do something about it
maybe two things, needs-related, financial aspect etc. but also think about it in terms of enjoyment, which things have been enjoyable, maybe they’re missing now, or still there? how to bring some more focus on those aspects, more intentional
karrot comes in waves, the enjoyment. sometimes can be really enthusiastic, like to put time on it. sometimes don’t have much time, going with the flow, without head in it so much, so stay in hiberation, come to meetings but not much more. could also take a pause from it and return at a later point.
we’re at quite unfocused moment for karrot now, maybe we have a need/urge to focus to go into a new period (of seasonability), which might come with more structure in the work we do, sometimes wondering what to do, what are we focusing on
if we got another financing from nlnet it would bring us more structure, even if it doesn’t happen would be nice to bring more structure and intentionality, defining how much time we’d like to dedicate, set some self-goals, and find how to work to achieve it
personally, always have the tension of unstructured and structured way, being very adapable and flexible to life, so can take a step back when I need it, and dive deep when I feel like it, being mindful of others and what they expect of me, like that
usually struggle with the tension, as it’s a bit unclear and have to pose the question, which space are people in
nice to have discussion now, an opportunity to try and sync that, esp. as Nathalie is feeling out of sync, is there a way to sync it so it would work, maybe others would move into another season of the project, on the long term though perhaps it’s not suitable on the longer term, unstructure/unstructure, sync/de-sync is not always suitable for many people during certain times, or personalities, which is proabably why many people would not join Karrot
as a conclusion, really appreciate that you bring it up, before leaving, like to believe there is some chance to maybe make it work, can also accept if it doesn’t work for you, like to see it as something to explore, is it something we cannot really provide, it’s a nice conscious choice to go onto other stuff, maybe it’s something we could provide, and maybe can find sources of enjoyment still to continue, and find enthusiasm again to be able to dedicate time to it
like to talk openly about it
Nathalie:
thank you everyone for taking the time, and in depth answers
after finishing, and the round started, feeling sadness, then conversation shifted, feel less sad again, more in a constructive space, which is nice
two things stood out
emotional side is a big one, how karrot is embedded in different connections and people, and what are my connections with those, so one way would be try and take the emotional side out, could be a break? topic is a lot from an emotional side in this project in particular
karrot is not quite a solid infrastructure, and how life is flowing right now struggling with some solidness, and being in a project without that, is difficult, so if rest of life was more solid might be different
some constructive thoughts, leaving, or less governance meetings, or less involved in the bigger discussions, having a more concrete role in specific things, e.g. only at co-working, advertising more support of the software, so not being in the general circle, something more specific, abstract vs concrete topics
would like to take the conversation and let it ripen/sit a bit
find to close the topic for now, and happy to continue, still around for now, wouldn’t increase contribution though
Vasilis:
one thing to add, Nick said karrot is project in fringes, very true, don’t have to be delusional, unless we’re lucky or take steps it’ll stay there, but it’s on our hands to try and make it work somehow, to become more stable and create this more rigid/solid/stable infrastructure, won’t go into more now
Nick:
put visioning in a seperate thing to co-working, genereal and make a more clear vision strategy e
Bruno:
we’re creating this together, feels like there is quite some room for changing/adapating/improving, happy you’re stickinng around for a while at least top tip: find the sources of joy and focus on that
unclear how the karrot project interacts with this festival, initially we had the workshop idea, but not talked about so much now
workshop offer was listed there, a sociocracy thing for foodsaving groups, so Nathalie agreed to giving a sociocracy workshop
there is a bit of a division in the registration process between presenters and participants, they pay and can cover some travel costs
seems nice to go there, has been on mind for a while
maybe worth talking to Daniel again about workshop space, not clear how full they are, there is an “open space” still
seems in karrot it switched from giving a workshop to just coming, wouldn’t push for giving a karrot presentation outside the open space
registration is open until june 15th so register now
Vasilis:
came across some posters about it, checked on the map, will be 3h on a train away unless something bad happens will try and be there, Nathalie being there makes it more motivating
regards to doing something with karrot team, today would say don’t have energy for it now, but might eventually come, but can’t take the lead, would be happy to go there and meet with people, have a chat, and have a nice weekend (if it is a weekend
Nick:
Was more motivated when I checked the buses, a bit of a long journey but not too crazy, need to make a decision before that time, right in the boat building time, good or bad, sort of inclided to plan it in and book it, as participant, could imagine try and make and informal info point, show ppl Karrot, print out a thing, dunno if that would fit in. And then closer to the time I can bail but if booked already more secure, travel costs, 30 euros attend, use some Karrot money to do that?
Bruno:
yes, was looking at buses and bus fares, and ways to do it, feel like if realistic, quite unlikely to be able to make it, but could be quite a fun trip if could take frans with me, I think it said they had some child care, will continue to investigate to see if it’s feasible
regarding karrot’s participation, should definately do something there if anyone is going, just to present and say we exist, can be useful to a lot of groups, would be a shame to lose this opportunity
Nathalie:
quite highly funded thing, so doesn’t have moneyfree vibe from early yunity days, they do say they have solidarity participation in the travel costs, strategy would be to try and apply for receiving that, as it says they can provide for travel costs
ok using karrot money, costs shouldn’t come from peoples personal accounts
things miss the context, e.g. “start membership review process”, hard to understand context and translate well
could we have auto translation? and a native speaker can edit it?
Bruno:
also struggled with lack of context, even being familiar with karrot
not clear where the particular string is placed
ideal scenario would be to have a screenshot
Vasilis:
doing greek, did 500 lines, then had a call with Bruno, to give help with tool, and that was very helpful
maybe a manual, and video tutorial, could help
Nathalie:
from feedback, did look at it, have a question, do I just add the translation then it’s done, or does it need approval? or if you see something in the software, how to find out where it is to improve it? what standard are we aiming for? not super trained in translations, feels like fine with “good enough”
general sense is if we want to engage with it and bring languages to a higher percentage, it would need someone, or a team to take care of it, something good to know, could be a nice task
Bruno:
if people contact us, or there is an issue, should give them support, would be up for helping out, have a walk through, or figuring out a context for the translations, would be a good start for people that want to translate
no review process currently, transifex has some features for reviewing, currently you can just type anything and at some point it would get live
would be nice to have, German, Swedish, … clearer defined sense of ownership, team/circle/etc.
German is only at 85%, and we don’t have professionals, so feel free to step up
translation for brazilian portgugues has lots of weird things, so would like to update it if there is time
Nick:
lot of tech stuff on how it works, share more in operational detail, two types of translators: karrot users and random internet ppl and they dont know anything about it, esperanto 100%, feautures to talk with translators, familiarising with the tool would be useful
make/check a time poll for a feedback session [vas] (8) ← increment each time it gets moved down
add to feedback log thing what daniel said:
An export feature containing at least all the places’ details would be nice so that these data could be exported manually from time to time as a backup.
Date: 2023-06-13 meet.jit.si/karrot
Facilitator:
Minutes: All
Participants: Nick, Bruno
1. Opening
10 min Check in
5 min ADMIN
attendance (write down participants)
duration: 45mins from now
information: any (non-karrot) announcements? unavailabilities?
next meeting:
next Wednesday co-working: Nick, Vas, Bruno
next Tuesday general:
pick facilitator for next week: you? your karrot needs you!:
2. Consent to agenda
2 min
3. Review last week’s Actions/Outcomes
make/check a time poll for a feedback session [vas] (8) ← increment each time it gets moved down
add to feedback log thing what daniel said:
An export feature containing at least all the places’ details would be nice so that these data could be exported manually from time to time as a backup.
send over basis for CSA talk [Vas]
4. Discussion points
vite-based karrot frontend [R/E]
showed how it’s faster to yarn dev, slower to load initial page, faster to see changes
would be nice if other people that do code could try it out to see how it feels, before I commit to fully integrating it
would need a bunch more work to switch, tests, production, etc…
Bruno will try it out, maybe in co-working tomorrow, with instructions on how to do so
funding, now that we didn’t get nlnet [E]
boo
a million reasons why it could have been, we asked for some feedback, guess they are overloaded
how to we move forward?
Bruno:
beg for money
short term, keep looking for funding
longer term, building up some kind of CSX model, community-supported
Nick:
same, but not motivated to do another application
disrupt.org? it’d be worth writing an e-mail, through outlandish (sent!)
find rich ppl to give us some money, existing connections, random
next Wednesday co-working: Vasilis, Bruno, Nathalie
next Tuesday general: yes
Nathalie on vacation July 4
pick facilitator for next week: Vasilis
2. Consent to agenda
2 min
3. Review last week’s Actions/Outcomes
make/check a time poll for a feedback session [vas] (10) ← increment each time it gets moved down
add to feedback log thing what daniel said:
An export feature containing at least all the places’ details would be nice so that these data could be exported manually from time to time as a backup.
post to read databse change proposal again [Nathalie]
add to feedback log thing what daniel said:
An export feature containing at least all the places’ details would be nice so that these data could be exported manually from time to time as a backup.
sofa and opensociocracy? sofa fosc circle connected to opensociocracy, not clear where that connection goes
fascinating how ideas can be separated by the social practise of them, big factor in reality is actual connections, we try and separated things, but personal connection important, need solid social connections
vision, strategy, new funding model, open collective, etc… [E]
funding fatigue, money from users/groups makes sense
should tie it into strategy
assume people are into that, but let’s check!
vibe has been waiting for funding…
clearer need for nick to make it financially viable, and for projects
nathalie also expressed need for more structured work
sense that we need a sense of direction from here, together
establishing pace of work and dedication
personally (bruno), would be nice to have another wave upwards, was hoping for it with nlnet application, but maybe not nercessary… depends on ability of people to dedicate time, and what funding means for that
strategy! would like to get things done now, a lot of potentials for fixing, maybe some new features, would need a funding model, would like to support others who need money, esp. nick, probably others too
could set a goal… e.g. do the opencollective thing, investigate more funding, work out different scenarios with or without funding…
happy to find more focus, and be supportive, although personally haven’t had so much karrot time lately
need to see if we align
Nick:
form the strategy, get clear on the money needs
what should work on next after the attachments? figure that out connected to a strategy
how do we make the strategy more tangible, in our practices. An agreement doc on Karrot? anyone motivated to work on it?
Vas:
key point is need to come up with a strategy, and test a model that’ll be sustainable for karrot, financially and ethically
funding fatigue experienced throughout life personally, not long term sustainable
have been thoughts in detail, but not the right time for that
on the same page as who is funding? in favour of it being funded by those directly using karrot
question remains how to do it, so far majority of groups don’t have other funding, so tricky there
Nathalie:
also like the idea of being funded by the users
although there are state funding schemes, can feel unfair to ask the people who work to get money to spend their money to spend other things, gets wierd thinking where money comes from… when there is big money pools somewhere
applying for funding that easy and puts us in a certain box
funded by the people!
interested in opencollective, still have open question about this “collective” term
one thing they solve is not having a legal entity, so they have fiscal hosts
to truly be a collective, what about our domain, who owns things, would be nice to have a collective solution for this, e.g. contact form for site, data privacy, etc. legalising karrot topic… how much does a fiscal host help? or would we need other legal forms?
commons theory is something that fits well with the group, and with karrot, would like to see a direction more clearly speak of it, karrot has had the food focus, then defoodification, but no clear focus to replace it, maybe commons is that focus… to be clearer who we are targetting… as maybe de-foodifcation lost the focus
Bruno:
financial models, totally in favour of long term finance by the people, doesn’t need to be users only
how do we make that viable long term, have to have time frames in mind, can’t achieve financial sustainability if we just go out to the groups now saying “we need money”, could be lucky, but not so much money willingness available already with this approach, would need a different scale to find those resources, maybe more groups, more people, bigger outreach, … becoming more commons-based project
still space for funding, esp. short/mid term, but not try to lose the vision of “we don’t need those fucking funding applications”, we can do this by ourselves! independently, collectively, democratically…
pragmatic approach, how can we make that happen
could jot things down on a document, maybe for next co-working? could do it together? during co-working or meeting? another pad, 5-10 minutes to write something down, separately? then bring together at the end… doesn’t need to take a lot of time, workshop format… half an hour… as quite aligned already in thoughts and values
could do something tomorrow?
also supporting idea of rethinking how we profile ourselves, “what is it for” now, had this general thing of “community organising”, if we connect more into theory and vocabulary, could go deeper into it, broaden our connections too, needs some investigating
Nick:
also felt we got lost after de-foodification, more towards commons
how much do the groups identify with commons?
funding by the people does not mean users only, also random people on the internet donating a couple of EUR/month would meet our needs because we have low costs
thing in August, a good place to start thinking together about strategy
also likes the idea of working on a document but not much time
Vas:
how much do the groups identify with the commons… we should investigate, so we don’t make something super exclusive, we already saw how some features on karrot don’t really fit the needs of the groups
not saying we shouldn’t pitch it towards commons, but is a spectrum, have to understand groups already use karrot for some specific tasks only, so not all encompassing project for them to everything within
if we position karrot within commons, we think of 3 basis, resources, rules, and community, and start building it in that direction, now, it does seem very much that
funding model, wasn’t thinking it could be other outside people, could be interesting, could also be organisations talking about commons, peer-to-peer advocating about technology, some of them are sustainable organisations, how about going door to door, you chat, we build we don’t have money, you have it. how about donate, £50/month? groups, users, random people, institutions, research groups. SPONSORS!!!
up tomorrow in co-working to start writing some things down, then come back and check and discuss
even within food waste stuff, a lot of orgs chatting about food waste policy and role of technologies, have to examine what a sponsor, can be a patron, can lose agency… who are we accountable to
hybrid/flexible model, maybe not so easy now going to small groups telling them we need money, some of them might be yes, reward it, but maybe cannot, can write this stuff on a paper
not super novel, but talk about being mission driven and flexible rate, maybe free
thinking about process, would be good to gain feedback before making the final decision, in a structured way, could work on something, have a draft agreement, and we’d like to get money and how much would feel sustainable, agree expenses are not extremely high, so could work, wondering whether to address individuals or groups, thought to address groups first, and individuals could be additional, draft, numbers, calculations, and feedback channel
if there is money involved, and we say it’s still possible to use it without money, would it feel it’s not really for free, need a good frame to make clear they are really welcome to use it without contributing, but they can…
so, gather feedback and see if it feels like it’s a huge change, and feel stressed about it, … so to avoid it being a Big Announcement
follow up with recent feedback (Kranti, Daniel)
call poll fatigue
maybe one person just schedule something, and announce it for others, to avoid poll cycle
bruno up to do it
big groups is the thing
tech update [R]
attachments → review \o/
vite… ongoing
hanging application in karrot team
was hanging about for 2 months
declined without message
make/check a time poll for a feedback session [vas]
tricky part with difference between composition API and options API
could either get support, or leave it for Nick to complete
probably would take too long to figure it out alone, as have to go back to some basics
could have it bruno working, me watching/supporting, or me working and bruno shadowing, or me just doing it
best one is bruno to watch me code on it, and learn a bit
Nick would like to wait to get vite branch merged, as it’s nicer to work with…
next thing up?
how to choose what to work on next?
bruno has some ideas!
add a “Next up” column to the board…
add the issue about receiving chat messages after leaving group
@-mention bell notification doesn’t bring you to the message
small fix would be for if the notification doesn’t even bring you to the right conversation
confirmed: all the time, or maybe just in some cases, a mention notification to a wall message reply does not open the reply sidebar, only goes to the wall
navigating to the actual message needs bigger changes
backend: different pagination to fetch “around” a particular messgae/date and have 2 ended pagination
frontend: a 2 ended infinite scroll component (quasar is only 1 directional)
autonomous flow state is sometimes very useful for doing stuff, and hard to put into a process
user → product → development flow… user observation is not enough on it’s own often, needs to be put in wider context of the product
the framing was “where would you like Karrot to be in 1/5/10 years?”, then worked on it by themselves
bruno likes the ideas so far
feedback session with Kranti and Daniel [R]
make/check a time poll for a feedback session [vas]
let’s talk about it as an agenda item
standing topic: organizational structure [E]
standing topic: check the board! [E]
5. Actions/Outcomes
for co-working tomorrow:
add a “Next up” column to the board…
add the issue about receiving chat messages after leaving group to board
add to wall: all the time, or maybe just in some cases, a mention notification to a wall message reply does not open the reply sidebar, only goes to the wall
bruno will write a 1/5/10 thing: “where would you like karrot to be in 1, 5, and 10 years?”, about half an hour
Nathalie will do the workshop on Sociocracy at FS festival
next meeting:
tomorrow evening (Wednesday): call with Kranti and Daniel
next Wednesday co-working: Nick, maybe Nathalie
next Tuesday general: yes!
pick facilitator for next week: Nathalie
2. Consent to agenda
2 min
3. Review last week’s Actions/Outcomes
for co-working tomorrow:
add a “Next up” column to the board…
add the issue about receiving chat messages after leaving group to board
add to board: all the time, or maybe just in some cases, a mention notification to a wall message reply does not open the reply sidebar, only goes to the wall
bruno will write a 1/5/10 thing: “where would you like karrot to be in 1, 5, and 10 years?”, about half an hour
4. Discussion points
tech
feedback about vite branch [E]
needs more beta-testing
feedback about attachment niggles [E]
reviewed by Bruno and working
next up? [E/D]
issue about receiving chat messages after leaving group
marking messages read in sidebar thread
delay in accepting applications
a bigger topic?
maybe a separate point to discuss next meeting
how about limiting pickups?
a selection process?
something from the board, make candidates clear, and think of a nomination
so, do a round, nominate, hear reasons, … could change nomination after hearing it
… then another round, then faciliator takes one nomination and checks for consent
… can still object if needed, and go round again
one for more discussion, one for development
make/check a time poll for a feedback session [vas]
let’s talk about it as an agenda item
Vasilis is deciding how long this topic will stay in the agenda
barcamp Luxembourg check-in [R]
Nick and Vas got accepted! \o/
Nick not totally confirmed, still pending some boat stuff
general feedback about 3 categories, looks a bit like “incorporating features for improving community organising” as an overarching umbrella title, perhaps good for the proposal
we do have quite a lot of input and intel from the groups already to play around with these categories of features
do have more comments… about the process…
Bruno:
I like. in terms of the work we want to do, makes a lot of sense
wonder whether it will be something nlnet will see as relevant and worthy as funding, still a bit dubious, as going by the feedback they gave, they seem more focused on the tech itself, be new, and about federation, etc. from the call, it could be focused on privacy, and if we try to connect the work and frame in the way the call asks, could do it a bit differently: how can users of a software application generate heathly communities, as opposed to the big tech approach, problems of governance and moderation, one possible way to frame it. show a different way to do it, and that is the innovative aspect.
however we send it in, feels worth a shot
Nathalie:
wondering if in the right mindset for thinking about it
agree with Vas about the topic framing
was expecting to see something with activitypub still, so surprised, not sad, the chosen topics are well aligned with what we’ve done previously, and with what the groups need, and that we know quite a lot about the topics
having the nlnet funding might give us the magic motivation to progress the features
seems focused and coherent
open question, as bruno says, about how aligned it is with what nlnet are asking for
Nick:
feels like it makes sense, a continuation of our energy and what we’ve done so far
originally wrote about Activitypub but then saw the number of public activities and saw there was not much. Did not feel justifiable
found the three topics on the board, inside his head and soul
so far they’re written as dev tasks. Anyone wanting to do more on it? Speak now or shut up forever
Vas:
super happy to proceed with something development-centric, worth discussing if it’s breaking the working together kind of community vibes, as it’s quite nick-centric, I would consent, but worth bringing into the equation, compared to how we’ve been working so far
e.g. working through co-working sessions, design sessions, reporting back, etc…
don’t feel danger, but feel it’s worth bringing it up
for the application, could definitely help out writing the justification, it’s not just things we imagined, but things we have data on, a couple of paragraphs on that
in real implementation of features, not sure if we need much more research, not sure if I have energy to ask the groups, e.g. how would they imagine a poll
Bruno:
don’t see it as being very development/nick-centric, and don’t think it should be, there is a lot we supporting work, and design
looking at the 3, the one that needs less thought or research is the polls, then sanctions we we discussed a lot, although still need a lot of design there, where to initiative them, etc… last would be custom group roles and permission system, a huge area to explore there
could even involve more people, from the community, from the groups, maybe some quick sessions to work on it, see who is interested
going back to more straight forward one… thinking of the polls, could be dynamic work, if nick starts working, will come up with questions, sketches, … a little process that we can all engage in as a team
custom group roles and permission system, could even do a more elaborate design session on it
up for that, interested in the topics, all of them, depends on what others want to do, and how we co-ordinate, nathalie has shown interest for custom roles, big overlap with sociocracy
some async design sessions for them, can see myself involved in the work
Nathalie:
also think there is a lot of room for group feedback processes
as nick is mainly pushing it, how would I approach it, e.g. the sprint patterns. we noticed different sizes of the sprint. community design process. we had done a rather short one, with us gathering ideas, open for feedback, but not waiting for it, still a good framework to progress a feature. particularly in the beginning there is a lot of space to think together, and limitations of what is possible to implement in the code, and later gets narrowed down.
not too worried about it
3 points are like a committment of the things we’d like to focus on and progress
drifted off thinking about my own interested in technology and social things, noticing that I’d like to be more technical, helping groups organised, those parts covered in sociocracy work. wondering what is the role of software? would rather get more involved in the logic of the software, not so much the social parts of it. so wondering about my place. doesn’t mean the application to stop.
Nick:
a lot of support but how to make it tangible, make it into tasks?
a bit of frustration on how to give birth to everything we’ve been thinking about
maybe application is not fully aligned with our way of working, our processes, like pushing now for what to put in the application
could do something with the input given so far, would like to have something tangible but will be a bit explorative
Consent round
Vas: object, open question from nick about who is willing to do what, suggestion would be to keep user research to a minimum, but maybe still as a task, so it’s one of the steps, so gives a balance, prior work we did, e.g. interpretation of data we collected already, so maybe design sessions are between the 4 of us, then nick and tilmann take over and do the development
Bruno: consent, to use that pad as a basis, if I understand it correctly, not as a ready application, but as a basis for how to proceed
Nathalie: wondering if there is an implication for myself, or something I need to commit to, seems like nick, and others are motivated enough, so consent.
Nick: object. wouwoullsd like clearer understanding of what I’m putting in the application about others involvement. looking for support from others to formulate this other non-dev-specific stuff.
Bruno: able to follow up and input
Vas: up for formualting it together
Nathalie: wouldn’t commit to a task, so count me out, might participate in design sessions as they come up
new consent round with mods
Vas: consent
Bruno: consent
Nathalie: consent
Nick: consent
connecting with likeminded initiatives [E]
someone that joined: “WhatsCookin, now doing decentralized trust under cooperation.org, interested in how you guys are doing things”
you all have great time and u feel that you make new connections and deepen some existing ones, energy giving and inspiring (bruno)
connecting with the Karrot team ppl that would be there is a key thing. 3 in the same place is a record. A bit of time for reflections, wanna flow with the conf topics, things look interesting but prefer to flow, place is sourrounded by a forest, enjoying the nature would be nice
doesn’t remember much of the workshops either, so would also like to go with the flow. Just have a chat with people about Karrot. Go into the forest and river (if there’s one)
one thing is to chat with people that do use Karrot. There are two groups there organizing that use Karrot so should be poeple there
some interesting workshops to watch
Nathalie’s on sociocracy
on conflicts
on racism
on dragon dreaming
potentially do something about Karrot on the open space, like a look behind the scenes
CSX explorations [E]
standing topic: check the board! [E]
standing topic: organizational structure [E]
5. Actions/Outcomes
read through notes of call with FOSC (Bruno, Vasilis, all)
karrot team to look at 2nd notes, about dimensions and proposal forming, and bring it to group discussion (All)
[R] Report (clarifying the information) - one person telling something to everyone, so everyone gets clarity on the subject, can ask questions, but not really discussion, etc…
[E] Exploration (hearing reactions & ideas) - share our opinions, reactions, hear what everyone things, what’s on our mind
[D] Decision (making a decision) - final step to bring it together to a decision
List of ideas
making a tutorial(s), writing a manual/ handbook
future roadmap, plan
general direction for Karrot in the future? the conceptual part? more solid conceptual framework
in-person meeting \o/
‘Legalizing’ Karrot? Building a legal structure we can use?
bank account/ legal structure, open collective
governance structure of Karrot/ Karrot ‘team’
Server structure, connection with foodsharing.de and Kanthaus
sociocracy and Karrot
how sociocracy could support groups
idea of commons
if there are shared resources in a group = commons (e.g. a cargo bike) can this be supported by karrot. e.g. a feature for shared items?
finding partnerships to do some on the ground testing. related to a funding or part maybe. (the idea that Nick explained recently), a network, a movement, outreach a more specific one
outreach: establish network and partnerships, maybe connecting with local movements
re-contextualise Karrot towards a more-generalised tool
a mind map of these ideas, to visualize and revisit them → have a focused session on this
wondering what possiblities the platform gives to supporting sustainability
frustrated after 2 years, not wanting to do things with foodsharing, but am again now
lots going on in Siegen, focused on local community
unsatifying though, want bigger visions and bigger leverages for change
this summer to reconnect with foodsharing international, permaculture scene, Fuchsmühle community (Germany) ← thanks!
bigger global/national ideas!
enjoy working and talking with Nick \o/
thrilled that after 8 years it’s still running, very reflective people, really trying to find out how to build up infrastructures for this utopian world
have ideas about sharing and caring, if we don’t pick up trash, make our own software… will lead nowhere
want to see what is possible to weave into academia, vasilis has been writing about CSS (community supported software)
got a new post-growth professor, wants to write a proposal for CSX
intriuged by karrot or think to join? intention to contribute, would like to join again and see how to fit in
would be nice to discuss at some point one of butze’s papers, around digital tools to empower community
how to bring karrot to the stage it’s very user friendly, and low barrier to join
network effect of tools people already use, telegram, etc. hard to surpass this
they have so much money to make it user friendly, hard to achieve that level
if interested to jump in more, could run tests in siegen to see what works/what not
for now, find a way in, and see how it goes, following curiosity, and where something fits, curious about vasilis’ CSS
more exploration of luxembourg [E]
travel costs Luxembourg (Nathalie) [D]
Nathalie expense: 79,25€, paid by academy
also Nathalie got paid for the workshop (300€)
→ I’d like to give something to Karrot, as see it as a karrot trip
could pay some with Karrot money
time to ask for things if needed!
nick’s travel costs are around 150EUR, karrot money? or ask organisers?
Bruno: should definately get refunded, tend to think the party that has more finances should do it, not sure if that’s the organisation or karrot, not sure on the finances of the event, but don’t want discomfort if having to ask around, so good to just go with karrot money
and for Nathalies, nice to offer contribution to Karrot, no obligation though, so feel welcome
Nathalie: not sure if received a form to fill out, can support Nick with form filling out, just needs bill (bus ticket, with price), happy to help. which entity has more money? event has money! definately try and get the 30EUR, could imagine asking for more, quite far, and with open space session, see what they say, and refund rest from karrot money
for myself, can decide
follow ups
foodsharing europe? Karrot and foodsharing.de could be both part of it
used to be foodsaving worldwide, forum & Karrot with different focuses
foodsharing International within foodsharing - what does it do?
Karrot is a software project, could have a relationship
next barcamp
October deadline for Erasmus+ funding, another deadline in March
academic work
Philip and Vas and other people to collaborate
round of reflections/thoughts/comments
Bruno:
quite excited about idea of foodsharing europe
also see it as a separate thing from karrot and previous foodsaving worldwide, foodsaving international in foodsharing.de
more like a federation/community, find it’s own governance structure, governing body?
get a bunch of people together with experiences from diferent contexts, including me excited to contribute, getting people together from different countries, where could we go, working together, how to act together on a european level to spread/consolidate foodsharing, different iterations, with a basis of what we are doing in europe
sounds like a really nice idea
regarding luxembourg/barcamp thing, heard a lot from Nick already, curious to hear how to was from butze/nathalie, was it fun! what was exciting?
another thing Nick mentioned, when talking about tech circle, also had mentioned a few people that might be interested in development work for karrot, maybe start having some dev sessions could be a space to invite curious devs to join
Nathalie:
had a good time at the barcamp! outstanding point was haven’t been in a “networking mode” for a long time, only having online meetings, which can be such an effort, networking side opened up a bit, met a lot of people, combined with knowing a lot of foodsharing people, lots of chats about that
finding my place holding a sociocracy workshop in person, want to do some reflections/improvements, a lot of interest in sociocracy, made me happy, very nice!
mostly in connecting mode, still curious, particularly about luxembourg, interested in karrot and sociocracy, review his notes about maybe switching to foodsharing, want to engage more, want to find out which features would help them to stay
how to combine sociocracy and karrot, sometimes not a perfect fit, how to make karrot a tool that a sociocractic group can use, through the lens of foodsharing luxembourg
didn’t join the visioning sessions
academic work is quite interesting, e.g. how CSX is getting in there, was enthusiastic on reading about it, feels like Vas is very skilled there, with uni background, not sure on my entrypoint, but interested to read more and read more papers from butze and vas, a big sympathy to academic work
foodsharing europe, sounds nice, something karrot team is not driving, but can be part of, e.g. sending a delegate to it, rather than being the new focus of karrot
a bit fuzzy though, some concerns about super bodies and how they would work, enjoy the seed though, and connection with luxembourg and belgium, makes more sense to work with foodsharing groups and being international rather than foodsharing.de driving it
not sure about thoughts on future barcamps, not sure about the connection and/or funding, we could do with funding, don’t have karrot legal infrastructure to do things ourselve, maybe a chance to do a subproject within it?
was orgianising festival for a couple of years and enjoyed that, so could step into it, not sure what would need to be in place to get involved, unclear right now
enjoyed the barcamp very much, beautiful scenary! was reminded of yunity events of highly motivated people coming together, everyone trying to be fully present and collaborate, exchange, network, very much enjoy this!
coming back to siegen, gives a nice reflection point, have been at a humus festival, foodsharing, repair cafe, workshop workshop, free shop, etc… 40 people everybody contributing, … but it’s ultimately just an event that people come to, and not so much about the daily life of people
that’s the tension, also for foodsharing international event, is nice to go meet nice people, talk, dream… but how to bring it into daily life
8 years ago thought we could do it in half a year, but know wiser and know it takes time, but we are 8 years wiser, and potential, e.g. foodsharing europe, to bring together local acting and global/europe thinking, one-issue based community
very nice informal chats, very nice workshops, nice food
if events like this would occur more often would have really good and lasting networking events… knowing how hard it is to organise and get funding, etc… would be nice that those that showed intention and effort to organise join forces
Nick:
more interconnected things
in dragon dreaming: dreaming, planning, doing, celebrating
sometimes it’s nice to start with the celebrating, that’s what the barcamp was
now comes the dreaming
interested not about foodsharing but through foodsharing, learned about self-organization and community building
how to unleash potential from the foodsharing groups?
tangible next steps?
Bruno:
follow up with Daniel, or anyone else that was keen on foodsharing europe emergence
Nathalie:
look into Luxembourg situation more closely, re: foodsharing and sociocracy
nice to stay in touch with Bianca, would also be informed about potential next funding steps to jump on funding train
Butze:
was writing an email to Stefan, to see if he’s interested to look into proposal to build up a project for foodsharing as a catalyst for further sustainable food practises (gardening, cooking, etc), didn’t have his email, so sent it to international email address of barcamp would be glad to have it
ask nathalie if she wants to give sociocracy workshop in sigen for foodsharing cafe group
ask Daniel if he can faciliate dragon dreaming with core people in Siegen
thinking to ask foodsharing akadaamidemidemieie, funding for foodsharing cities partnerships, connecting with a foodsharing group in the south of Berlin
Nick:
follow-up call with Daniel, invite to general Karrot call
Bianca getting ideas for funding oppertunities for Karrot
new group starting in Belgium
write something in pad, re-read email from Bianca
chatting more with Ka (who did racism workshop)
server update [RD]
SSD upgrade, 59EUR per disk (2, so 120EUR)
request to authorize budget
Bruno: yay, consent!
Nathalie: is it one time cost? yes. confirm with tilmann. consent!
Nick: consent!
FOSC explore dimensions and proposals of team [E]
not a lot of time now, but can also continue next week in the meeting
previously formed an ad-hoc group for brainstorming with the 2 karrot people (nick, nathalie), and 2 SoFA people (john, jane)
exploration in sociocracy can be very wide, so instead of jumping into proposals directly, explore the dimensions of it
Nathalie to faciliate a dimension exploring section
Dimensions of the proposal (“what about…?”):
Who is currently on the team?
How is membership recorded?
How do we visualize/show this team?
Different ways you want to understand membership on the Karrot project?(forms of membership, levels of involvement)
How does membership relate to the whole governance structure for Karrot?
What are the powers of membership?
What qualities do you want to have for members?
How does someone become a member?
How do you end your membership/stop being a member?
What would it (the ‘team’) be called?
Reactions
What is out of scope of membership? E.g. Collaboration?
What would it (the ‘team’) be called? - added
good list of dimensions
keeping in mind ideas what the whole governance structure for Karrot could be, what other kind of rights and commitments in relation to Karrot, connected to CSS
talk about Karrot: for her it’s easier to start there but then it becomes harder when the group grows and becomes more complex
Erasmus funding… One in march, perhaps Karrot could participate
Bianca might join a Karrot meeting. Daniel too at some point in the future
Brings up some ideas about federation
we’re all fine with Nick having a one-on-one talk, but there’s also interest in having a group conversation too at some point
Nathalie:
a bit overwhelmed with new structures
unsure how sociocracy would adapt to this context (at least it’s a big project)
nice to keep connection with Bianca
more interested in concrete next event than foodsharing erope idea
Bruno:
idea of foodsharing europe still motivates me, aware of dynamics between people I don’t know
perhaps some new blood can create some new dynamics
size of groups using karrot topic is interesting, would be worth focusing and putting energy there
like federation idea, nice if connected to a real need, if done together with other groups, e.g. see what people in foodsharing.de think, can be useful
Nick:
lots of potential, in person meeting, shared motivation turns into effective organising
lean towards sociocracy, comes up everywhere
potential in dragon dreaming
strcutures in foodsharing seem to be exhausting, karrot as a liberation from that, trying things in a different way
more potential than action at the moment, people feel potential in themselves
playing a part in this
for Nathalie: relief to not handle foodsaving emails any more?
Butze:
crucial: what is the narrative? not only foodsharing europe, story for future vision
very exciting
agrees to many points that where said before
Nathalie:
important to have a good fit for the people in the group, rather than create the idea of the structure then take a long time to fill it
feels less overwhelming starting with a smaller group
not motivated to build something that lacks the people
Summarising next step
keeping the connection with Bianca and Beata, formulate invite for karrot call, and continue conversation
round to summarise impressions and anything to work on before the evening
Nick:
happy to see it come to some answers
in session tonight get someting to consent to in Karrot
good enough - topics can get big
close to being able to define that
Bruno:
reached a point with it having written the draft, cannot go forward without more input
agree with nick about the general feeling with it, getting something good enough for now, and iterative process, can review it further in the future
Butze:
good step for defining who contributes or not, reminds me of our telegram groups for communal projects, there was always the need to get people out of the group who are not contributing, e.g. where you have 40 people in group and only 5 answer a poll
also thinking of formal association we formed in Siegen, principle is people can take part in all initiatives without being a member, seems important to keep in mind
the more you formalise you form an unregistered legal entity, an unregistered Verein in germany
Nathalie:
on formal side, this is more like an FAQ so far Q → A, maybe nice to have a text without the questions, just a statement
how much to have it inside the karrot group (approved role?)
generally a good start and coherent thing
was in our heads before, and matches what we discussed and think
gets more blurry with the wider / other types, relating to CSS? unsure of concept of contributors who are not in governance structure, lots of open questions
happy to focus on the karrot team
nice to send an email to FOSC so they can see it beforehand
Nick:
community page: group on discourse that defines that page, customized page
potentially inside Karrot, could even manually add custom roles
Bruno:
I’m fine with the text as it is to be sent
Butze:
a formalized text, looks like a kind of legal text out of it, clear words and meaning,
offer to help formulate it into a clear legal-style form
Nathalie:
fine as it is, end of explore phase, not seeing it as a ready proposal, but something to take into the meeting
still wonder how much these other types of affiliation will be included or not, something we can chat about later
happy to leave it where it is now, send it to FOSC and continue later this evening
little intro to butze about sociocracy FOSC circle
invitation for Nathalie to write a few sentences about it to share with them
move karrot mastodon account away from fosstodon [ED]
standing topic: check the board! [E]
standing topic: organizational structure [E]
money amounts from september onwards (Nathalie) [D] ← could also do this next time
5. Actions/Outcomes
nick to ask Bianca for guidance on money, if decide to pay from karrot money, has consent to receive travel costs [Nick]
write to Biana with summary of what we said, and next steps invite to call [Nick]
send our karrot membership thing to FOSC [Nathalie]
follow up with butze about sociocracy for all masters students thing [Nathalie]
6. Closing Ceremony
10 min
checkout
Appendix
What the letters mean
[R] Report (clarifying the information) - one person telling something to everyone, so everyone gets clarity on the subject, can ask questions, but not really discussion, etc…
[E] Exploration (hearing reactions & ideas) - share our opinions, reactions, hear what everyone things, what’s on our mind
[D] Decision (making a decision) - final step to bring it together to a decision
List of ideas
making a tutorial(s), writing a manual/ handbook
future roadmap, plan
general direction for Karrot in the future? the conceptual part? more solid conceptual framework
in-person meeting \o/
‘Legalizing’ Karrot? Building a legal structure we can use?
bank account/ legal structure, open collective
governance structure of Karrot/ Karrot ‘team’
Server structure, connection with foodsharing.de and Kanthaus
sociocracy and Karrot
how sociocracy could support groups
idea of commons
if there are shared resources in a group = commons (e.g. a cargo bike) can this be supported by karrot. e.g. a feature for shared items?
finding partnerships to do some on the ground testing. related to a funding or part maybe. (the idea that Nick explained recently), a network, a movement, outreach a more specific one
outreach: establish network and partnerships, maybe connecting with local movements
re-contextualise Karrot towards a more-generalised tool
a mind map of these ideas, to visualize and revisit them → have a focused session on this
could be interesting for foodsharing towns project too
involve Karrot as a suggestion for groups
how to have technical federation between projects, connect on social and technical level
Q?: Create an ecosystem of digital tools, is this also part of the idea? Rather practises and community, but there is this question: how can technology support
it is still a month to write proposal, scientist have some freedom
Q? what is the proposal about? Siegen quite succesful in several sharing practises - how can this be transfered into a rural area? What can we learn vise versa?
change default video call platform from jitsi [D]
to?
proposal: use living utopia BBB instead
reactions
willing to try
hasn’t worked well lately for myself (Bruno)
I’m fine
support proposal
interested to hear more reasoning
require at least one person to sign-in, github or google, no other option
wonder about language, can be annoying going through sentence by sentence as a group, would be happy for nick, as a native english speaker, to work through it
added work “conducting” to emphasise that we are doing stuff
like clarifying that it includes some stuff about making decisions
could be a final paragraph that it’s embedded in a bigger governance work, working on mission/vision/css, also would be fine to leave it like it is
consent to how it is now
Vasilis:
proposal is within consent
agree with nathalie about language, a couple of lines that are not clear
overall really happy with it
“proactivity, meaning being able to take the initiative; and engage in a self-managed environment” <— maybe emphasise self-organised community environment, not individual
“It keeps the project alive, intentional and aligned with its vision and values.” ← wondering what intentional means
consent!
Philip:
no clear sense the team is consistitued by it’s members
suggestion “the karrot team is constitued through it’s members”
2nd paragraph, 2 sentences that are same point, but 2 setences apart (about policy decisions)
would suggest bullet points
also headlines to break it up and aid clarity
Nick:
few points. Why conducting in italics? Doesnt need to be in italics.
Needs a bit of description of what Karrot is? Seems obvious. Minor suggestions
Mentions of governance. Explicitly sociocracy?
Admin privileges…other things…could add and other tools, future ones etc
requires active participaiton in the weekly meetings? Are u kicked out if u miss a meeting? Just think of someone that doesnt enjoy participatig? Can we soften? encourage? ‘regular?’…soften the requires
OBJECT based on the combination of the above
excersice once objecting muscle
Bruno: having some issues with BBB
a lot of feedback I agree with that can be incorporated
object if there is energy to incorporate feedback consent if not
how to make changes in the next week?
we removed the crossed out sections now
if you edit it in the next week, cross out what you’ve changed
Nathalie: looking for new responsible person, in particular for ‘community emails’
loosing a bit of motivation
would be nice to have more support to answer them
was happy that Bruno was answering some
don’t like emails that don’t get replies for a long time
maybe a bigger question
Vasilis:
can’t take over the task, apologies!
can feel the lack of motivation, also don’t feel motivated
however, if we don’t find someone, I can at least try and answer some, or put it on a rota… maybe bad idea, but an idea…
Philip:
asking what the emails are:
people wanting to start foodsaving
sometimes they think they are email foodsharing.de, or are not sure
so replies are not karrot-specific
sometimes don’t get replies
can help if there is no-one else, if others don’t really like it, don’t feel extensively motivated, but can support
Nick:
get a load of random ppl across europe/world. get an e-mail list on some platform and ppl can sign up and then anyone in the groups can answer and maybe it then develops a life on its own. They are motivated and reach ppl who are not motivated. Better spend time to try and find more motivated souls. Not motivation to give generic motivation. Do our replies go into spam? For the foodsharing europe thing: microproposal to set-up an e-mail list.
personally, don’t feel like taking repsonsiblity, can help and answer some
but not really the person checking and always answering, sharing responsiblity, could participate in a rota
possible solution could be to reach out to people in the karrot community, who are active in other groups, could ask them to ask around… a way to engage people into karrot, pretty sure there are people around who are into the work
can be frustrating when there is a lot of initial enthusiasm, then they see how hard it is, and you never see them again
when it leads to something, is great, even if only 1/20 attempts succeeds
can see how it can fit into this foodsharing europe idea, if there is a way to make it easier (than using the forum)
in favour of opening up and inviting people for this task
Nathalie:
short term: onboarding philip to forum and emails
could get the yunity email link on foodsharing | International to be a link to the forum, could take care of this
spoke to Tilmann: wouldn’t participate in weekly meetings, remove from github org, what about the server, intention of the policy is to clarify what we have than to remove people, ‘org’ team and ‘tech’ team, doesn’t want to do ‘org’ topics, suggested tech calls,
Butze
made some suggestions to the text
seems some other progress has been made, with a clearer structure
Nathalie
surprised by the amount of changes
new things added, feels like moving away from what we were close to consent on
unsure how to progress best
haven’t personally made any changes and unsure about some of them
sense of policy getting bigger, by mentioning circles, and sociocracy, adds new dimension to the topic
started with membership, would prefer to deal with membership initially, and leave the wider considerations
maybe delay the formalisation of the circles until later
if mentioning sociocracy, would want to add some other aspects of it, so better to delay
would be nice to come to an end, torn how to deal with it
Bruno
haven’t changed anything
had a follow up discussion about it last co-working
agree with what’s been said so far ™️
should move the general governance out of the membership policy
seems to make sense there is is “IT” circle, and nice to progress this idea
… however we don’t have enough to do that, so good idea to bring it back to initial narrower focus on defining membership
Nick
can rework it a bit more after the call
like the structured sections
bring it back to the membership topic
get agreement done
github/forum/etc access, many other people have access already
Nathalie
like the sense to bring it more back to the core membership idea
last paragraph is about the future, so doing something there
we might work towards having different groups within karrot
would like to keep some of the parts of staying connected, or responsive
wondering who consents on karrot, everyone or the main core circle, or present team members in the call
some more things to figure about
Bruno
don’t understand part of whether tilmann is part of main team or different circle, reflecting his participation, focusing more on the IT, and not so much on the organisation part, and the karrot team is what is responsible for that part, and doing meetings, and stewarding the project as a whole, so a different kind of participation made sense
two paths emerging
karrot team as umbrella term, within it having different participations, e.g. with two circles
karrot team as one circle of more active organising participants
could still have external people who still have access
reactions
Nick
who consents on new membership? see document as a starting point, not the final strcuture
consern with narrow one: doesn’t reflect realtiv, Tilmann is part of the team and taking responsibility, example of harddrive failure
Karrot core focuses on organizing, tech things are hidden
wider understanding makes sense even without defining circles
include type of contribution Tilman is doing
resolve that sense first
wrote it initially without governance sense, which we’ve added more in, the two paths maybe imply some a bit
Nathalie
where I’d like it to go, growing the team, and more people in goverance, would like to see karrot team as an umbrella, with different parts inside
would need to bring circles as an active topic
would have to define the domains, and the work, e.g. tech circle, which decisions would it take, lots of overlapping parts, e.g. who designs the features, or if somebody wants to play a bit, does it mean joining the tech circle
seems too big to formalise those things right now
if we go with more umbrella membership, how do we work out who consents on membership, e.g. could be each circle consents on membership (e.g. tech circle can welcome people in, and then they become part of karrot), other orgs have initial step of welcoming to organisation before joining circles, maybe to a membership guide circle
so, consent for new memberships could be in the weekly calls still? if somebody joins from the tech perspective, they would still join a weekly call
Bruno
interesting that the movement that the whole membership policy triggers
feels like a step back, to realise we’re not very well defined
makes sense to have a view on the wider governance, dealing with a living organism, can’t change it without affecting the whole, so defining a core, has impact on the wider system
maybe have to discuss the wider governance stuff a bit more to define a membership policy
both ways make sense, umbrella vs core team
if it’s more the umbrella term, would like a different word to Team, which feels close, getting together and co-operating, like a football team, e.g. the weekly meetings, maybe a broader term for the ecosystem/community
no doubt tilmann has been a key part, but current role less like in team definition
have to think about the CSS/CSX ideas, where if you’re becoming a member of karrot, you’re using it, but maybe not contributing (so not members?), and decision making considerations for different levels
need to make consideration of these wider parts, seeing karrot as a body, what’s the head, the organs, etc.
was recalling the anarchist cybernetics book, had part more responsible for stewarding, some more operational, and the functional hierarchy
different parts TT, design, community engagement, etc.
want to hear what the wider member thinks, general assembly, etc. many thoughts, quite unclear
happy to drafts to get a bit clearer of what kind of proposal it is, even though we’re not really aligned, to see what kind of model we’re proposal, umbrella or core team
Outcomes
we welcome contribution in the Karrot team both with technical and organizing focus
not everyone in the Karrot team needs to join the weekly meeting
we will further work on the idea of governance and different circles and roles in the future
membership policy will allow this contributions
membership will be decided in weekly meetings
how do we feel about this outcomes/next steps
Bruno
agree generally, one little objection
the word “Team”, doesn’t feel the best word if we’re broadening it
Nathalie
consent to this
Nick
a bit overwhelmed and frustration
it’s only 5 people
complexity because of Tilmanns role, contribution is hidden, really feels like active part of the team, feels underresourced in the technical area
Bruno
it’s also about a sense of belonging
withdraw objection, if ‘team’ brings sense of belonging
needs more time, feels a bit stuck
Next steps
revisit membership policy and check with Vas, bring back new proposal [Nathalie]
Nick welcomes input, and will review it to get it done (as long as Covid is not in the way)
schedule performance review Nathalie [R]
Oct 18th 10:00
Pia will do sociocratic facilitation
a bit like the evaluation at Kanthaus - see how the person is doing, have a feedback…
wish to get a clear description about it, on the public activity
schedule fun session (Bruno) [E]
started sketching in on co-working session, but maybe that’s not the right time
create space for more creative work
forget about constraints
free flowing session
which structure could facilitate that space?
fun and inspirational
there’s struggle to be creative because of the structural topics
when would that be? evenings busy for Nathalie
wish for individual time to work on it
maybe both time by yourself and together
there’s a lot of work and energy being put in the practical side of fixing existing things
the question of it not being so fun anymore when it gets users and needs to fix stuff
Next steps: use a co-working session for this, 1 month from now - Nov 1st,
standing topic: check the board! [E]
next thing to work on karrot [E] technical
criteria (from last time we did that process)
something that I (Nick) can start coding immediately
nice to have support from a user perspective
connected to a clear need
be able to contribute
what’s important for the groups
Q: what does ‘being able to contribute’ mean? for other contributors maybe, let’s ignore
how much connection is there with the groups at the moment?
First round
Allow to record no-shows and give trust during feedback process: building on the last thing (feedback), 2 features for 1, trust giving journey, Kranti asking about no shows
Fix push notifications: would effect many Karrot users, improve usability
Banner/cover image for places: visual improving, playful feature
change round
no change
no change, would like banner/cover, seems easy, trust giving: could be a box of pandora - could also go with that
change to Allow to record no-shows and give trust during feedback process
Proposal: next work: Allow to record no-shows and give trust during feedback process
no consent: not ready for development, but could be design-process
what’s ready fo development? reflection on the process, agree that it’s not ready
consent
amended proposal: only work on ‘record no-shows’
consent
standing topic: organizational structure [E]
5. Actions/Outcomes
report meeting with neighborhooddemocracy (when it’s done) [Nick]
follow up with butze about sociocracy for all masters students thing [Nathalie]
check with Butze to make his post about academic articles a wiki-post [when Butze is in the meeting]
reply questions from Nlnet [all]
edit activity description of Nov 1st for fun session [Bruno]
split the task on feedback no-shows and trust giving [Bruno]
international part in fs.de has been quite dormant
quite a few people in foodsharing with international connections, but not much lead or structure
could make sense to co-operate in some way
on foodsaving.world there was a page about the difference between karrot and foodsharing.de, could revisit
could have a conversation about collaborating, not sure who to talk to, perhaps the working groups?
perhaps janina is waking up there to bridge, and explore how the projects interact
Bruno:
wonder what will happen, keen to observe, open to collaboration
biggest questions, how are they going to find the people, and support them to do the basis groundwork
how does it connect to ideas mentioned of foodsharing europe?
how to find enough people that have time/skills to create a group and make it work
maybe existing groups just need a little push
janina was good at this kind of networking, bringing groups to karrot, following up, nice she is becoming active again, would be happy to chat
platforms? foodsharing/karrot, there is awareness in that group of karrot, hope there is a good open discussion, showing the alternatives (advantages/disadvantages)
Nick:
rather spend time supporting groups who’d like to join Karrot
is their main intention to bring people to FS? don’t want to be in a competing situation
difference between FS and Karrot is clear, the latter is more explicit about self-organizing and FS is more like a hierarchical bureaucratic structure
havng this clarity would help groups to decide what they want
Nathalie:
thinking a forum post to explain the differences between foodsharing and karrot, could show to foodsharing, and invite them to add other things to make it not too biased, have some motivation to write such a thing
Bruno:
nice to put the cards on the table, if thinking about comparisons, not just featurewise (which is useful), but also what does it mean in terms of vision, governance, what are you becoming part of, what relationship are you creating by using/joining one or the other
not clear what they mean when they propose to start foodsharing, independent organisations? or governance together with foodsharing germany? deploy their own instance, or just foodsharing.network? (yes, same instance as foodsharing.de, different urls point to same instance).
reminded me of moderator/admin issues of platforms, and relation to metagov/policykit, something about having policies to decide things, not admins, and exactly where karrot is at
we give the policy (e.g. 3 karrots → editor)
nice paradigm
Bruno:
nice to hear, wonder where they they go
started course in gothenburg about community organising, and similiarities, power with vs over, importance of face-to-face, resources of a community, how to build power together from social/human capital, finding places where people currently have power over, then build power together there
nice explorations, and to bring back to karrot, and how it would relate/translate, we’re quite aware of online/offline dynamics
Nick:
topics very aligned with what we found our way on Karrot
a lot of potential for Karrot there in the topics of community/neighborhood organising
interested in making parnerships and connections to groups and organisations working on the ground
connects to the vision/strategy topic
follow up with the personal connections, focusing on the UK context, to be able to meet in person
mention about tech fatigue, but also that people don’t know about tools that exist and the support they would need to use them
mind mostly focused on question of circles, one team with different responsiblities
less resistance to having multiple circles right away
de-emphasised the weekly call importance
acknowledged that we might have different calls
so, focus is meeting and sense of connection, but not specify exactly how
on decisions: tending towards “who’s there decides”, in reality likely to be in the weekly call, announce in advance if a decision will be attempted there
nuance between only having one team/circle, but also not built-out circles that decide their own things, perhaps represents current state, and a hint where we are going
wondering how to involve tilmann best in this conversation, wondering if he’d be motivated to join the team (even in more fluid way)
Bruno:
a little bit confused from the previous call, opened up how encompassing the team is
now, as I understand it, it’s a broader definition of being part of the team, totally fine for me
have enough, maybe some tweaks, happy to bring it up for consent round next tuesday, like in general what I see, can build in time, don’t need a perfect policy now, and better to deal with the questions when they come up
feels like tilmanns position with it can be resolved, have to check with him, and that he can continue participating
I like it!
Nick:
appreciates work
underyling topic: feeling undersupported in tech area, pressure of tech stuff
likes good enough focus, potential of review
standing topic: check the board! [E]
End of October: review money amounts
5. Actions/Outcomes
reschedule meeting with neighbourhooddemocracy thing [Nick]
follow up with butze about sociocracy for all masters students thing [Nathalie]
check with Butze to make his post about academic articles a wiki-post [when Butze is in the meeting]
work on forum post comparing/contrasting foodsharing/karrot [Nathalie]
2.2/3.1 interesting about more specific team parts
curious if we’ll consent on each others membership now
how do we include tilmann here?
precusor to having circles
consent on the policy?
consent!
celebration!
consent on each others membership?
who becomes part of the team now? wait for vasilis? butze? tilmann?
either consent on the three of us present as members, or include people we know intend to be a member (vasilis), or include all potential people (tilmann, butze), or delay
Proposal: Members are Bruno, Nick, Nathalie and Vas. Reach out to Tilmann and Butze.
agreed!
Vas indicated wanting to be part of the team, need to hear from Tilmann and Butze
neighbourhood democracy call [R]
Nick had a call with them finally
a listing of a lot of projects
would be nice with they promote Karrot to their people
connection with the UK
person on the line was part of Barcelona en Comú, into municipalism (fearless cities) and trying to bring that to the UK to become part of this movement
Fearless Cities is coming to Sheffield in the UK in May, invited to so a session on Karrot
5 aspects of it, will be on the website
bringing ppl together
deepening democracy
assets and buildings
common interests
socioecological transformation
they could promote Karrot by telling a story in their website
municipalism, learning more, having an exchange about the context, e.g. in nordic/swedish context
where are overlaps, e.g. with foodsharing towns and municipalist/democratic stuff, foodsharing is quite big but also invisible and it’s own thing, so at least sharing about that
trying out new use of Karrot, parent coop, some reflections [E]
been thinking for some time to try introducing it to the parent co-op where Brunos kids go
had a meeting with working group (info working group, that does website, etc…), would have to bring to board later on
they currently use dropbox for collecting documents, policy, working groups, scheduling, excel sheets, a forwarding email address (that doesn’t work very well, so karrot might be tangible help there, problems are people not getting added to list, and sometimes emails don’t arrive), working groups using WhatsApp to co-ordinate meetings, used to have facebook group which is now quite inactive
when presenting karrot, mentioned principles/values (e.g. not using commercial tools, analogy of thinking about food consumption about kids, organic, sustainability, also need to think about technology, as WhatsApp was proposed for main tool). proposal to use karrot for messaging, including threading to keep more focused discussion, then other aspect for organising working days using activities (currently one person assigns families to days, and co-ordinates families switching), karrot does self-assigning so would need a different workflow in karrot, maybe could be useful feature to assign other people? or suggest?
also for organising working groups using places, could connect to teams/circles in the future
advantage using karrot, more insight into different working groups, transparency, and personal support from Bruno to support use of the tool, and lead to future development
one person is trying it out, resistance to something new, and to learn, came up already, recognise that, getting feedback about difficulties in adopting karrot is useful
the process of creating a new group is good to notice little roadblocks in the way
in the long run can see if it can be useful or not, will continue gently pushing it, could become a co-operation to gather feedback to lead to further development
one wish that was expressed: “it woudl be good to fewer number of digital tools” (e.g. get rid of dropbox), combining file storage and chatting, some tools you can’t get rid of
without turning karrot into nextcloud/dropbox/file storage… can we find a way to create some basic organisation of files… good enough for groups to work with, hard to join them into one tool right now
will continue exploring, and collecting feedback and hurdles, can share notes on the forum
feedback from Nathalie
really cool, like effort to bring to local place, and personal connected group with different purpose
a lot of learning there, very good feedback
curious if it gets decided to use it
like the feature ideas coming: suggesting someone for a slot
reminded me of thought about time when someone is inactive, e.g. not good to kick people out if they don’t log in for some time, so feature could be a disadvantage if people don’t log in a lot… different context to this loose thing
making more core settings more configurable
like direction to think about features
feedback from Nick:
useful to get the understanding regardless they will use it
learning from these cases
thinking of the CSA model, one example, create a group and collect all the issues. An easy way of becoming involved
idea of suggesting someone for a slot is like an invite for an event
question of having a suite of tools: not usually something that people want
relates to NlNet question: what is the core of a tool, what is peripheral
work on forum post comparing/contrasting foodsharing/karrot [Nathalie]
not yet
write a post on karrot to announce the members, invite tilmann/butze to apply, inform vasilis we automatically made him a member [Nick]
done
add butze as a contributor on the forum [Nick]
done
add agreement to Karrot group and forum [Nathalie]
done
review bio/description on people’s page [all]
poked people
follow up on tasks coming from the membership policy [Nathalie]
not yet
4. Discussion points
review date for membership policy [D]
1 year?
Question: 6 months review date and 1 year end date?
nah, we can just do 1 year review date, and policy stays active (no end date)
1 year! done and updated
membership Butze? [E/D?]
would he like to become a member
feel’s like he’s still learning
would like to wait until he’s made a real contribution first
maybe in 2/3 months
doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to become a member
still onboarding
reactions
Nick:
at outlandish had members, people intending to become members, and collaborators (not intending to become members)
quite like that idea
Nathalie:
makes sense, sounds reasonable
wondering why onboarding isn’t part of being a member?
makes the membership something bigger, would like it to be less big
experience in SOFA, relatively quick to be member, became welcomed as member in a circle, then onboarding later
Bruno:
makes sense
maybe more symbolic value, what does it really mean to be a member, and how should onboarding be
maybe becoming a member means having some commitment, or being involved, with enough knowledge, or skills, but not clearly defined
so fine to go with flow with subjectivities
happy he’s interested
Butze:
let’s reschedule to a month or 1.5 months
thinking about proposals where I see some kind of contribution for me
will take time
feel like I can contribute with proposals
need to wrap my head around it a bit more
think not far from now I’ll become one
Nick:
would be happy to see federation between Karrot and FS and can support that
Butze:
student came in wanting to write masters thesis, with idea of a 3D printed sharing box, with a QR code, people can give photos/videos of themselves, tried to make a food context… too big for masters thesis
thought is communities collaborating and talking, good for physical exchange, and it faciliates exchange
what about a karrot box? people from one community could put in things, e.g. seeds, harvests, and you send it to brussels to see harvest of bath, would like to experiment, trying to get theme into it that it’s beyond just saving food, but also prosumption practises
Bruno:
have fun session planned for next co-working + 1, maybe suitable space for that
1st November is date for that
karrot.foodsharing.lu [R]
have more groups as subgroups
localised activities
support self-hosting of Karrot
coop cloud, worked with Michal
Nick tried to set-up server themselves
coworking session with Daniel and Elisa to deploy Karrot, server set-up most complicated
run their own fork?
using postal server for incoming emails
possible modifications
joining automatically a default group?
doesn’t need a landing page
maybe something around logos
interesting to see how this would boost collaboration between groups/ platforms
invited Daniel to include feedback and idea to our forum
potentially interested in development
nice to hear!
plug-in infrastructure for Karrot? build in for own instances, implement in core project later
(All)
