One common topic that came up frequently at GOAT 2022 was self-governance, of GOAT, and our individual groups, networks, and technology. I spoke a bit about how the application of Prosocial facilitation techniques and “core design principles” (shown below) can help us self-govern in fair and equitable ways, drawing on the work of others like Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom around commoning.
These are similar in many ways to the Rochdale Principles developed and used by cooperatives. The long-term success of a group can be predicted based on how well these principles are manifested in the way it conducts itself.
The Metagovernance Project, an interdisciplinary research collective that builds standards and infrastructure for digital self-governance, just released a new document for comment that folks may also be interested in: Notes on Governance Experience Design: Toward a paradigm in the design of online spaces
Similar to the above, they suggest several core design principles for successful self-governance:
Help communities set clear expectations
Let people, not just software, decide how power flows
Make systems explicit and transparent by default
Enable relationships, not just transactions
Support diverse pathways for participation
Hold space for culture and fun
Respect the attention economy
I’m curious what other GOAT folk think about these? Are they fit for goat-herding in your context? Anything missing?
I’m particularly interested in how these might apply to self-governing/regulating foodsheds and the socio-technical systems associated with them - any others as well???