https://bbb.constantvzw.org/b/wen-kph-uxr-qhd

Friday 11 December, 14:30-15:30
Special guest: Laura Oriol

• Without collective attention and experimentation, Codes of Conduct/Guidelines/... risk to produce a sense of already-safe and already-diverse environments where diversity work is efficiently outsourced to the document. We need to keep activating these tools to articulate trouble, to language communities of conduct that can operate with difference, that can keep conflict in the room and that are ready to work through mistakes. We should not leave these documents alone. They deserve our persistent interaction and intervention.

Constant Collaboration Guidelines

• Current version (v2): https://constantvzw.org/wefts/orientationspourcollaboration.en.html
• First version: https://constantvzw.org/wefts/orientationspourcollaborationv1.en.html
• Sint Gillis neighbourhood annotations to v1: https://gallery3.constantvzw.org/index.php/Collaboration_Guidelines
• Questions + problems: https://pad.constantvzw.org/p/guidelines.questions
• Proposal for version three: https://pad.constantvzw.org/p/orientationspourcollaborationv3.feed / https://constantvzw.org/wefts/orientationspourcollaborationv3.en.html
• Collective Conditions reader: https://constantvzw.org/wefts/ccreader.en.html

Things Laura and Femke would like to talk about:

Thoughts, reflections, input on what these guidelines (could) do or not

Processes/procedures for regular updates
Constant committed to regurlarly update the guidelines, but how to do this really?
- How to organise, wat methods/ways/practices to try
- Porousness: who decides, and how to decide
- Ways of tracking the discussions in a sensitive way (considering gitlab, pads, other versioning systems ...)

Two interconnected changes, still up for discussion
Version three concentrates on changing the phrasing of short guidelines, from imperative to infinitive. We would like to discuss two overlapping/intersecting guidelines (that have not been consensuated yet within Constant ;-))

• Short version:
• * Avoiding to speak for others.
• * Trying not to be judgmental.
• Long version:
• * Avoiding to speak for others. Make space, instead of intruding or imposing yourself. We are solidary with others, but we take care that they can speak for themselves. Finishing other peoples' sentences is almost always meant as a sign of support, but it is actually not helpful, unless it is asked for.
• * Trying not to be judgmental. Collective work is exciting, challenging, de-centering, alienating and triggering. We each do what we need to do to navigate our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. If we are feeling a bit too dis-oriented or judgmental, we might leave the room for a while, but we will try to come back.