This summer I had the pleasure of accompanying the Consul Democracy Foundation (CDF) team in a reflection on their governance and sustainability model. They’ve now published the story of that journey, and I’m honoured by how thoughtfully they’ve documented it: https://consuldemocracy.org/2026/09/towards-a-digital-commons-improving-our-governance-model/
Consul started in 2015 at Madrid City Council and is now used by 140+ cities and organisations. The question we worked on: how do you turn a widely used piece of #civictech into a true #commons, where more of the people who benefit also contribute and help steer?
In three online sessions in July we:
- used the Five Pillar framework for commons sustainability to map where CDF stands today
- compared notes with other open source and commons projects, including PublicSpaces in the Netherlands
- sketched where the Foundation wants to grow
The central result is a “Wheel of Contributions”: Pledge → Contribution → Recognition → Participation. Partners commit, contribute, get recognised for what they bring, and gain a real voice in co-governance, with clearer partner roles and a dedicated participation space (working name: Co.Consul).
What I appreciate most is that the team looked honestly at its own model, and then took it to its partners at ConsulCon instead of keeping it internal. That is how a commons gets built: with the community, in the open.
Thank you to the whole CDF team and Board for the trust and the pleasant collaboration so far. Looking forward to seeing the next steps unfold! @consuldemocracy
#opensource #digitalcommons #participatorydemocracy #governance #civictech