• nepalandwsf some vocabulary

last modified May 11, 2014 by uddhab


Directed to potential participants in upcoming WSF seminar (May 23, 2014) and Nepal SF event from 12-14 September, 2014, here are some elements of "vocabulary" commonly used around a Social Forum event, which may be clarifying:

"WSF Nepal" is a "process" of participation and interactions between participating organisations  that is culminating in an "event"
It is not an "organization", so one may speak of "participants" in Nepal SF event and process, rather than "members".

The social forum event is not a "programme", nor a "conference",  it is basically an "openspace", made up of self organised "activities", announced and proposed by one, or preferably more, participating organisations, which consciously and publicly express agreement with the "charter of principles of WSF".

The charter is expressing some broad values, assumed  to be shared by the participants to WSF events, and the fact that no one will express views  in the name of WSF Nepal, which would mean implicitly  in the name of all its participants.
http://openfsm.net/projects/ic-methodology/charter-fsm-wsf-en.

shorter remixed version: http://openfsm.net/projects/comcomfsm13/comfsm13-remix-charte/#_Toc332725691.

WSF Nepal process is a "tool" co-sustained by its participants, which use activities to dialogue exchange experiences and possibly prepare actions between a certain number of organization.
All declarations made in  the openspace of the forum are expected to be made with an explicit list of undersigned organisations.

Quality of the outcomes of a social forum event is collective reponsibility of all its participants and particularly of those involved in the organising/facilitating committee.

"Organizing Commitee" of a social forum event  is an "informal body" (which will not have closed "membership"),  which takes charge of preparing the infrastructure and launching and sustaining  the dynamics of participation before during and some time after the event ( for instance around the documentation of activities).

For practical purposes financial and legal organizing responsibilty may lay with a subgroup of organisations  while political methodological decision is with the whole organizing committee.

There is a document which gives guiding principles on this specific and delicate but promising organizing process .
http://openfsm.net/projects/organizingwsfevents.