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Active Membership policy

Last updated: 21.08.2026
Version: 1.2
Written by: Dominik Jais

This policy helps keep member and project data current and ensures that inactive accounts or abandoned projects do not remain visible indefinitely.

This is an activity and data-maintenance policy.

It does not by itself define governance authority, representation in the Network Circle, or other questions of network-wide decision-making.

Governance responsibility and authority are handled through the participation and responsibility processes.

Member accounts​

  • Member accounts that have been inactive for more than 2 years may be deleted.
  • Notice time is 4 weeks.
  • If the member does not respond, the account and its content may be deleted.

Projects​

  • Projects that have been inactive for more than 1 year may be marked as inactive or grayed out.
  • Projects that have been inactive for more than 2 years may be deleted.
  • Notice time is 4 weeks.
  • If the project owner or editor does not respond, the content may be deleted.

For governance purposes, a project may also be considered dormant when no one is currently carrying active responsibility, no meaningful work is taking place, and there is no clearly planned active period in the near future.

Inactive or dormant does not mean failed.

Useful project documentation should be preserved where possible.

Dormant project status concerns governance, continuity, and project history.

It does not override the Active Membership Policy or require inactive website records, member accounts, project listings, personal data, or stale public content to be retained.

Project documentation or institutional memory may be preserved independently from inactive member accounts or personal data where this is useful and lawful.

Governance note​

Questions such as what counts as an active Stewardship Area, when an area gains or loses representation, or what minimum level of participation is needed for governance are part of a broader governance policy and may be defined separately in the future.