Participation, Inactivity and Leaving

Last updated: 21.08.2026

Participation in the Permaculture Network should be open and lightweight, while responsibility and authority should remain clear.

The core principle is:

Participation is open. Responsibility is explicit. Authority depends on active responsibility.

Participation, responsibility, and governance authority are not the same thing.

A person may contribute without automatically gaining authority over an entire project or Stewardship Area.

Participation roles

The network avoids rigid membership classes, but these practical roles help clarify responsibility.

Contributor

A contributor is a person who contributes time, knowledge, tasks, or other useful work to a project.

Responsible Contributor or Steward

A Responsible Contributor or Steward is a person who has explicitly taken ongoing responsibility for a task, role, project, or area of work.

Representative

A representative is a person who represents an active Stewardship Area in the Network Circle.

Representation is based on active responsibility within that area.

Joining projects

Participation should be as open as reasonably possible.

People may join existing projects where there is meaningful work to contribute and where the project can reasonably support their participation.

Projects are not required to accept unlimited participation if doing so would make the work unmanageable.

New contributors should normally clarify:

• what they would like to contribute
• what task or responsibility they are taking on
• who they coordinate with
• what access or information they need

Project-level onboarding should stay practical and lightweight.

When responsibility begins

Responsibility does not arise simply from attendance, interest, or occasional contribution.

Responsibility becomes explicit when a person agrees to own an ongoing task, role or area of work and the relevant project recognises that responsibility.

This helps avoid unclear expectations and self-appointed authority.

Authority follows from the responsibility actually carried.

Inactivity

Activity should not be judged by one rigid period that applies to every kind of work.

Different types of work have different rhythms.

Activity should be judged in relation to the responsibility that was taken.

For example, a seasonal event project may naturally be quiet for several months, while technical infrastructure may require ongoing availability.

Inactivity becomes relevant when a person:

• no longer carries out agreed responsibilities
• becomes unreachable for an extended period
• is blocking work because responsibilities remain assigned but unattended
• is no longer meaningfully involved

The first response should normally be to check in with the person.

A useful question is:

Are you still able and willing to carry this responsibility?

Avoid automatic removal purely because a fixed number of days has passed unless a specific project requires such a rule.

Returning responsibility

People must be able to give responsibility back.

Responsibility can always be returned.

Stepping back from responsibility should be treated as a normal part of volunteer participation, not as failure.

Where practical, a person stepping back should provide a handover including relevant:

• current status
• open tasks
• documentation
• access information
• contacts
• known issues

This is especially important for technical, financial, or operational responsibilities.

When authority ends

Authority ends when the responsibility on which it is based ends.

Authority ends when responsibility ends.

A person who no longer carries responsibility for a task, project, or Stewardship Area should not retain decision-making authority merely because they previously held the role.

This also applies to Network Circle representatives.

A representative who no longer actively carries responsibility within their Stewardship Area cannot continue representing that Area solely because they previously held the role.

Representation should therefore be reviewed whenever the underlying responsibility changes.

Dormant projects

Projects should not need to be deleted simply because activity stops.

A project may become inactive or dormant where:

• no one is currently carrying active responsibility
• no meaningful work is taking place
• there is no clearly planned active period in the near future

Inactive does not mean failed.

Dormant projects may be reactivated when people again take responsibility for the work.

Preserve useful project documentation where possible.

Inactive Stewardship Areas

A Stewardship Area only needs representation in the Network Circle while meaningful active work exists within that area.

If all projects and ongoing responsibilities in an area become dormant:

The Stewardship Area's representation in the Network Circle becomes inactive until meaningful work resumes.

The previous representative does not retain the seat as a personal position.

Changing or removing responsibilities

Projects must be able to redistribute responsibilities when needed.

If someone is no longer carrying an agreed responsibility, the project may assign that responsibility elsewhere after reasonable communication and clarification.

Removing responsibility is not the same as excluding a person from the network.

A change in project responsibility should not automatically be treated as disciplinary action.

Collaboration problems

Where participation becomes difficult, first use the normal conflict-resolution process where appropriate.

Examples include:

• unclear expectations
• different working styles
• disagreement about responsibilities
• failure to complete agreed tasks

If the issue involves possible misconduct or a Code of Conduct violation, do not handle it simply as an informal project removal.

Potential misconduct should follow the Code of Conduct and Advisory Team process.

Leaving

People may leave a project, an ongoing responsibility, a Stewardship Area role, or a Network Circle representative role at any time.

People may step back from responsibilities and roles at any time.

Where practical, people carrying ongoing responsibility should support an orderly handover.

Leaving a role also means leaving the authority attached to that role.

Key principles

• Joining is easy. Responsibility is explicit. Leaving is possible. Authority exists only while responsibility exists.
• Roles should not outlive the work that created them.
• Participation is open. Responsibility is explicit. Authority depends on active responsibility.
• Authority ends when responsibility ends.
• Responsibility can always be returned.