ECOLISE is a social resource of European community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability. It is managed as a commons by representatives of ECOLISE member organisations.

“The commons is not a resource. It is a resource plus a defined community and the protocols, values and norms devised by the community to manage its resources. Many resources urgently need to be managed as commons, such as the atmosphere, oceans, genetic knowledge and biodiversity.”
– from The Commons, Short and Sweet by David Bollier

ECOLISE has a simple policy and process that enables and supports the balancing of individual agency and collective intelligence within ECOLISE and its member organisations, so that initiatives from member organisations can benefit and thrive from participation in the ECOLISE commons.

  1. Any official representative of a member organisation, or a group of representatives of member organisations, can at any time propose a new activity within ECOLISE or that ECOLISE become a host organisation for a new activity. This is done by submitting a 2-page proposal to the ECOLISE council via the ECOLISE executive director, specifying what input or resources are being requested from ECOLISE.
  2. The initiator or initiators can invite representatives of other ECOLISE member organisations, selected individuals or representatives of organisations that are not members of ECOLISE to join the initiative.
  3. The ECOLISE council will discuss and aim to decide on such a proposal at its first next meeting. If there is a need to act urgently, the ECOLISE executive director can start acting on a proposal immediately, provided that the proposed activity is in line with general ECOLISE strategy and does not require excessive use of ECOLISE resources.
  4. If agreed by the ECOLISE council, the new initiative may start a new ECOLISE working group, a new ECOLISE project team or a new informal group of any type that is interdependent and hosted by ECOLISE and may be offered ECOLISE’s fiscal sponsorship until it spins-off as an independent legal entity or ceases to exist for whatever reason.

Advice for making a proposal

  • Please prepare your proposal based on the information shared here and on this website, in particular the ECOLISE strategy. For more on ECOLISE’s policy as a platform and as an incubator see HERE.
  • Please be brief and include: who are the proposers; who will manage/coordinate the proposed project/activity; a short description of the project/activity; the overall goal and main objectives (and expected impacts); how it supports the implementation of the ECOLISE strategy; cost/budget estimate and source of funding (if already identified); what input is expected/desired from ECOLISE or specific ECOLISE members.
  • Submit your proposal to info(at)ecolise.eu  and we’ll get back to you as soon as we consider your proposal.

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