Hi Guys I am so sorry to be late on this (my laptop is still not fixed).
Thank you @gbathree for having initiated this map; I am going to use a metaphor to explain my vision. From my perspective GOSH looks like “the composition and internal structure of the earth (figure bellow). Just to say that, I see it as a dynamic structure of interlinked multilayers.
1- Community or the “inner core”
“Despite the fact that, it is the hottest part of the Earth, the inner core is in the solid state. This is because the inner core is under tremendous pressure due to the weight of the other layers.”
For me, the GOSH community (both online and offline communities) is this inner core. Without the community/inner core we cannot have GOSH/Earth; so, the community should be central to all what we are doing. What maintain the inner core “Hot” and “solid”? In other terms, what should we do to keep these properties in our GOSH Community? I will quickly say:
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To keep the community “Hot”, the most important are values we are sharing (diversity, inclusion, family spirit, solidarity, equity, transparency, participation, etc.
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To keep the community “solid” we should have a common and clear vision; this is what makes our uniqueness. But the big question is: who define the common vision?
- Is it the community? If yes, how to achieve this? What kind of mechanism we can put in place to ensure an equitable contribution in the definition of our common vision?
- Is it a small group of people? Why them? How are they selected? We need to explain these mechanisms to the community.
- Is the vision going to be driven by the GOSH roadmap? This document is already there, and this will show a kind of continuity in our ideas and vision.
No matter how the question on vision is answered, we need to keep our vision flexible and realistic.
2- Activities or The “outer core”
“This layer is also hot but in a liquid state. The outer core is always in constant circulatory motion, which creates a magnetic field around the Earth. Without this magnetic field, our Earth could never have atmosphere, oceans, and life.”
The attraction created by the magnetic field is the important property I want to keep here. For me, activities conducted by the GOSH community can help us keep this property. In fact, our activities can help us display our values and achieve our vision. That is how through our activities, more people will be more attracted and comfortable to join our community.
These activities can include from regional events to local event/activities held by members of the GOSH community in their different place/lab. The big questions here are :
- Which activities are aligned with the common vision?
- Who decide about their selection?
3- Rules and governance structure or “The Mantle”
“This layer is not a perfectly solid. At some locations, the rock is completely melted, which is called magma. In this layer, rocks are in constant motion. They rise and sink due to internal heat from the core, and set up the convective currents. These convective currents also cause the tectonic plates to move and crash into each other causing earthquakes.”
For me the mantle is our governance structure and the great property here is the constant motion due to the convective currents. It means that rules and the governance structure should be flexible. The governance structure has a big role to play:
- Keep the inner and outer cores hot. It means that put rules in place that can ensure that core values are respected through activities and the global vision.
- Ensure that the global vision is going in the right direction. It means that all the decision questions on access, resources, management… should be addressed through clear decision rules.
The Gosh manifesto, the Code of Conduct…can be part of our mantle
4- Our identity as seen by the world or “The Crust”
“This is the layers on which you stand on. All the mountain, jungles and oceans you know are carried on this layer”
This is the image we are projecting to the world as a community. Documentation, JOH, events, social media, etc. can be part of this.