We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community focused on strengthening Waterloo Region's civic fabric through technology.
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
- Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
- Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
- Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback
- Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from the experience
- Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community
- Centering community needs in technology decisions
- Practicing inclusive design that serves diverse users
- Protecting privacy and data of community members and users
- Building accessible solutions that work for everyone
Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
- The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind
- Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
- Public or private harassment
- Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission
- Building technology that excludes or discriminates against community members
- Ignoring accessibility requirements or user feedback about barriers
- Exposing or mishandling sensitive data about individuals or communities
- Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting
As civic technologists, we have additional responsibilities:
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Listen first - Understand community needs before proposing solutions
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Include affected voices - Center the people your project aims to serve
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Build with, not for - Collaborate with community members as partners
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Question assumptions - Regularly validate your understanding with real users
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Privacy by design - Minimize data collection and protect user privacy
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Accessibility first - Ensure your solutions work for people with diverse abilities
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Open by default - Use open source tools and share your learnings
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Security consciousness - Protect user data and system integrity
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Welcome newcomers - Help people get started regardless of technical experience
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Share knowledge - Teach and mentor others in the community
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Amplify diverse voices - Ensure all community members can contribute
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Bridge divides - Connect technical and non-technical community members
Community leaders are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
Community leaders have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.
This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.
This includes:
- CivicTechWR meetings and events
- Project repositories and documentation
- Communication channels (Slack, Discord, etc.)
- Social media interactions representing CTWR
- Community presentations and demos
- Interactions with community partners
If you experience or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please report it by contacting the community leaders at [contact email]. All reports will be handled with discretion.
For urgent safety concerns, please contact local authorities.
When reporting, please include:
- Your contact information
- Names (real or usernames) of any individuals involved
- Your account of what occurred, including any relevant context
- Whether you believe the incident is ongoing
- Any additional information that would be helpful
- Acknowledgment - We will acknowledge receipt of your report within 24 hours
- Investigation - We will review the incident and gather additional information as needed
- Decision - Community leaders will determine appropriate response
- Communication - We will communicate the outcome to relevant parties
- Follow-up - We will check in to ensure the situation has been resolved
All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.
Community leaders will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:
Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.
Consequence: A private, written warning from community leaders, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.
Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.
Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.
Community Impact: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.
Consequence: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.
Consequence: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the community.
For issues specific to project development:
- Accessibility violations - Required remediation before project continuation
- Privacy concerns - Immediate review and correction required
- Exclusionary design - Community discussion and redesign process
For broader community concerns:
- Partner relationship issues - Mediation and relationship repair process
- Resource access problems - Review of community practices and policies
- Representation concerns - Community listening sessions and process improvements
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Accessibility guidance - [Link to accessibility resources]
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Privacy compliance - [Link to privacy guidelines]
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Security best practices - [Link to security resources]
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Conflict resolution - [Link to mediation resources]
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Mental health - [Link to mental health resources]
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Professional development - [Link to career and skill development]
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Crisis support - [Local crisis helpline numbers]
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Legal assistance - [Legal aid resources for tech/privacy issues]
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Diversity and inclusion - [Local D&I organizations]
This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.0, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/0/code_of_conduct.html.
Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by Mozilla's code of conduct enforcement ladder.
The civic tech specific guidelines were developed in collaboration with the CivicTechWR community and incorporate best practices from Code for America and other civic technology organizations.
This Code of Conduct is a living document that evolves with our community. We welcome feedback and suggestions for improvement. Please submit suggestions through:
- GitHub issues on this repository
- Discussion at community meetings
- Direct feedback to community leaders
Last Updated: [Date] Next Review: [Date - typically annual]
Questions about this Code of Conduct? Contact us at [contact email] or discuss at our next community meeting.