This document tries to answer the questions that were raised in relation to the new direction NABUUR is taking. It's a work in progress: when new questions arise the document will be adjusted.
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It's nearly the 1st of January already. How will NABUUR deal with the changes in such a short time?

The time until the 1st of January is very short. It's not realistic to expect the new way of working to be in place within a month and at the same time pay justice to different opinions and ideas that will come up. January 1 signals a new start, but the new way of working will be gradually eased into and not rushed into implementation.

The announced NABUUR Camp will be organised to address the most important issues that need to be sorted out: - basic principles about governance, how decisions are being made - an online structure that supports the initiatives taken by the community (including mailing lists, chat channels and a way to share the stories about how the new NABUUR is evolving) - to review the current processes (i.e. volunteer recruitment, training, orientation, support materials, etc.) and find a feasible way to carry these on. - to find the key persons that will lead on different issues

Organisational / Governance

Who will take up the leadership in the coming months, to steer NABUUR into this new direction?

The current paid staff will stick around as volunteers to keep the NABUUR platform running, participate in the online teams, and will also be involved in organising the NABUUR Camp and the bi-weekly community calls.
Furthermore the board and management will stay in place for administrative and legal issues, until a new structure is found. They will also take care of the legal obligations such as the annual report for 2009.

How will NABUUR be governed?
One of the goals of the NABUUR Camp is to formulate basic principles on how NABUUR could be run. Questions like 'How can volunteers have their say', 'How is the board elected' and if NABUUR needs "a single leading face" will need to be answered before, during and after the NABUUR Camp. It should be possible to move to a new governance structure within half a year.

What will these changes mean for the partnerships NABUUR has?
NABUUR has different kinds of partners and supporters. There are several supporting partners that financed the NABUUR organisation over the last years. Most of those commitments have ended, which is one of the causes for the changes that are ahead. The board and management are already looking for partners that could support the new direction NABUUR is taking. Next to the supporting partners, there are the partners that NABUUR works with out of mutual interest, which usually means the exchange of services rather than money. Hopefully most of those partners will stay around. NABUUR is also still a part of the International Cooperation 2.0 alliance that was announced not so long ago.

How will the new NABUUR be funded?
NABUUR has sufficient funding for its existing obligations. Next to that, Siegfried is already looking for partners that could support the new direction NABUUR is taking. This support could then be used to keep the site running, for organising the NABUUR Camp and other initiatives needed to put the new structure in place. Furthermore there are possibilities to get specific projects funded. This is how, for example, the International Cooperation 2.0 alliance tries to get their initiatives financed.

Running NABUUR

How will the day to day activity be managed?
In fact the day to day 'control' is only a small part of the work to keep NABUUR running. Pelle and Romina will stay involved in NABUUR (as a volunteer). Frans promised to restart the site if needed, but it runs pretty much by itself. Kester is also still there. This should be enough to keep NABUUR running, address spammers/scams, and answer questions for the time being. Of course this is an opportunity for other volunteers to become involved.

Who will keep the community engaged, welcome new neighbours, recruit new facilitators and others with necessary skills etc?
The NABUUR Online Teams should address these issues, more community members need to be engaged and step up. Over the last years already quite a few volunteers have stepped up to roles in welcoming newcomers on NABUUR, assisting Villages in need, etc. Despite all the hard work and the great results achieved, the number of active volunteers however, was not sufficient to unleash the full potential of NABUUR. That's why the message went out to everybody who ever registered on NABUUR: we're asking more people to step up.

The issues that need to be addressed to put the 'active core' of NABUUR in the right position and to attract more active volunteers are also on the agenda of the NABUUR Camp.

There are still new Villages coming online. Why isn't the registration of new Villages stopped?
The dream behind starting NABUUR was: "Imagine that any village in a developing country can get assistance from committed individuals elsewhere to solve their problems. As neighbours in the global village. Directly, person to person."

It's this promising potential that has attracted new Neighbours and new Local Representatives. NABUUR aims to be an open platform that facilitates people around the world to connect and collaborate, to share ideas and stories and to achieve concrete results. The way NABUUR works however, can never guarantee or control which problems are solved or which results are met. It's an illusion to think that all current Villages can be made to 'work': there will always be Villages that work better than others, as there will be Villages that 'don't work' at all. Closing the registration (either for Villages or for individuals) would mean going back to a model of control, which is exactly the opposite of the dream NABUUR started with.

This doesn't mean that there are no concerns that should be addressed. It goes without saying that it's important to showcase the villages that work well and give 'inactive' villages the tools they need to reinvent themselves. Also, new Local Reps that register their Village should have good understanding of what they can expect. And of course there needs to be an eye out for scammers and fake project dealings. NABUUR's core of active volunteers have proven to have experience and a very keen eye for spotting and reporting issues in projects that do not meet Nabuur guidelines .

In the new way of working, the community will need to amp up this vigilance and make sure that projects featured in the platform comply with Nabuur guidelines. One of the proposed Online Teams should deal with these matters.

The current active volunteer base has already so much on its shoulders, how can they even do more?
The new volunteer opportunities that arise while moving to the new way of working cannot be filled by the current core of volunteers only. A larger active community is needed to make it work. Hence the message that went out to all registered Neighbours. Together, we'll need to work out a way where progress is not hindered by a small group or staff, but where the community can do what is needed to make NABUUR flourish. This asks for more people to be engaged in the day-to-day running of the site, guiding newcomers etc.