SHORT VERSION

As organizers of an event, we hold ourselves to a shared standard of respect, care, accountability, and integrity. This Code of Conduct applies during the organizing process, including meetings, communications, decision-making, and all phases of collaboration. Our goal is to create a planning environment that reflects the values of the event itself: respectful, inclusive, and equitable. In particular:

• We recognize that enjoying the organization phase is an important part of volunteer work, and we do our best to ensure that everyone on the team has a positive experience.
• We commit to learning as part of this work.
• We understand that conflict may arise, but we work together to resolve it and try our best to find a good solution.
• We hold ourselves and each other accountable with compassion.
• We recognize that inequalities of access (connectivity, language, mobility, financial resources, caregiving responsibilities) may affect participation and engagement, and we commit to adaptive, inclusive organizing practices.

LONG VERSION

Paragraphs marked “good practice” are merely suggestions and are not enforced. They are prone to change and do not require a vote of the Collegial Council.

Expected behaviour

Respect and inclusion in team dynamics

• Treat each other with respect and kindness.
• Critique ideas, not people. Give feedback that is constructive and non-shaming.

  Good practice: if you think something can be improved, avoid saying “right now it's bad”; instead (1) explicitly say that this is your opinion, and (2) explicitly say which parts can be improved and in what sense, e.g. “I think we can rephrase this sentence to also reflect this other point.”

• Be open to constructive feedback and change. Understand that your work may be reviewed or revised in the interest of improving the event, and approach such input with flexibility.
• Acknowledge power dynamics and privilege; share space, voice, and decision-making power equitably.

  Good practice: recognize that power is not only about gender or race; it also includes institutional power, urban privilege, and international positioning. Acknowledge local hierarchies (age, academic status, institutional affiliation, urban vs rural positioning, international vs local actors) and actively prevent their translation into dominance or exclusion within the organizing team.

• Organizers with institutional, academic, or reputational power — including supervisors, PhD mentors, advisors, or evaluators of other organizers — have a heightened responsibility to create space for others and to avoid leveraging that power, intentionally or unintentionally, in ways that silence dissent, discomfort, or disagreement.

Accountability and repair

• If someone raises a concern about your behavior, listen without defensiveness and with compassion, acknowledge the concern, and commit to making things right.
• Take responsibility for the impact of your actions, even if the harm was unintentional.
• Engage in restorative or mediated dialogue when harm occurs, if it feels safe and appropriate for those involved.

Communication, consent, and boundaries

• Respect each other's time, energy, and capacity.
• Be mindful of each other's working differences: faster vs slower, online vs offline.
• Be mindful of your tone and content in communication, especially in written channels (Slack, Discord, email, etc.), and try to use a clear tone.

  Good practice: you can use tone indicators in writing to clarify jokes and similar — see the introduction and the master list.

• Practice consent when initiating difficult conversations or sharing emotionally intense material.

  Good practice: in a group meeting, you can begin with “I want to share something sensitive about X; if anyone needs to step away, please feel free.” One-to-one, you can begin with “Would it be okay if we talk about X?”

• Try to use agreed-upon communication tools and respect agreed-upon working hours and time zones. Stay flexible and mindful of others' conditions and preferences.

  Good practice: if the organization is happening over Discord, try to keep related communication on Discord. To use other means, ask first before contacting someone.

• Be patient and respectful regarding language proficiency, accents, and translation needs. Avoid making assumptions about competence based on language fluency or communication style.

Collaboration and role clarity

• Honor your commitments and communicate early if something about your responsibility needs to change.
• If you decide to leave the event team*, please give two weeks' notice in advance.
• Set clear boundaries; if you are sensitive about modifications to your work or anything similar, communicate this with others.
• Share credit generously. Take responsibility for your part in shared successes and challenges.
• Use your privilege (gender, race, non-disability, seniority, position, etc.) to support those with less institutional power, not to dominate.
• When decisions affect multiple organizers, we aim to make the decision process explicit (e.g. consensus, delegated authority, or time-sensitive decision) and to document outcomes when appropriate.

* This only applies when the decision is taken freely; it does not apply to situations including but not limited to getting sick or unforeseen accidents.

Workload, burnout, and sustainability

• We recognize that burnout harms both individuals and collective work. We aim to organize sustainably, encourage honest communication about capacity, and avoid normalizing overwork or last-minute pressure as a measure of commitment.

Confidentiality and trust

• Respect the Chatham House Rule^[1] during organization meetings and communication, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
• Keep private information — including personal disclosures or internal conflicts — confidential unless consent to share is given. Confidentiality obligations continue after the event and the organizing process conclude.
• If, for some reason (such as duty of care), you need to reveal private information to a third party, be factual and honest with the person you are telling.

  Good practice: if you feel someone is overwhelmed, you can tell a third party (e.g. the CoC committee): “I feel they might be overwhelmed because X happened and they might need help.”

• If you are unsure whether some information is confidential or okay to share, please ask, and treat it as confidential by default.
• When confidentiality is breached, the Committee will treat it as a serious matter and may require corrective action, including formal apologies, role adjustments, or other measures to restore trust.
• All personal disclosures, internal discussions, reports, and conflict-related information must be treated as confidential. Such information may only be shared on a strict need-to-know basis, with explicit consent from the person(s) concerned or when required to ensure safety or fairness in a Code of Conduct process.

Conflicts of interest and transparency

• Organizers should disclose relevant conflicts of interest when they arise and, when appropriate, recuse themselves from related decisions.

[1] Chatham House Rule: when a meeting, or part of it, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.

The following behaviours are not tolerated

• Discrimination in any form (including but not limited to racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia).
• Interrupting, dismissing, or talking over others.
• Condescending explanation (e.g. mansplaining, talking over someone's expertise, assuming non-expertise).
• Unsolicited help — examples include but are not limited to:
  • Talking on someone's behalf without their consent.
  • Working on a document someone is editing without their knowledge, unless an agreed-upon timeline has passed.

  Good practice: have clear, explicit plans ahead of time. The team can agree on a timeline beforehand and agree that tasks may be redistributed in explicit situations, e.g. if a deadline is approaching in X hours.

• Retaliating against someone for speaking up.
• Pressuring others to take on tasks.
• Undermining other organizers' concerns.
• Passive-aggressive messages.
• Any behaviour that makes others uncomfortable.

Reporting and accountability

• If you experience or witness conduct that violates this Code, you are encouraged to report it to the Organizers' Code of Conduct Committee.
• Reports will be handled with care, confidentiality, and a focus on safety and restoration.
• A record can be kept about the experience, which will remain confidential to the CoC team.
• The identity of individuals raising concerns, and the information itself, will be protected to the greatest extent possible.
• The CoC committee should support the person who raises a concern, without pressuring them to share more or to take actions they are not comfortable with.
• Members of the Code of Conduct Committee are bound by heightened confidentiality obligations. Any breach of confidentiality by a committee member constitutes a serious violation of this Code.
• The CoC committee can decide to suspend someone under accusation of intolerable behavior.

Composition of a Code of Conduct team

• One person from the organization team.
• One person outside the organization team.
• A third person, outside the organization team — for instance, the same person as for the CoC of the event, or a local person.