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IETF & Gender / Cultural Diversity
by Vesna Manojlovic 31 Oct '23

31 Oct '23

Here are two recent reports about IETF - and since there is an overlap & similarities between IETF & RIPE communities, I find this relevant for those interested in "diversity": "Experience of Women Participating in the IETF", by Merike Kaeo (IETF) https://www.ietf.org/blog/report-experience-of-women-participating-in-the-i… & "Loud Men Talking Loudly: Exclusionary Cultures of Internet Governance", Dr. Corinne Cath for Critical Infrastructure Lab https://criticalinfralab.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LoudMen-CorinneCath… These are both very detailed reports, so I've selected 3 areas from each report where improvements were needed: * (increase) Diversity Awareness and Inclusion to cover awareness raising and inclusion efforts * (support) Initiatives For Increased Participation * (modify) Behavior and Tone & * Get an Accurate Picture of Access to Internet Governance Organizations * Create Conditions for Civil Society to Flourish in Internet Governance * Target Exclusionary Cultural Practices within Internet Governance Organizations both Procedurally and Socially Enjoy the long reads! Vesna -- Senior Community Builder, RIPE NCC https://labs.ripe.net/author/becha/

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Call for volunteers for RIPE Code of Conduct Team
by Vesna Manojlovic 03 Oct '23

03 Oct '23

Hi, please see this call, originally sent to RIPE list. Regards, Vesna On 27/09/2023 10:54, Mirjam Kuehne wrote: > Dear colleagues, > > The RIPE Code of Conduct Team is in place since RIPE 86 [1]. > > We are looking for additional volunteers to join the team. > > If you are interested, please carefully read the information on this page: > > https://www.ripe.net/participate/ripe/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct-team-… > > Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions. > > Kind regards, > Mirjam Kühne > RIPE Chair > > [1] Announcing RIPE Code of Conduct Team > https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ripe-list/2023-May/002867.html > > > -- Senior Community Builder, RIPE NCC https://labs.ripe.net/author/becha/

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RIPE87: RACI, Fellowship, Call for Presentations
by Vesna Manojlovic 13 Jul '23

13 Jul '23

Dear colleagues, The RIPE NCC is accepting applications for RIPE Fellowship and academics to attend RIPE 87, in Rome, from 27 November to 1 December 2023. You can read more about the RIPE Meeting at: https://ripe87.ripe.net/ ----------- We encourage our long-standing community members to share this announcement with others who could benefit from these opportunities. ----------- ----------- RACI ----------- RIPE Academic Cooperation Initiative (RACI) is supporting talented academics in the field of Internet technology. Successful applicants receive complimentary tickets, accommodation and travel to the meetings and the opportunity to present their research. To apply, submit a short abstract and draft slides via: https://www.ripe.net/participate/forms/apply/raci-application-form-2023/ *The application deadline is Tuesday, 11 September 2023.* More information: https://www.ripe.net/raci Subscribe to the RACI list: https://www.ripe.net/raci/mailing-list ----------- RIPE Fellowship ----------- Having participants with diverse backgrounds, expertise, opinions and experiences enriches the RIPE community. With the RIPE Fellowship, we aim to create opportunities for individuals from underrepresented regions, minority backgrounds, or others who would otherwise be unable to attend without funding, to participate in the RIPE Meetings. The RIPE Fellowship covers the cost of a meeting ticket, travel and accommodation for successful candidates in the RIPE NCC service region. Apply: https://www.ripe.net/participate/forms/apply/ripe-87-fellowship/ *The application deadline is Tuesday, 11 September 2023.* More information: https://www.ripe.net/fellowship ----------- CFP ----------- And finally, if you do not qualify for these grants, you can still propose a talk or a workshop at https://ripe87.ripe.net/cfp/ RIPE 87 will be a hybrid meeting, so both in-person and remote presentations are encouraged and will be accepted. Warm regards, Vesna Manojlovic -- Senior Community Builder, RIPE NCC https://labs.ripe.net/author/becha/

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Today: online & in Rotterdam: Diversity in Tech & Youth
by Vesna Manojlovic 25 May '23

25 May '23

Dear all, today, Thursday, 25 May 18:00 – 19:00 (UTC+2/CEST) https://ripe86.ripe.net/attend/diversity/diversity-in-tech/ we are hosting Diversity in Tech session: We believe that diversity is one of our strengths. The Diversity in Tech session aims at helping us shape a safer, more inclusive, open and welcoming RIPE community. We aim to remove barriers that prevent participation, particularly those that affect underrepresented groups in the community. This session provides space for the RIPE community to reflect on its own practices, to learn from what has worked in other communities, to allow less-heard voices to emerge and above all, to listen to one another respectfully. At RIPE 86, we would like to hear from the younger voices in our community. What can we do to make it easier for you to participate in and find your way around the RIPE community? How do we as a community make sure that we have representation from people of all ages, and that newer voices get heard? How do we make sure that the cumulative knowledge and expertise we have gleaned as a community is shared? If this is your first RIPE Meeting, we would particularly like to hear about your experiences! The Diversity in Tech session is also a great opportunity to learn from other communities. We will have short lightning talks from: * Claudia Leopardi, RIPE NCC * Edward McNair, NANOG * Mirja Kuehlewind, IETF * Željko Blace, Wikimedian, member of Wikimedia LGBT+, youngER LGBTIQ+ and CentralEasternEuropean Wikimedians Our panellists will speak about the efforts in their communities to include younger participants, followed by an open mic discussion. If you are involved with any communities that are doing interesting things in this area, feel free to share your experiences during the discussion. Everyone is welcome! Watch: https://ripe86.ripe.net/live/main/ Register (for free) to give comments & ask questions: https://ripe86.ripe.net/attend/register/ Regards, Vesna -- Senior Community Builder, RIPE NCC https://labs.ripe.net/author/becha/

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Fwd: Consensus reached on RIPE Code of Conduct Process and RIPE Code of Conduct Team Appointment
by Mirjam Kuehne 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

Hi all, In case you missed this announcement on the RIPE List. Kind regards, Mirjam -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Consensus reached on RIPE Code of Conduct Process and RIPE Code of Conduct Team Appointment Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2023 14:55:35 +0200 From: Mirjam Kuehne <mir(a)zu-hause.nl> To: RIPE List <ripe-list(a)ripe.net> Dear colleagues, The Last Call for the documents "RIPE Code of Conduct Process" and "RIPE Code of Conduct Team Appointment" has ended. During Last Call, we did not receive any comments. Therefore I am happy to declare consensus for these two documents. I asked the RIPE NCC to publish the documents. I would like to remind you that we are looking for volunteers to serve on the RIPE Code of Conduct Team. If you would like to volunteer, please read the information on this web page: https://www.ripe.net/participate/ripe/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct-team-… You can find more information on the RIPE Code of Conduct Team and its responsibilities here: https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-documents/other-documents/draft… Kind regards, Mirjam Kühne RIPE Chair

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Call for volunteers for RIPE Code of Conduct Team (Fwd)
by Vesna Manojlovic 05 Apr '23

05 Apr '23

From ripe-list: On 04/04/2023 16:17, Mirjam Kuehne wrote: Dear colleagues, We are looking for volunteers to serve on the RIPE Code of Conduct Team. This team will be responsible for handling any reports that someone has breached the RIPE Code of Conduct. It therefore plays an important part in keeping RIPE an open and inclusive community that encourages participation. If you would like to volunteer, please carefully read the information on this web page: https://www.ripe.net/participate/ripe/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct-team-… The page links to a short form where we ask you for a motivation statement. You can nominate yourself or someone else. In order to have a team set up and trained in time for the RIPE 86 meeting in May, please send in your nominations before 24 April 2023. You can find more information on the Code of Conduct Team and its responsibilities here: https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-documents/other-documents/draft… Kind Regards, Mirjam Kühne RIPE Chair

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RIPE 86 Diversity on Tech session
by Mirjam Kuehne 19 Mar '23

19 Mar '23

Dear colleagues, We're looking at organising another Diversity in Tech session at the upcoming RIPE 86 meeting. Are there any specific topics you would like to see addressed? Do you have any suggestions for possible speakers? Would anyone here like to actively help put the session together? Please feel free to contact to me directly before the end of March. Kind regards, Mirjam Kühne RIPE Chair

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Re: [diversity] [ripe-list] Proposed Changes to the Draft Code of Conduct Process
by Daniel Karrenberg 03 Oct '22

03 Oct '22

Leo, task force members, let's remember that we have consensus on the code of conduct itself and that we are discussing the implementation. Not all ist lost. ;-) I observe some pretty strong reactions requesting 'due process' from long standing, constructive and productive members of the community. This is serious. There is a risk that some of these good people might stop contributing if we proceed with this draft procedure document. We do not want to loose good people for the sake of being more inclusive. Upon reflection it appears to me that the requests for 'due process' may not come from a desire for a quasi legal process but from a *perception* that the the *process*, not the code, is biased against the community member whose behaviour is being reported. Here are a number of suggestions to address this: 1. Make it explicit that it is part of the process to apply the 'Discretion to Reject Reports' from the code. It may be sufficient to just mention this at the part of the assessment process in step 3. 2. Re-draft the process to focus on stopping the *behaviour* that is violating the code of conduct and not on sanctioning people. This is an important difference. 3. Add more explicit mechanisms for the person whose behaviour is being reported to be heard. This is especially important if more serious actions are being considered. Maybe offer them to choose a member of the CoC team to hear their side of the story and add that member to the assessment team? Less important but worth considering: if I understand the proposed process correctly, each and every report would lead to the creation of a new assessment group. I perceive this as very heavy and resource intensive. A perfect DoS target! In my opinion the process should allow for some sort of triage should the load get too high. Pragmatism should be explicitly allowed. For instance if the load gets high a screening team could be assembled from members of the CoC team at least for each RIPE meeting or maybe for a certain time period. This screening team could then filter out obviously spurious reports and maybe quickly deal with minor incidents. Nit: Improve the 'Introduction' sections with explicit references to the other relevant documents such as the CoC itself and a clear scoping of the document itself. Maybe rename it 'Scope'? I appreciate your personal efforts and the efforts of the task force. Daniel

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Re: [diversity] [ripe-list] Two Documents from the Code of Conduct Task Force
by Keith Mitchell 16 Sep '22

16 Sep '22

On 9/16/22 04:00, Kurtis Lindqvist wrote: > >> On 14 Sep 2022, at 20:43, Alex de Joode <alex(a)idgara.nl> wrote: >> Those depositions could than be used in court for damage claims >> (loss of employment, libel/defamation). You can sue RIPE, the event >> or (individual) members of the CoC. > What you are describing (I think) is a situation where the RIPE NCC > is considered the organiser and the legal home of any activity > covered by the CoC. In this case the officers implementing the CoC > would have to be appointed by the RIPE NCC and considered legally > employed (or covered) by the RIPE NCC and therefor their indemnity > insurance would cover it and it would be dealt with in the NL. Under the RIPE NCC Arbitration process, there is a means by which community volunteers (who are not NCC employees) are formally indemnified against potential legal blowback of any decisions they make. Parties to the arbitration are required to commit to this when entering into a dispute resolution. It does seem appropriate that a similar such indemnification measure should be in place for CoC volunteer officers, it that is not already envisaged. Keith

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Re: [diversity] [ripe-list] Communities & Codes of Conduct
by Alex de Joode 16 Sep '22

16 Sep '22

Brian thanks for your contribution. I believe all see the need for a Code of Conduct. All see the need for a process to enforce the Code of Conduct. The issues are 'what is the intention of the CoC', 'how do we want to enforce the CoC' and 'what is the status of the CoC team'. It looks the CoC is more than a 'this is how one should behave during a RIPE event/mailinglist etc', it looks like to tool to actively create "more justice/diversity (Vesna)". These are two different goals. A proper and fair CoC process might lead to a more diverse participation, no need to skew this process. Is this an adversarial process whereby the role of the CoC team is neutral one, or is skewed towards complainers. For the majority of cases, as you stated, this will not be an issue. However we also need to think about the outliers, if this process is a 'guilty until proven innocent, but hey we do not like you so guilty as accused' that is not OK. No matter how much 'transformative justice' you want to deliver. The process should hold up in court, so it should be fair, you should know who is accusing you and you should be able to defend yourself. (may's are not must's in the proposal) Cheers, Alex-- IDGARA | Alex de Joode | alex(a)idgara.nl | +31651108221 On Fri, 16-09-2022 13h 20min, Brian Nisbet <brian.nisbet(a)heanet.ie> wrote: > Good Afternoon, > In the last few days there have been a few emails about the draft CoC documents and, without any hat on, I want to address a few things. > The RIPE community is special. It's amazing and wonderful and I love it… but also in so many ways, it is not special at all. It is not immune to the issues that have cropped up elsewhere and, importantly, also crop up in RIPE. This may be hard to hear but it's true. There are people who have left our community due to unwelcome attention, incidents of sexual harassment or repeatedly being told - through deeds if not words - that they are not welcome here. > Worse are the people who could contribute so much to the operation of the Internet who look at our community, talk with others about it, and simply shake their heads - "That's not a place for me." > These are the sad commonalities between communities, these are the ways in which RIPE is decidedly not special. > A suitably, carefully, fairly, enforced Code of Conduct is just one of the many ways of making things better. It sets out the norms of behaviour and, importantly, it says "If you come here and people act badly towards you – we want to know about it, we will care, and we will act." If you want, you can think of it like MANRS or similar. It says that as a community, we have thought about things, that we acknowledge the issues we have, and we are working to improve them. > This is not a court of law. It is a community driven effort, and so, like every other effort, we put our trust in those who we appoint, while maintaining the ability to course correct, knowing that there are checks and balances. In fact, I'm extremely happy for those that need to make reports that it isn't a court of law, as such courts, in countries around the world, have been seen to be adversarial towards those who seek justice for things like sexual assault. They put great hurt on the victims and have a truly awful record in bringing that justice. But again, this is not a court of law. > Nor is it a way to attack the correct (or whatever passes for correct) use of grammar. But it can be a way to improve communications. It can be a way for a community to clearly say "That isn't a good way to interact, especially if we want to be open." There are many, many ways to have robust technical discussion without giving people the impression that their opinions are not wanted, as has happened many times in the past. And we are getting better at this as a community, but a CoC will help us more. > As I have said repeatedly over many years, things happen at RIPE Meetings that the community does not, or should not, want to happen. The previous system gave the victims of those things someone to talk to, which is important, but little more than that. A CoC provides a means of recourse, which has been proven to work in communities around the world. > There will be a few growing pains, for sure. There will be people who prejudge all of this, who decide that this changes the community too much. It might even cause them to leave. In many cases that will be a great pity and I hope they stick around - but if this prevents others leaving because they feel unsafe, or from being subjected to behaviour that all of us agree is unacceptable, then, well, I know where I'm happier. > No process is perfect, we're humans, but this is a really, really good next step (and yes, I would say that, of course). I believe it will make a difference in who joins our community and for how long they stay. I believe it will, in some small way, improve the sector in which we all work. And thankfully my beliefs are backed up by what we've seen in other communities. > Importantly, we can do other things at the same time and I look forward to what other new things this community does, and what excellent initiatives it continues, which will make it better for all. > I know I will not convince everyone (this is not the first time I've had this discussion in a community, not even in the RIPE community), and I know that a lot of people in the community are convinced (or convinced enough) already, but I didn't want to stay silent on this thread. This is too important for the community right now, and for the future, for those of us here, and those of us we hope will join us. > > Thanks, > Brian > Brian Nisbet (he/him) Service Operations Manager HEAnet CLG, Ireland's National Education and Research Network 1st Floor, 5 George's Dock, IFSC, Dublin D01 X8N7, Ireland +35316609040 brian.nisbet(a)heanet.ie www.heanet.ie Registered in Ireland, No. 275301. CRA No. 20036270

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