OSE Regional Charter

The following elements should be present in the charter document of an OSE Regional Group.

Statement of Purpose

The OSE (Region-name) is chartered for the purpose of furthering the goals and principles of Open Source Ecology. It's aim is to provide a regional structure that will co-ordinate the efforts of regional local activities to promote OSE concepts including the GVCS technologies, abundance based economies, sustainable agriculture, and cooperative living.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties of this organization shall include:

• Administration of the formation of local OSE chapters and villages
• Coordinating the actions and efforts of local OSE chapters and villages by providing (TBD) resources and organization.
• Report on the formation and chartering of local OSE chapters and villages
• Representing OSE at European events
• Organizing, sponsoring, and hosting OSE conferences, faires, regional meetings, etc.
• Governing OSE projects specific to to the region
• Raise funds to support both regional and international OSE efforts.

Guiding Principles

The OSE Regional Branch agrees to

• Uphold and promote the OSE Mission.
• Maintain OSE Standards and encourage compliance.
• Use the OSE Specifications where appropriate.
• Promote and administer OSE Local Chapters.
• Participate and coordinate with other OSE Member Organizations.

Charter Members

List of initial members of the regional organization who will help set it up and run it initially. Include name, email address, and link to OSE Team Culturing page for each.

Governance

The OSE regional organization shall be lead and run by an a person elected (simple majority) annually by representatives from the local OSE chapters, villages, and regional contributors. The president has the authority to create and/or dissolve committees related to regional affairs. These committees may include fund raising, promotion, events, village formation, etc. The president may be removed from office by a vote of representatives (two thirds majority) or by the Executive Director of OSE International.

Legal Considerations

It may be necessary to establish a region OSE branch as a legal entity in order to raise funds, handle money, pay taxes, etc. There are several ways to set this including:

• Corporate Division - a division of the OSE International Corporation based on a particular country or region
• Affiliated Corporation - a separate legal entity with contractual arrangements with OSE International
• Associated Trust - trust handles money on behalf of the regional branch