Consolidated Village Consensus: guide
What Consolidated Village Consensus does
Several villages rehearse the same question, each in its own Village Assembly, and share their sealed reports. Consolidated Village Consensus brings them together into one consensus map that keeps every village's dissent. It is a rehearsal, not a decision, and each village's members still decide for themselves.
It is for a federation, a regional body or a group of halls that need to see where several communities agree and where they do not.
A worked example: three halls, one question
Three halls in one district want to know whether to share a booking system. Each hall rehearses the question in its own Village Assembly and seals its report. One hall coordinates and brings the three together.
More situations
- Branches of one co-operative put the same question to their own assemblies. Each shares its sealed report only if its owner consents for that mandate. The coordinator brings the shared reports together, and every minority position survives in the map.
- A branch that has not shared. It is left out of the collection with a plain reason shown, rather than counted or guessed at. The map says who is missing.
- A partner that changes its mind. A village is invited for each mandate and can withdraw. A withdrawn village is left out of the next collection, and the earlier sealed record stays as it was.
If you coordinate (owners and admins)
- Open a mandate: write the shared question, then add the points the villages will take a stance on. Each point has a fixed list of at least two options, so stances from different villages line up exactly.
- Invite partner villages. Only villages that are linked to yours for sharing assembly reports can be invited. Each mandate has an invitation code to give to them.
- Wait for them to answer. A village that has not answered is named as such, and one that took its report back is named as that.
- Bring the reports together. Each shared report is checked: its seal must be valid and it must still match what was sealed. A village whose report fails a check is left out and named, with the reason.
- Read the consensus. It shows where villages agree and where they split, and keeps each village's position visible. Nothing is averaged.
If you are invited (owners and admins of a partner village)
- Paste the invitation code you were given on the Consolidated Village Consensus page and look it up. You see the question and the points, and who is asking.
- Choose which of your own sealed reports to share. Only a sealed report can be shared.
- Share it. You can take it back until the consensus is sealed, and the coordinator will see that you did.
What it keeps and what it refuses
- Each village's position stays visible. A village that disagrees is not folded into a majority.
- If no village has shared a usable report, nothing is sealed and the mandate stays open. An empty record is never made.
- Only the question, the points and the shared report cross between villages. Discussion stays in each village.
- A village can take its report back until the consensus is sealed. If it does, it is dropped before sealing.
What it does not do
- It does not decide, and it does not recommend.
- It needs a sharing link between the villages and a sealed report from each. A village without sealing available cannot take part.