Constellation FAQ - A Signer’s Guide
You are thinking about signing one of the eight agreements. This guide answers the questions people actually have before signing - what you commit to, what you receive, what it costs, what can go wrong, and how you leave - in plain language, with the clause to check in brackets. It lessens the burden of reading the full text; it does not replace it. Where this guide and the agreement differ, the agreement governs.
Questions everyone asks, whatever they sign
Why eight agreements instead of one? Each agreement covers one way of being in relationship with the network - providing a place, belonging, caring for an asset, teaching, giving, building commercially, founding a venture, holding wisdom. You sign only the ones that describe you, and you can hold several at once (GT-11.4).
Do I have to become a member first? If you are a person taking an active role - Steward, Mentor, Intrapreneur, or Partner in your own name - yes, membership comes first (A2 §1.4). Companies and organisations can sponsor (A5) or partner (A6) without membership. Owners and Supporters who are people do not strictly need it, but most join.
Is this a job? No. Nothing in the constellation is an employment contract (GT-12.4). Where you are paid - a Mentor’s share, a Partner’s distribution - it runs through a proper fiscal channel (invoice or ricevuta, withholding where due) under a separate, documented arrangement (GT-12).
Do I get a share of anything - property, profits, the Association itself? No role confers ownership, tenancy, profit, or governance rights over any asset or over the Association (GT-11.5). Members get the vote - one member, one vote, never weighted (A2 §2.1). That is the only governance right in the constellation.
What is the Contribution Ledger and the Network Passport? One plain, visible log of what people give - hours, skills, care - confirmed in good faith by a steward or peer (GT-1.7, GT-1.8). It is a single record, partitioned by holon (each hub, project, and venture has its own partition); the current network setting makes every partition visible to everyone (tunable by Board resolution, LGR-8 - you always see your own entries and your own holons’ partitions). Only identity mappings and client names stay off it. Your Passport is your personal, portable, lifetime reading of it (GT-3A). The more you have contributed, the higher your priority and the lower your price for network resources, down to free (GT-3A.3). Money given - and the euro value of paid project work - is remembered but never buys access (GT-3A.4A, GT-3A.4).
What is the NRC I keep seeing? The Network Regeneration Contribution: a uniform percentage (3-10%, default 5%) taken off the net revenue of economic activity inside the network and routed to the common fund (GT-4.4(a)). It is the structural cost of operating inside the commons. If you generate no net revenue, you pay nothing.
And the ARC? The Asset Regeneration Contribution (GT-4.9): where your activity makes money using an asset someone lent to the network at cost (a hub, land, a vehicle), a further share - default 25%, never below 10% (LGR-9, provisional) - is taken after the NRC and before your share, and goes back to that asset to cover its costs and regenerate it. The principle is simple: it isn’t fair to monetize on a gift without sharing back. NRC feeds the network; ARC feeds the asset you used. Activity priced at cost generates no surplus and carries no ARC.
If I hold several roles, can I approve my own work? No. You disclose the overlap wherever your roles interact, and you never confirm, approve, or review your own act performed in another role (GT-11.7).
How are disputes handled? In order: a direct good-faith conversation; internal mediation (the Elder Council once it exists; until then the Collegio dei Probiviri if one is elected, or failing that an ad-hoc panel of three uninvolved Members or Stewards convened within 30 days — GT-7.2); external mediation; and finally the Court of Ascoli Piceno (GT-7). If a contribution score or access decision just feels wrong, anyone affected can also ask for a sensing circle before the outcome is final (GT-3A.9).
Can I leave? Always. Every agreement has an exit: Owner 90 days’ notice, Member resign any time, Steward 30-90 days, Mentor per programme, Supporter for future support, Partner 90 days, Venture Member by written notice, Elder by withdrawal. Specifics are in each section below.
What happens if the Association itself dissolves? A succession protocol triggers: a successor entity is sought, your Passport and recognitions survive and bind the successor, and the Ledger can never be sold or destroyed (GT-13). Hub owners and Elders can convene a Custodial Council to carry the network through (GT-13.5). People come first, not just records: within whatever the law leaves after creditors and the mandatory devoluzione of assets, resident stewards keep their housing window (A3 §16.3), running programmes and ventures are finished or moved, and the common reservoir stays mutual insurance to the end. A successor entity owes the whole network the same continuity a single departing hub owes its community (GT-13.7).
Which language governs? The English text you sign. An Italian translation prevails in court only if both parties agreed and signed it (GT-8.3).
What happens to my personal data? GDPR applies in full (GT-5). The Ledger stores only what recognition needs; you can export, correct, or delete your record at any time - deletion makes your old entries anonymous without erasing the network’s history (GT-3.4).
Is it safe - what about safeguarding? The network keeps a Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct binding on everyone (GT-2.6); anyone working with minors or vulnerable adults must pass the suitability checks the law requires. A credible safety concern leads to precautionary suspension and, where the law requires, a report to the authorities (GT-6A.1). How this runs day to day is in the Operational Procedures (Section M).
What if a hub harms the land — or is just struggling? The two are handled differently. A hub struggling in good faith gets support — re-tuned targets, mentorship, mutual aid — never punishment; the covenant is a shared commitment, not a liability (GT-2.4). Active or persistent uncured harm engages a graduated, relational response: a conversation, re-tuning, then a change of stewards under A3 §16, and only at the last resort returning the Asset to its Owner. The Voice for the Land and the Unborn speaks in every such review (GT-2.7).
I’m a guest or client, not a member — do I have rights or recourse? Yes. The Participant and Community Charter states what the network promises anyone it serves: safety and dignity (GT-2.6), honest and fair dealing with clear terms and lawful cancellation/withdrawal, privacy (GT-5), a feedback channel, and a real complaint route — a non-member may use the GT-7 dispute ladder (GT-7.5), and your statutory consumer and data rights and access to the courts are never limited (GT-2.8).
How does a new hub or partner join the network? Through one admission gate. Offering an asset is not the same as the network choosing to take a place on: a new node is screened for mission fit (and its ability to keep regenerative balance from the start, GT-2.7) and for whether the network actually has the capacity to support it — steward bandwidth, mentor reach, reservoir headroom — so growth never over-extends the whole. The Board decides; the node joins provisionally and reaches full hub status only after a review (about six months, aligned with the hub-activation window of A1 §3.9). The same screen applies whether you join as a Hub under Agreement 1 (owned or comodato) or as an external partner by federation; only the instrument that follows differs (GT-11.9).
What happens if my hub leaves the network? The place may leave, but the people are not cut off. In-flight programmes and ventures are concluded fairly or moved to another hub; your Passport is portable, so your access continues at other hubs; a resident steward keeps their notice and housing protections (A3 §16); the Ledger and all Passports stay intact (nothing is voided); and the community’s unmet needs carry forward into the Demand Register (GT-11.8). Co-located hubs can also cluster for mutual aid and coordination, and the network may federate with other commons in the same watershed (GT-4.10).
Can others copy or adopt this whole model? Yes. The constellation’s own model — the agreements, General Terms, and companion frameworks and templates — is a knowledge commons under CC BY-SA 4.0: anyone may use and adapt it with attribution, sharing their derivatives under the same licence (GT-2.9). It excludes personal data, hub-private information, and venture IP (A7 §9).
Agreement 1 - Ownership: you lend a place or thing to the commons
At a glance: you keep full ownership and lend the use of your property - house, land, workshop, vehicle, tool - for the network’s regenerative purposes, free of rent, on conditions you set. You can exit with 90 days’ notice.
Do I lose ownership or control of my property? No. Ownership stays with you at all times; the Association gets only a temporary, purpose-bound right of use under comodato d’uso (§1.1, §2.1). You define the permitted uses yourself in Annex 2, and nothing outside them is allowed without your written agreement (§1.4).
Can I still use my own place? Yes - personally whenever it does not clash with scheduled activities, commercially outside reserved periods, and you have free fair-use access to network activities hosted there (§2.2-2.5).
What does it cost me, and what do I get? You get no rent - the loan is gratuitous by law (§4.4). You carry extraordinary maintenance (the roof, the structure - §4.2). In return the Association pays the running costs for its use pro rata (utilities, ordinary taxes, waste - §3.2), insures the activities and names you as additional insured for real property with annual proof (§3.3), keeps the place maintained and activated, and indemnifies you against claims arising from its use (§3.6).
Who pays when something wears out? Wear caused by the intensity of network use beyond what you agreed to host is the Association’s (§3.8); structural aging and latent defects are yours (§4.2). The line between the two is drawn by the agreed use profile and, in doubt, the most recent joint inspection record (§4.2).
What if the Association takes my place and then does nothing with it? It must appoint a steward, schedule activity, and announce the place within 6 months - or explain and re-plan. Persistent unexplained inactivity is grounds for you to terminate (§3.9).
Can they alter or build on my property? Not structurally without your written consent (§3.4). Approved fixed improvements become yours at the end - or are removed, your choice (§3.4, §6.4). Once network investment in your place passes the Annex 4 threshold, an amortisation schedule is agreed so neither side is unfairly exposed by an early exit (§3.4).
Can I choose who stewards my place - and keep someone out of it? Yes to both. You can designate which stewards hold the asset and for which periods - seasonal, rotating, or project-based - and veto a proposed appointment with written reasons; a sitting steward still gets the normal notice protections (§2.6). You can also exclude a named individual from using the asset by written notice stating your reasons; the exclusion touches only your asset - their membership and Passport are unaffected - and they may ask for a GT-7 review, but the final decision over your asset stays with you (§2.7). And the reverse: you can name a person who must be given access, which a steward cannot override - bounded only by safety, the asset’s capacity and DNA, and the law (§2.8).
How do I get out? 90 days’ written notice, any time, no penalty, no reason needed (§6.1). Immediately for serious cause - misuse, damage, danger (§6.2). The place comes back to you in the same or better condition, fair wear excepted, after a joint inspection (§7).
What if I want to sell? You give 60 days’ notice; the buyer gets the documents and 30 days to decide whether to step into your role. If they decline, the agreement ends and everyone - including the steward - is protected by notice (§6.3).
What is this dissolution clause asking of me (GT-13.3)? Only this: if the Association ever dissolves, be informed, optionally join the Custodial Council, and do not actively obstruct continuity. No money, hosting, or services are ever owed under it.
Could my place ever become owned by the network - and what’s in it for me? Only if you choose. While your place is in use, it quietly sets aside a protected savings line toward replacing or one day acquiring it (the Asset Reserve, GT-4.4B). You’re never obliged to sell - but if you ever decide to, the network gets first refusal and, where you elect it in Annex 1, a standing option at a fair pre-agreed price (A1 §6.3A); you can also simply donate it (Agreement 5). Either way your capital is honoured and the place becomes permanent commons - it can never be sold back out, only ever passed to another mission entity. For many owners that’s a more dignified endgame than lending indefinitely.
Agreement 2 - Membership: you join the Association
At a glance: €25 a year buys insurance while volunteering, an equal vote, access to the network’s hubs and programmes, and the start of your contribution record. Every other personal role builds on this one.
What does my €25 actually buy? Insurance while you volunteer (the legal minimum under Art. 18 of the Third Sector Code - §3.4, §6), an equal vote in the Assembly (§2.1), access to activities, services, and hubs across the network (§2.3-2.5), and your Network Passport (§2.6).
How much time do I have to give? The agreement asks for active participation in the form and measure you choose - time, skills, presence, care, governance (§4.2). There is no hour quota. Contribution is rewarded (better access, lower prices) rather than enforced.
Does contributing more make me more important than other members? Not in governance - one member, one vote, always (§2.1). Contribution lowers your price and raises your access priority (GT-3A.3), and where you actively tend a hub or project it raises your share of that holon’s spending envelope - administration of delegated money, never a vote (§2.6-2.7).
Can I be made to pay for a hub’s money troubles? No. Members active at a struggling asset are expected to help - by chipping in or by helping create programmes that generate resources - but the form and scale are voluntary and proportionate to your capacity; it is never a personal debt (§4.6).
Am I insured whenever I am at a hub? No - during official volunteer activities only (§6.1-6.2). A personal stay is not volunteer work. The onboarding form states this up front; if in doubt whether an activity is covered, ask the steward first (A2-1).
Can the Board just throw me out? Not without process: written reasons, your chance to respond, a written decision, and appeal to the General Assembly (§7.3). A suspension while an allegation is verified lapses after 60 days unless a formal exclusion procedure is opened (§7.1). And even if membership ends, any other role you hold winds down under that role’s own protections - notice, handover, your Passport summary (§7.4).
Can an owner or steward keep me out of a particular hub? Yes, at the level of that one asset only. An owner can exclude you from their asset (A1 §2.7) and a steward can decline or revoke your access (A3 §4.4) - in both cases with written reasons, never silently. Your membership, vote, and Passport are untouched, and you can refer the decision to review under GT-7: a steward’s veto can be overturned there; an owner’s exclusion gets a facilitated conversation, but the final say over their own property stays with the owner. An owner can also require that a named person be admitted, which a steward cannot refuse (A1 §2.8).
What if I just forget to renew? You get 30 days from the termination notice to renew, and up to 90 days to restore everything without formality; your other roles are paused, not voided, in the meantime (§7.4).
What do I keep if I leave? Your Passport - preserved, accessible, yours (§7.5). You get a written summary of any role’s record within 30 days of it ending (GT-3A.6). No refund of the year’s fee (§8.1).
Agreement 3 - Stewardship: you become the keeper of a place or thing
At a glance: the network entrusts you with an asset - a hub, land, a vehicle, a workshop - to keep sound and put to good use. Unpaid as such, expenses reimbursed, real protections around removal and housing.
Am I personally liable for the asset’s costs? No. Your duty is active care and planning, not a personal debt; any cost-coverage target must be separately agreed in writing before it binds you (§5.3-5.4).
Do I get paid? Not for stewarding itself (§8.3). If you also teach, facilitate, or do technical work for pay, that goes in a separate contract with proper fiscal treatment (§8.2). Your documented expenses are reimbursed (§9).
Will I actually get my expenses back if the hub is broke? Yes. A valid, pre-approved, documented reimbursement is the Association’s own obligation, payable within 60 days regardless of the asset’s liquidity - the Association recovers it from the asset later (§9.3).
I would live at the hub - can I lose my home overnight? No. Even on termination for cause (unless the cause is danger, safety, or misappropriation), you vacate on the full notice period - 30 days, or 90 after a year’s tenure - and the Association helps you find interim accommodation in the network (§16.1-16.3). Termination for cause itself requires written notice of the breach and 7 days for you to respond, with the same safety exceptions (§16.2). If the Association invokes one of those exceptions, the termination notice must state the documented grounds, and you can have the invocation reviewed after the fact - if it is not substantiated, your full notice period and housing window are owed in full (§16.2).
Can a bad balance sheet get me removed automatically? No. A shortfall triggers review, never removal: the first response is a conversation, then re-tuning the asset’s settings; changing stewards is the last resort and runs through the full notice protections of §16 (§5A.2, GT-4.8(b)).
What authority do I actually have? Day-to-day coordination, the calendar, welcoming, upholding the asset’s DNA, and a delegated spending envelope within the allocation model (§3, GT-4.3). You cannot sign contracts, borrow, or bind the Association without written authorisation (§7.3). Where you need the Association’s approval, it must answer a documented request within 21 days - silence is not approval, and an unanswered request can be escalated (§14.3). The Association also cannot silently restructure your role: changes to your mandate or share require a conversation and 30 days’ written notice with reasons (§3.3).
Can I turn someone away from the asset? Yes. You can decline or revoke a member’s or participant’s access by notice stating your reasons (§4.4). The veto covers this asset only - their membership and Passport are untouched - and it cannot override the owner: you may not admit someone the owner has excluded (A1 §2.7), nor turn away someone the owner has designated for access (A1 §2.8), except on the safety, capacity, and DNA grounds named there. The person can ask for a GT-7 review, which can confirm your veto or restore access; the community-conduct boundary of §11.2 always applies.
What is my personal liability if something goes wrong? Only for wilful misconduct or gross negligence; otherwise the Association indemnifies you when you acted within your role (§17).
What do I accrue for years of care? No rights over the place (§12.1) - and a lifetime Passport record that travels with you, raises your access standing everywhere, and counts toward Eldership (GT-3A; A8 §2.2).
Can I run my own paid activities at the hub? Not outside the Association’s framework without written agreement (§8A.1). Your independent livelihood elsewhere is untouched (GT-11.6).
Agreement 4 - Mentorship: you teach through the network
At a glance: you design and deliver programmes through the Association. Your gift is teaching the network’s highest contributors at resource cost; your paid bands earn you an agreed share, paid within 30 days. The Association handles money, promotion, and venues.
Am I being asked to work for free? Partly, by design - that is the gift at the heart of the role. Your labour is free to the network’s highest contributors; they pay only what their slot costs to deliver (hub, materials, food - §1.3, §4.1). Everyone else pays market or member rates, from which you take your agreed share (§5.3). You choose at onboarding how many free slots you commit and on what rhythm; the default minimum is one per programme (§4.3, §1.3A).
When and how do I get paid? Your share - fixed fee, revenue share, hybrid, or cost-cover, set in the Programme Annex - is paid within 30 days of programme completion and accounting reconciliation (§5.3). It comes after two deductions from programme revenue: the Network Regeneration Contribution (network) and, where you use a hub or other entrusted asset, the Asset Regeneration Contribution (§5.3A, GT-4.9) that returns to that asset. All ticketing and payment runs through the Association (§5.1); participants may additionally give you documented voluntary donations (§5.5).
What does the hub get from my retreat? The asset isn’t just a free venue you monetize. Its running costs and the steward’s reimbursement are met from the Asset Regeneration Contribution (§5.3A, GT-4.9) - a default 25% (floor 10%, LGR-9, provisional) of net revenue after the NRC - which flows into the hub’s own balance, covering its costs first and regenerating it with the rest. You can agree a different rate in the Programme Annex, but only with the host steward’s consent and never below the floor: sharing back always happens. Gift (resource-cost) places generate no surplus, so they carry no ARC.
What if nobody signs up? Set a minimum viable threshold in your Programme Annex - then you get a registration update 21 days out and may reschedule or cancel below it (§5A.2). The Association must publish within 14 days of confirmation and promote in good faith (§5A.1, §5A.3).
What if the Association cancels on me? If a confirmed programme is cancelled without justification - not force majeure, venue failure, or under-subscription - the Association reimburses your documented preparation costs up to the cap in your Annex (§10.3). If your confirmed venue fails, an equivalent alternative must be proposed (§7.1).
Do my free slots pay the network fee? No. The NRC applies to net revenue only; a slot priced at cost generates none and carries none (§4.1).
Who owns my material? You keep your pre-existing IP (§9.1). The Association gets a licence to titles and promo material (§9.2); recordings and co-created material are settled per annex before they exist (§9.3-9.4).
Can I teach the same subject elsewhere? Yes. The only restraint: not independently replicating a programme you developed jointly with the Association, in the same territory (default: the province of the host hub), for 12 months - and a conversation comes before any breach claim (§11A.1).
What about taxes and insurance? Compensation follows your fiscal regime - withholding or forfettario declaration (GT-12). You carry your own professional competence and any professional insurance your discipline requires (§13.3); the Association remains the organiser of record (§13.2).
Who decides who gets the free places? A transparent claim process from the contribution record - not you alone, not the Association alone (§4.5). Where you offer several, one place is yours to allocate by discernment of need and readiness (§4.5(g)).
Agreement 5 - Sponsorship: you give resources
At a glance: money, goods, equipment, services, or access - given without acquiring control. You choose the destination, get recognition and the right fiscal paperwork, and access is never for sale.
I gave €50,000 - why does a new volunteer outrank me for a free workshop place? By design. Money is recorded and remembered, but access follows labour, care, and participation - never payment (GT-3A.4A, §3.1). This protects you too: it keeps your gift a true donation, with the fiscal treatment of one.
So what do I get? Recognition in the form you choose - public listing, naming at a hub, storytelling, invitations, or a deliberately non-promotional witnessed acknowledgment if you prefer to give quietly (§4.1). Plus the correct receipt for your gift’s classification (§8).
Can I direct where my money goes? Yes - earmark it for a hub, a person’s scholarship, equipment, land regeneration, an endowment, and more, subject to acceptance (§3.2). If the purpose later becomes impossible, you are consulted; failing agreement, unused restricted funds follow your election - returned where the gift’s fiscal classification permits, or kept for the general mission (§3.3).
How do I know my gift was used as agreed? Reasonable transparency plus the public annual accounts (§6.1; GT-4.7); for larger gifts, set a reporting cadence in the Support Schedule (A5-1).
Is my donation tax-deductible? That depends on its classification - liberal donation, fundraising contribution, sponsorship with visibility return, or in-kind - which is fixed with matching documentation in Annex 1 (§2.3, §8). The access firewall above is what keeps a donation a donation in the tax sense.
Do I get any say in how the network is run? No - no governance, control, veto, or use rights come with giving (§5, §7.3, §12.1). If you want a working role, that is a different agreement, open to you like anyone.
Can I sponsor a specific person? Yes, through the Association as recipient and allocator - for example a scholarship or a steward’s costs (§9.1). You can also underwrite free programme places without influencing who receives them (§3.2).
Can I lend rather than give? Yes - durable items can be lent instead of donated; Annex 1 records ownership, insurance, maintenance, and what happens at the end (§1.2, §10).
Agreement 6 - Partnership: you build commercial projects with others
At a glance: independent entities (and members in their own name) pool work on specific projects. Revenue is distributed by validated contribution, not ownership shares. Signed between the Partners; the network takes the uniform NRC.
Do I lose my independence? No. You keep your legal identity, your clients, your tax position, and you choose project-by-project whether to join (§3.2, §4).
How do I know I will be paid fairly for what I do? Every contribution is logged and validated in the project’s partition of the network’s Contribution Ledger - currently visible to the whole network, so the record polices itself, and always visible in full to every Partner on the project (§8, GT-1.7, LGR-8); your share of each project’s net revenue is your validated share of the total, recalculated as work happens (§9). Distribution comes within 30 days of revenue and accounting (§10.2). Client identities stay pseudonymised on the log (A6-4 §2).
What if the others refuse to validate my work? Disputes go: discussion, then two-thirds majority - but above the threshold set in the Project Sheet, a neutral reviewer (a non-participating Partner or an external mediator) gives a written opinion first (§8.3). Validation must also actively surface easily under-logged work like coordination and care (§8.1), and a project can reserve an ex-ante slice for exactly that relational work (§9.3).
What does the network take, and why? The uniform NRC off project revenue before distribution - the structure cost of building inside the commons (brand, infrastructure, ledger, network). No per-project negotiation, by design (§10A). The Association holds a direct legal right to it even though it does not sign this agreement (§10A.5).
What do I keep if I leave? 90 days’ notice, and you keep distribution rights on everything validated before exit; work still unvalidated at exit is resolved within 60 days through the normal process (§16). Confidentiality runs 3 years (§14.2).
Who owns what we build together? What the Project Sheet says; if silent, jointly in proportion to validated contributions, with external exploitation needing co-owners’ consent (§11).
What is the Vehicle Entity? The legal body (preferably a cooperative or benefit company) that signs client contracts, invoices, and handles taxes for a project (§5). Owning shares in it does not change revenue distribution - contribution does (§5.2).
Am I liable for the other Partners? No Partner can bind another without written authorisation, and each warrants its own legal and tax compliance (§15).
Agreement 7 - Intrapreneurship: you found a venture inside the network
At a glance: you respond to a documented community need with a venture incubated by the network - hub access, fiscal hosting, first client, introductions - in exchange for serving the network first and a lasting contribution once you trade externally.
Why build inside instead of founding independently? Real, binding support: hub access, fiscal hosting, at least three introductions in 60 days, the Association as your first client where the demand came from inside, and a promise not to compete with you on your demand signal (§8.3) - with a remedy if the Association fails to deliver (§8.4).
Does the Association control my venture? No. It holds no seat; the venture governs itself - simple majority for operations, two-thirds for structure (§4.3, §8.2). As founder you hold no special powers either: your share is what your contributions earn, like everyone (§4.4).
Why must any member be allowed to apply to join? Open membership is the design - a venture that cannot attract co-founders is itself a signal (§4.2). But admission still requires a majority of existing venture members, with written reasons for refusals (§5.2). Later joiners earn shares only from their own contributions (§5.4).
What does the network take? Phase 1 (incubation): nothing - no external trading. Phases 2-3: the prevailing NRC on net external revenue, with 70% then 40% of your capacity still serving the network - measured by the metric you declare in your Venture Sheet, by default member-hours per lunation (§6.2-6.3, §7.2).
A perpetual fee after independence - really? Yes. At Emergence you negotiate a rate (3-10%) that is then locked forever - undilutable through any sale or restructuring, raisable by you, never lowerable (A7-3 §2). It is the permanent regenerative link in exchange for being built by the commons. Sign only if you accept that bargain.
Can the Association keep us captive by refusing Emergence? No. Refusal requires written reasons against stated criteria (obligations settled, demand signal served or retired, exit terms agreed), is re-examined every year, and persistent unreasoned refusal goes to mediation (§10.2).
Can the Association cut us off overnight? Except in immediate danger or legal necessity, no: it must state the breach in writing and hear you first, and any suspension notice must state the cure required; termination follows only 60 days of unresolved breach (§11.1-11.2).
Who owns the IP? Yours stays yours (§9.1, §9.3). What you build in Phase 1 on the network’s resources is jointly owned, with a perpetual mission-use licence to the Association that survives independence (§9.2, §9.5). Everything is confirmed in writing at Emergence (A7-3 §4).
What if I personally want out? Written notice; your validated contributions and your share of distributions from work already delivered are preserved; governance rights end (§11.4). Stay a member of the Association or your active status in the venture pauses (§5.5).
Am I insured while building? As a member doing official volunteer activity, yes (A2 §6); for venture work beyond that, the Venture Sheet records what cover applies - check it before you start (A7-1).
Agreement 8 - Eldership: the network honours long contribution
At a glance: after years of contribution (5; 3 for the founding cohort), the network offers permanent recognition - free hospitality at any hub, a real governance seat, a permanent place in its history. It asks one thing: presence once a year.
What do I actually receive? Welcome at any hub - bed, meals, full participation - free and unconditional (§4.1); a permanent membership-fee waiver (§4.3); a seat on the Elder Council with real authorities (§5); and your name and story inscribed permanently in the network’s living history, surviving even the Association itself (§3.3, GT-13.6).
What do I owe in return? Presence at the annual gathering, incapacity excepted - that is the only formal obligation (§6.1). Mentoring and advising are gifts if you choose them, never duties (§6.3). You also commit not to use Elder status for commercial advantage (§6.2).
Can Eldership be taken away? No - it is permanent, with no termination for cause; recognition is never revoked (§8.1, §8.4). The one boundary: on a credible allegation of serious harm to participants, hospitality and Council participation can be suspended (60 days, renewable once, with written reasons and your right to be heard) while the matter is resolved - your recognition, legacy, and waiver stay untouched (§8.4A).
What power does the Elder Council actually have? Procedural teeth, not command: a public Covenant Signal the Board must answer within 30 days; a 30-day review of every constellation amendment; the internal mediation role; the dissolution backstop; and allocation of the network’s surplus as mission spending - never as personal payments to elders (§5.4, GT-4.5).
What if I want to step back? Step back from any operational role without touching your Eldership (§7.3). Skip the annual affirmation and you become Emeritus - keeping hospitality, honour, voice, and the way back to an active seat any time you affirm again; it is renewal, not sanction (§8.5). Withdraw entirely by written notice and your recognition still stands in the record (§8.2).
Who pays for my hospitality - am I a burden on the hubs? Hubs absorb it within genuine capacity; none may simply refuse you - they consult and re-home if truly full (§4.1). Above ten elder-nights a lunation at one hub, the direct cost is reimbursed from the Council’s own allocation, so honouring you never competes with a hub’s survival (LGR-7).
How does one become an Elder? By nomination (the Board, the Council, or three stewards together) or self-application, always with your consent, after the contribution period (LGR-1) - and entry is marked by a witnessed Transition Rite, not a form (§2-§3).
One honest answer that applies everywhere
Is any of the economic machinery final? Not yet. Every clause marked - the fund’s allocation shape, the living balance, value systems, the NRC’s tax characterisation, the reservoir returns - awaits the formal legal and fiscal review and Board ratification of the working figures (LGR-2, LGR-5). Signing today means trusting the architecture and the review gate. The agreements say so on their face; this guide says it out loud.
Companion document, maintained alongside the agreements.