The Active Travel Cafe holds a set of 'house rules'* to capture what we ask of participants and organisers when engaging in the space, to keep it as useful and inclusive for all.
Please have a read and if you feel we are not holding ourselves to this or wish to propose changes - please email activetravelcafe{at}gmail.com
General House rules
We support active travel - we invite challenge - but we are clear this is a space that belongs to those who support the mission to transform transport and places, for all the benefits it brings across so many areas of life.
We're friendly & respectful - we seek to be to be opening and inviting and wish to make all attendees feel welcome. We never make personal attacks or hostile comments about individuals verbally, in open chat or direct message chat.
We welcome all experiences - every location or situation is different, we encourage people to express & share experiences, but not to shoot down others’ if different to yours. Using blocking words like ‘wrong!’ or ‘no!’ don’t encourage people to share / develop ideas or dialogue. Try open-ended responses - we will all learn more!
We're a multi-disciplinary and multi-layered community - some people are professionals, some volunteers, some engineers, some campaigners, some specialists, some generalists. While some have greater experience and expertise - there is no hierarchy of thought. We wish to encourage cross-sector, cross-discipline exchanges.
We're actively pursuing a diverse & inclusive community - this affects everything we do - including what topics and speakers we choose, what time we are on and many more. We are educating ourselves on what spaces need to be inclusive. We are sensitive to the needs, views and preferences of all cultures. We are sensitive to the needs, views and preferences of disabled people.
We manage our own airtime - in order to make space for all views we ask people to check in on how often or for how long, they’re speaking or posting in chat. Some people need to feel a silence or a pause to feel ready to speak or ask a question.
We don't assume knowledge - we avoid jargon (eg acronyms in full first time) and don't assume technical, geographical, political, engineering knowledge without explanation (but are never patronising or ‘splainy’). We are a diverse group - but wish to be more so and making people feel they aren’t in the know, is off-putting and clubby.
We aren't party political - we do not support any one party - we support active travel outcomes. Having said that we know that active travel is highly political and will often feature political speakers - but we will always be fair and offer more than one political view across our runs (if not always in the same session) . We are here to critique action, not party affiliation.
We keep it clean - we do not swear - we are on at ‘family viewing’ time and our sessions are usually published on YouTube, so do not swear in vision, audio or chat.
We're discreet - never share emails, names or details posted in chat outside of the chat without checking with individuals. Never mention the name of anyone involved in direct action. Remember - sessions are usually recorded and publicly viewable - we can and do occasionally edit out sensitive bits, or stop recording - do ask.
We're all part of the community - this is a volunteer-run space and so if you have an idea to grow or develop things - please suggest it and consider if you can get involved in making it happen or know someone who can.
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Organising group house rules
In order for the facilitators of Active Travel Cafe to best fulfill its purpose, values & house rules, we commit to the following;-
Our key role as a group is to facilitate a safe, inclusive, supportive and friendly space, and to enable our community to exist and thrive.
Beyond that, we specifically are there to;-
- Maintain the administration needed for a smooth running space, sharing the load as equally as possible
- Uphold the values & house rules and moderate behaviours breaking them - with sensitivity, respect & deftness
- Hold ourselves to account as role models for the space and our house rules
- Give regular opportunities for attendees to shape and feedback on the space and its content & format
- Regularly check what our community needs, offering ways to glean all views not just those that chime with ours
- Forward plan and endeavour to make sure people know what’s happening when
- We also focus on the ‘health’ of our own core group, acknowledging we are volunteers
As a core group member, our focus is on holding and maintaining the space and the community, not our own place in it or our own personal opinions.
This may mean we need to prioritise enabling attendees to explore topics, than using airtime to express our personal views.
*house rules is a common term used to describe guidelines for collective online spaces