Proposal Type: Policy
Submitted by: [Name / Working Group]
Date: [Date]
Status: Draft — for Assembly Review
PURPOSE
The Diamante Bridge Collective needs a ratified set of internal bylaws that translates its values, governance model, and membership framework into a living, enforceable document, so that every member, steward, and collaborator can understand their rights and responsibilities, and so that the Association can govern itself with clarity, coherence, and confidence.
DRIVER
Conditions
The Diamante Bridge Collective Association is a legally registered Costa Rican Association. Its Constitution establishes the three mandatory organs (Assembly, Board, Fiscal) and defines foundational membership categories. However, the Association currently has no ratified internal bylaws. Governance decisions, membership processes, stage transitions, conflict resolution, and the integration of sociocratic working methods are handled through informal agreements, evolving documents, and collective memory rather than through a formally adopted and enforceable framework.
Effect
Without ratified bylaws, the Association faces recurring ambiguity: members at different stages hold different understandings of their rights and responsibilities; the Board lacks a clear documented framework for approving or revoking membership; the relationship between sociocratic circles and the legally required governance bodies (Assembly, Board, Fiscal) is undefined; and conflicts are resolved without reference to an agreed process. As the community grows and stewards rotate, institutional knowledge is increasingly at risk of being lost or contested. The absence of bylaws also limits the Association’s credibility in formal partnerships, funding relationships, and land stewardship agreements.
Relevance
The DBC is in active development, expanding its membership stages, formalizing its land stewardship agreements, and building relationships with bioregional partners and funders. Without ratified bylaws, every significant decision carries the latent risk of being challenged for lack of procedural grounding. The Assembly, as the supreme organ of the Association, is the only body with authority to ratify such a document. The moment to act is now, while the community is present, engaged, and actively participating in governance formation, before complexity increases further and informal norms become harder to formalize.
REQUIREMENT
The Association needs a ratified Bylaws that is:
- Grounded in the Constitution and Ley de Asociaciones 218, ensuring legal coherence with Costa Rican association law
- Encoding of Sociocratic Governance as the decision-making method of the Association, with clear articulation of its relationship to the legally required governance bodies
- Complete enough to govern, covering membership identity and rights, governance structure, resource stewardship, conflict resolution, and amendment processes
- Living and evolvable, with a clear amendment process so the document can grow with the community
- Aligned with the Eight Stages of Stewardship, encoding the developmental pathway as the living membership framework
So that every member knows where they stand, every body knows what it can and cannot decide, and the Association can fulfill its purpose with integrity, transparency, and resilience across generations of stewards.
INTERVENTION
The intervention is the Creation of the Bylaws for Diamante Bridge Collective Association, attached to this proposal as a living draft currently being evolved by the Bylaws Working Group.
The Bylaws document addresses the following sections:
- Anchor of the Association’s Identity (name, domicile, legal basis)
- Purpose, Vision, and Values
- Sociocratic Governance — definitions, principles, and relationship to the Assembly, Board, and Fiscal as required under Ley 218
- Governance Structure — roles, bodies, decision-making tiers, and their authorities
- Membership — stages, rights, responsibilities, entry and exit processes
- Governance of Resources — commons stewardship agreements, land use, shared assets
- Financial Practices — financial accountability, budget approval, transparency
- Conflict Resolution — process and escalation paths
- Amendments — process for evolving the Bylaws over time
This proposal and its attached Bylaws draft will be submitted to the General Assembly for ratification upon completion. Ratification requires a simple majority of Active Members present in good standing, per Article 12 of the DBC Constitution and Article 21 of Ley 218.
Current Proposal: