Civics Meeting Minutes Aug 21 2025

Aug 21, 2025 | Cardano Civics Committee

Attendees:

Name	Attendance	Role	Voting Seat (Y/N)	Election Term
Nicolas Cerny,	Yes	Chair	Y	April 2026
Larisa Mcfarlane	Yes	Secretary	N	N/A
Thomas Lindseth	No	Intersect	N	N/A
Ken-Erik O	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Nana Safo	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Alex Seregin	No	Member	Y	April 2026
Randy	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Taichi Yokoyama	No	Member	Y	October 2025
Reshan Fernando	No	Member	Y	October 2025
Daniela Alves	No	Member	Y	October 2025
Takeshi Ohishi	No	Member	Y	October 2025
Dzubang Mermoz	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026

Recording: CIVICS Committee (Intersect) Mtg - 2025/08/21 13:59 BST - Recording

Transcript: CIVICS Committee (Intersect) Mtg - 2025/08/21 13:59 BST - Transcript

Intros/COI

Agenda 21.Aug.25

1	Welcome - Chair Update
2	Feedback on New Constitution Gov Action Call
3	Committee Meeting Cadence
4	Member Status & Offboarding
5	Working group updates: Governance Health Working Group Charter (10 min) Governance Education Working Group (Nana) CC Election WG (KenErik)
5	AOB & Close

Decisions/Actions

Decisions

• Stance on Constitution Proposal: The committee reached a consensus that while the substance of Yuta's proposed constitution is an improvement, the process by which it was drafted is a significant concern due to a lack of broad community involvement.

• Committee's Role: It was discussed that the committee's primary role is to facilitate good governance processes and point out potential risks, not to formally endorse or reject the specific content of community-led proposals.

• Community Engagement: The committee decided to begin hosting regular X (Twitter) Spaces to improve transparency and engagement with the Cardano community.

Action Items

• Larisa: Create a shared document for committee members to add their individual feedback on Utah's constitution proposal.

• Larisa: Schedule the first meeting for the Governance Health Working Group and set up its dedicated Discord channel.

• Nicolas: Draft a formal plan for establishing a Constitutional Amendment working group, with the intent to invite Utah to participate.

• Nicolas: Reach out to John Green (Cardano Foundation) to invite him to join the Education Working Group.

• Nana: Finalize and publish the social media post to recruit new members for the Education Working Group.

• Ken-Erik: Speak with representatives from top-tier exchanges at the key opinion leader summit next week to encourage them to participate in the CC election vote.

• All Members: Prepare to vote next week on the formal proposal to establish the Constitutional Amendment working group.

Topic	Discussion	Notes
1. Governance & Agenda Overview	Nicolas opened the meeting by reviewing four active governance actions, including two treasury withdrawals, the interim Constitutional Committee (CC) replacement, and a new constitution proposal. He also outlined the agenda, including working group updates and a status update for offboarding absent members.	The committee has several active governance items to discuss.
2. Yuta's Constitution Proposal	The committee discussed the new Constitution proposal. Ken-Erik noted no major "red flags" but felt it needed wider community debate. Nicolas and Nana praised the substance of the proposal but expressed concerns about the process by which it was drafted, feeling it lacked broad community involvement. Dzubang recalled that a previous, formal workstream on this topic had dissolved, and this new proposal doesn't address all the critical issues from the original constitutional convention.	General consensus is that the proposal's content is strong, but the drafting process is a point of concern.
3. Path Forward on Constitutional Amendments	The committee discussed options going forward, including engaging Yuta to form a formal working group. Ken-Erik proposed that the Civics Committee could facilitate this by providing administrative support and helping the group create a formal governance action with a budget to get community buy-in. Nicolas agreed, suggesting they start by drafting a document outlining this process.	Action: Larisa will create a shared document for committee members to provide individual feedback on Yuta's proposal. <br> Action: Nicolas will draft a document outlining a plan to establish a formal Constitutional Amendment working group, inviting Yuta to participate. The committee will vote on this next week.
4. Civics Committee's Role in Proposals	Ken-Erik clarified that he believes the committee's role is not to endorse the content of a proposal, but to help facilitate the process, ensure it's constitutional, and point out any major risks or loopholes to the ecosystem.	The committee's mandate is to support process and governance health, not to pass judgment on the specific content of community proposals.
5. CC Election Status	The committee reviewed the progress of the CC election vote. Nicolas expressed high confidence that participation thresholds will be met. Larisa noted that Stake Pool Operator (SPO) participation was increasing but stressed the importance of pushing for a strong majority, not just scraping by. Nana questioned if SPOs were reviewing the action or just voting because they were asked.	Confidence is high, but the push for voter participation continues.
6. SPO & Exchange Voter Turnout	Ken-Erik offered a more cautious perspective, highlighting the technical effort required for SPOs to vote and his concern about the lack of participation from large institutional stakeholders and exchanges so far. He noted that unlike a hard fork, this vote doesn't directly impact their customers, reducing their urgency.	Action: Ken-Erik will speak with representatives from top-tier exchanges at a summit next week to encourage them to vote or use the auto-abstain function.
7. Community Engagement via X Spaces	Following a successful X (Twitter) Space, Larisa offered to host another. The group discussed making it a regular event. Nicolas suggested a weekly space with alternating time zones for global inclusion. Ken-Erik proposed expanding the topics beyond the election to include things like Yuta's proposal and the purpose of the Civics committee.	Action: The committee will plan to host regular X Spaces to improve community engagement and transparency.
8. Governance Health Working Group	Nicolas has finalized the working group's charter, updating the decision-making process to a "lazy consensus" model to improve efficiency. He is actively trying to recruit "Homer" from X to leverage his data analysis skills.	Action: Larisa will schedule the first meeting for the working group for the following Tuesday and set up a dedicated Discord channel.
9. Education Working Group	Nana reported that the group met and the charter is in a good state. They have identified potential members with professional education backgrounds to invite. They are also preparing a public call for more members. Nicolas suggested inviting John Green from the Cardano Foundation.	Action: Nana is preparing a public post to recruit new members for the working group, which will be shared soon. <br> Action: Nicolas will reach out to John Green to invite him to the group.
10. Housekeeping & Closing	Larisa informed the committee that she has updated the README file in the main Civics repository to make it easier for members to navigate and find documents. The meeting was then adjourned.	The meeting concluded on time.