Civics Meeting Minutes 5th Feb 2026

Feb 5, 2026 | Civics Committee

Attendees:

Name	Attendance	Role	Voting	Election Term
Nicolas Cerny,	Apologies	Chair	Y	April 2026
Larisa Mcfarlane	Yes	Secretary	N	N/A
Thomas Lindseth	Apologies	Intersect	N	N/A
Ken-Erik O	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Nana Safo	Apologies	Member	Y	April 2026
Alex Seregin	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Randy	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Dzubang Mermoz	Part	Member	Y	April 2026
Ian Hartwell	Yes	Member	Y	October 2026
Megan Dyamond	Yes	Member	Y	October 2026
Musa Ridwan Itopa	Yes	Member	Y	October 2026
Simon Fleck	No	Member	Y	October 2026

Recording: CIVICS Committee (Intersect) Meeting - 2026/02/05 12:59 GMT - Recording

Meeting Agenda: CIVICS Committee

1. Welcome, Chair Updates & Housekeeping

2. Committee Budget Framework Update & Feedback

3. Committee & CC Elections – Timelines

4. Working Group Updates

5. Governance Action Awareness & Updates

Key Decisions Made

• Budget Framework Feedback: The committee decided to provide immediate feedback (within 24–48 hours) on the Intersect draft budget guidance to identify any unconstitutional issues or civics-specific suggestions.

• Establishment of Budget Working Group: A formal active workstream was established to develop the 2026–2027 Civics Committee budget.

• Delegate Inclusion: The committee decided to open the budget working group to Constitutional Convention delegates, encouraging them to participate in the planning process.

• Amendment Categorization: The CAP Working Group decided to resume the task of categorizing constitutional amendment types (e.g., grammatical vs. substantive) to better tailor review processes and community feedback loops.

• Nairobi Meeting Status: Due to the "Governance Day" in Nairobi, it was decided that next week’s session will be an informal, non-formal space as a quorum is unlikely.

Actions

Owner	Task Description	Status/Deadline
All Members	Review the draft Intersect budget guidance document and submit comments via Discord.	ASAP (Today/Tomorrow)
LM	Establish the active budget workstream and organize meeting times/dates in the Discord channel.	Immediate
MI, MD, IH	Join the newly formed Budget Working Group as the primary volunteer members.	Confirmed
MD & CAP WG	Finalize the categorization list for amendment types and re-evaluate the review process based on these types.	Next WG Meeting
KØ	Prepare for and host the "informal space" next week in place of the regular formal meeting.	Feb 12, 2026
NS	Complete the analysis of the Google form survey for the Governance Education Working Group once returned.	Pending Return
LM	Space reschedule for a later date.	To be Scheduled

Notes

Topic	Discussion	Notes
Meeting Opening & Updates	KØ chaired the meeting with support from LM. Agenda included housekeeping, budget frameworks, CC election timelines, and governance actions. LM confirmed observer admission.	ISC update: Budget process has commenced; discussions on extending committee terms are underway.
Committee Budget Framework	LM introduced a draft guidance document for the upcoming budget season. Committees are advised to target budget requests below 1 million ADA.	Civics had no 2025 budget; the new process aims for consistency across all Intersect committees and alignment with Cardano goals.
Budget Constraints & Compliance	Discussion on exclusions from the budget: operating costs, member programs, travel, and direct delivery payments to maintain independence.	New constitutional requirements: Must declare funding from previous 24 months and include funds for third-party audits.
Budget Timeline	MI inquired about the schedule. Submissions are due by end of February. Treasury withdrawal is expected Aug/Sept. First payments anticipated late July.	Submission window: late March to mid-April. The current draft document remains subject to revision.
Budget Working Group	KØ called for volunteers to draft the 2026-2027 budget. MI, MD, and IH expressed interest. LM will facilitate the workstream via Discord.	Constitutional Convention delegates will be invited to participate in this working group to ensure broad representation.
Election Overlap Management	LM presented timelines for CC and committee elections. Off-chain CC voting and the treasury withdrawal action will occur as new civics members are seated.	Goal: Manage overlaps to prevent DREP "vote fatigue." Current members are encouraged to stand for re-election for continuity.
CAP Working Group Update	MD reported on the Constitutional Amendment Proposal (CAP) group. Reviewed forms for amendment submissions and feedback loops for authors.	Key Action: Resuming categorization of amendment types to tailor the specific review and community feedback processes.
Governance Education & Events	RR noted the Education WG is on hold pending survey analysis by NS.	Members (including LM) are attending a Governance Day in Nairobi next week for in-person community engagement.
Governance Actions Tracker	KØ reviewed actions via cv.io, including DeFi liquidity budget, hard fork naming, and protocol parameter changes (memory increase).	IH reported the protocol parameter DREP vote rose to 39% following votes from Eternal and CFD. High optimism for meeting thresholds.
Critical Action Status	Treasury withdrawal needs 67% DREP approval; currently low CC participation. The hard fork naming action has successfully reached its threshold.	The Net Chain Limit (NCL) proposal is identified as critical for the budget process. Voting trends show a one-week lag before DREP activity.