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EcoHubs RCOS Standard
Layer 1 · Membership System

Membership Agreement

Signed (or explicitly acknowledged) by every member at the time of admission. Defines the rights and obligations of each membership state.

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Membership State on Signing

What is someone agreeing to be, at the moment they sign?

RCOS clauses 3.1.2, 3.1.4
  • 3.1.2 At minimum, the following membership states MUST exist:
  • 3.1.4 No individual MAY hold multiple membership states simultaneously.
Why declare state at signing?

Membership is not a single binary. A person joining must know exactly which state they are entering — Trial or Full — because the state determines what they can do and what is expected of them. Naming it at the moment of consent prevents ambiguity later about what they actually signed up for.

How to fill this in

State which membership state(s) a new member enters at signing (e.g. Trial Member, Full Member, or any custom state defined in your Membership State Registry).

<Membership state assigned at signing — e.g. Trial Member on application approval; Full Member on onboarding completion.>

What to cover

  • Which membership state does someone hold the moment they sign this agreement — named exactly as in our Membership State Registry?
  • Does everyone sign at the same point, or can signing happen at different stages — and which state does each signing give?
  • How does the person see, before they sign, which state they are agreeing to enter?

Examples

Anyone who signs this agreement after their application is approved becomes a Trial Member on the day they sign. They become a Full Member only when their onboarding completion is recorded; signing alone never makes someone a Full Member.

Examples, not recommendations. Your answers will be your own.

Member Rights

What are each member's rights, in proportion to what we ask of them?

RCOS clauses 3.4.1, 3.4.3, 3.4.4
  • 3.4.1 The community MUST explicitly define member rights.
  • 3.4.3 Rights and obligations MUST be symmetrical and proportionate to membership state.
  • 3.4.4 No obligation MAY be enforced without a corresponding, documented right.
Why enumerate rights explicitly?

Rights that are not written down are rights that can be quietly withdrawn. Enumerating them makes the community's commitments legible, enforceable, and symmetrical with the obligations members are asked to carry. Without this list, obligations become open-ended demands with no reciprocal protection.

How to fill this in

List concrete rights granted to each membership state. Reference the Decision Matrix (Layer 2) for voting rights, the Role Registry (Layer 5) for role eligibility, and Layer 4 for due-process guarantees.

  1. <Right 1, e.g. the right to vote on all decisions as defined in the Decision Matrix.>
  2. <Right 2, e.g. the right to access all member-only channels, calls, and community records.>
  3. <Right 3, e.g. the right to hold roles as defined in the Role Registry.>
  4. <Right 4, e.g. the right to earn recognition through recognized contributions.>
  5. <Right 5, e.g. the right to propose changes through the governance process.>
  6. <Right 6, e.g. the right to raise a conflict through the Conflict Resolution Ladder without retaliation.>
  7. <Right 7, e.g. the right to exit the community voluntarily at any time.>
  8. <Right 8, e.g. the right to due process before any forced exit, suspension, or access restriction.>

What to cover

  • For each membership state: which rights does a member in that state hold?
  • Which rights hold for everyone, in every state — such as raising a concern without retaliation, or leaving at any time?
  • Do the rights of each state match what we ask of that state, so that the more we ask, the more protection and say a member has?
  • Where a right is set in another document — voting in the Decision Matrix, roles in the Role Registry — do we point to it rather than write it twice?

Examples

Every member, in any state, may raise a conflict through the Conflict Resolution Ladder without retaliation, read the community's governance records, and leave at any time. Trial Members may also join all meetings and propose agenda items. Full Members may additionally vote on decisions as set out in the Decision Matrix, hold roles listed in the Role Registry, and propose changes to any agreement. Full Members carry the work rota and shared costs, so they also hold the vote that Trial Members do not.

Examples, not recommendations. Your answers will be your own.

Member Obligations

What does the community expect of each member — and where does that expectation stop?

RCOS clauses 3.4.2, 3.4.4, 3.4.5
  • 3.4.2 The community MUST explicitly define member obligations.
  • 3.4.4 No obligation MAY be enforced without a corresponding, documented right.
  • 3.4.5 Obligations MUST NOT be open-ended or undefined.
Why bound obligations tightly?

Open-ended obligations are how communities slide into exploitation — "contribute more," "be available," "show up" with no defined limit. Listing obligations discretely, and tying each one to a corresponding right, keeps the ask bounded and contestable. A member must always be able to tell whether they are meeting the agreement or being asked for something beyond it.

How to fill this in

List concrete, bounded obligations. Each obligation must be testable: a member must be able to know whether they are meeting it. Avoid vague duties.

  1. <Obligation 1, e.g. adhere to all Layer 0 identity constraints and invariants at all times.>
  2. <Obligation 2, e.g. contribute to the community in at least one recognized category per defined period.>
  3. <Obligation 3, e.g. participate in conflict resolution processes when named as a party or requested as a witness.>
  4. <Obligation 4, e.g. complete onboarding before exercising Full Member rights.>
  5. <Obligation 5, e.g. notify the community before extended absence.>
  6. <Obligation 6, e.g. not misrepresent the community, its members, or its governance externally.>
  7. <Obligation 7, e.g. not exercise authority beyond what is explicitly assigned through the governance system.>

What to cover

  • For each obligation: what exactly is asked, and how would a member know whether they are meeting it?
  • Where does each obligation stop — how much, how often, for how long?
  • Which documented right does each obligation correspond to? (The rights themselves are their own question.)
  • Which obligations apply in every membership state, and which only in some?
  • Is there anything we quietly expect of members that is not written down — and should we write it down or drop it?

Examples

Every member keeps to our identity constraints, takes part in a conflict process when named as a party, does not speak for the community in public without a mandate from the general meeting, and does not use community money or accounts beyond the authority a role gives them. Each obligation is matched by a right in this agreement, such as the right to a fair process and to hold roles. Nothing else may be required of a member unless this list is changed by decision.

Examples, not recommendations. Your answers will be your own.

Participation and Contribution Expectations

What counts as participation, how much is enough, may someone send a stand-in — and what happens when someone stops?

RCOS clauses 3.5.1, 3.5.2, 3.5.3, 3.5.4
  • 3.5.1 Participation expectations MUST be explicitly defined.
  • 3.5.2 Acceptable forms of contribution MUST be listed.
  • 3.5.3 Substitution of participation (e.g., outsourcing labor) MUST be explicitly governed.
  • 3.5.4 Persistent non-participation MUST trigger an accountability process as defined in Layer 4.
Why define participation in numbers?

"Active member" means nothing without a threshold. A defined minimum — in time, category, and cadence — turns participation from a feeling into a fact, so nobody has to guess whether they are in good standing, and nobody can be accused of drifting without evidence. It also makes the line between a genuine absence and quiet abandonment visible early enough to act on.

How to fill this in

State a measurable minimum (frequency × category), substitution and absence rules, and the trigger that moves a non-participating member into a Layer 4 process.

  • Minimum contribution: <e.g. at least one recognized contribution per 6 months, in any recognized category.>
  • Recognized categories: <reference the Internal Economy Protocol (Layer 3).>
  • Substitution: <e.g. a member may delegate a specific task but remains responsible for meeting overall contribution expectations.>
  • Extended absence: <e.g. notification required before absences longer than X months; expectations paused for the notified period up to a maximum.>
  • Non-participation trigger: <e.g. absence of recognized contribution for X consecutive months without prior notice triggers an accountability check (Layer 4).>

What to cover

  • Which forms of contribution do we recognise?
  • How much is enough — how many contributions, of which kinds, over what period?
  • May someone send a stand-in, or pay someone to do their share — for which tasks, and who stays responsible?
  • How does someone tell us they will be away, and for how long can expectations be paused?
  • After how long without participation, and without notice, does an accountability process start — and who starts it? (What that process does is set in the Conflict Resolution Ladder.)

Examples

We recognise four forms of contribution: work-days on the land, cooking for shared meals, facilitating or taking minutes at meetings, and tasks from the maintenance rota. Each member contributes at least 8 hours a month across any of these. A member may swap a task with another member, but may not pay an outsider to do their share. Expectations pause for up to 3 months if the member tells the membership steward in advance. Two consecutive months below the minimum without notice opens an accountability check.

Examples, not recommendations. Your answers will be your own.

Due Process Reference

What protects a member when the community turns against them?

RCOS clauses 3.6.3
  • 3.6.3 Forced exit MUST follow due process and be handled through Layer 4 mechanisms.
Why re-state due process here?

The Membership Agreement is the one document every member actually reads and consents to. Naming due process here — not only in Layer 4 — guarantees that no member can be removed or restricted under a rule they were not shown when they joined. It closes the gap between what the community promises and what it can do.

How to fill this in

Reference the Conflict Resolution Ladder (Layer 4) and the Exit & Separation Protocol so that any member reading the Membership Agreement knows where the procedural protections live.

Any forced exit, suspension, or access restriction follows Layer 4 due process and the Exit & Separation Protocol.

What to cover

  • Which documents protect a member against removal, suspension or restricted access — and does this agreement name each one?
  • In one or two plain sentences, what do we promise here, so that nobody is removed or restricted under a rule they were never shown?
  • How does a member reading this agreement find the current version of those documents?

Examples

No member can be removed, suspended or have their access restricted except through the processes in our Conflict Resolution Ladder and our Exit & Separation Protocol. Both are linked from this agreement. No rule that is not written in one of those two documents can be used against a member.

Examples, not recommendations. Your answers will be your own.

Ratification Record

Who adopted this agreement, when, and how was it decided?

  • Adopted: <YYYY-MM-DD>
  • Decision type: Strategic
  • Version: <version>
  • Decision record: <link to decision record>

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