Our pledge
The CENTR community is committed to providing a safe, respectful and welcoming environment for all members, contributors and participants. We invite all those who participate in the CENTR community to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone.
Our standards
This Code of Conduct applies to all CENTR events (both in-person and online), communication and all community activities organised by and within CENTR, including mailing lists and other communication channels and platforms.
We expect all CENTR Community members and participants to:
- Be respectful and patient. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour.
- Be kind to others. Avoid insults, derogatory remarks, or disrespectful behaviour towards fellow participants. Treat everyone with respect, courtesy, and professionalism.
- Be careful in the words that you choose. Sexist, racist, ageist, ableist and other exclusionary jokes can be offensive to those around you.
- Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow community members. Alert CENTR staff and meeting hosts if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential.
Unacceptable behaviour from any community member or participant will not be tolerated. We ask all CENTR community members to stay clear from:
- Any derogatory or discriminatory speech or conduct related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, medical condition, disability or any other discriminatory grounds.
- Any public or private harassment, including unwelcome sexual attention and unwelcome physical contact.
If a community member or participant engages in unacceptable behaviour, CENTR may take any action it deems appropriate, including a temporary ban or permanent expulsion from the community without warning. Any measure that restricts the ability of a community member to participate in the CENTR activities requires Board approval.
Reporting
If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behaviour, or have any other concerns, please notify our Response Team as soon as possible at
The Response Team is composed of a CENTR Board member, a Chair or Vice-Chair of a Working Group and the HR manager of DNS Belgium.
If one of the Response Team members is a potential offender or subject of the report, if they work in the same organisation of either the victim or the offender, or whenever their impartiality could reasonably be questioned, they will step down from the Response Team at the request of at least 2 people from the team. Should the Response Team, as a consequence of this conflict of interest rule, consist of less than 2 people, the team will be recomposed by the CENTR Board of Directors.
Role of the Code of Conduct Response Team
The role of the Response Team is three-fold:
- During or in the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Response Team is available to support the victim and take action to protect the safety of any community member. In order to be prepared for such an event, all Response Team members are trained and briefed on the actions they can take.
Where a report or request for support is made to an individual member of the Response Team, that member may take such immediate et proportionate conservatory measures as are reasonably necessary to support the victim or protect the safety of any community member. Where practicable, the member should consult the Response Team before taking action. If prior consultation is not reasonably possible because of urgency, confidentiality, discretion or any legitimate reason, the member must inform the Response Team as soon as reasonably possible.
- As a follow-up to an incident, the Response Team might draft advice to the CENTR Board suggesting appropriate measures to be taken (see below). This advice must include a report of the event, any relevant history and a suggested course of action. Suggestions can include recommendations for preventive measures, recommendations for removal of an individual from the community and training.
- The Code of Conduct Team receives any written complaints about Code of Conduct infringements and decides on follow-up actions or drafts a written advise to the CENTR Board
Additionally, dedicated CENTR staffers and meeting hosts are available to help community members engage with local law enforcement or help those experiencing unacceptable behaviour to feel safe.
In the context of in-person events, CENTR staff and hosts will provide escorts as desired by the person experiencing distress.
Procedure to file a formal complaint with the Code of Conduct Response Team
Any person who considers themselves to be the victim of conduct prohibited under this Code of Conduct may file a formal complaint with the Code of Conduct Team. To do so, the person must submit their report by email to the CoC Team email address or to one of the members of the CoC Team (see contact details above).
The report must be sufficiently detailed and documented and must include the following information (when the relevant information is known):
- The explicit statement that the report constitutes a report made under this Code of Conduct.
- A detailed description of the facts and how they came to the attention of the reporting person;
- the date and place of the facts;
- the names and functions of the persons concerned, or information enabling their identification;
- the names of other persons, if any, who can confirm the reported facts; and
- any other information or elements that may help the Code of Conduct Response Team to verify the facts.
Within three working days following receipt of the email, the person will receive an acknowledgement of receipt of their report.
Any report will be kept in a secure repository that can be accessed by the Members of the Code of Conduct Response Team and the CENTR General Manager and Office Manager.
The Code of Conduct Team will then follow up on the situation in a reasonable timeframe. Follow-up means any action taken to assess the accuracy of the allegations made in the report. Where relevant the Code of Conduct Team will suggest a course of action to the CENTR Board (see below).
Role of the CENTR Board
The CENTR Board might receive reports from the Code of Conduct Team. If the report suggests a course of action, the CENTR Board will decide on whether to follow the advice or not. If it decides to not follow the advice, the CENTR Board will motivate its decision and inform the Code of Conduct Response Team immediately.
Feedback by the Code of Conduct Team
The Code of Conduct Team will provide appropriate feedback to the reporting person within a reasonable timeframe, not exceeding three months from the date of the acknowledgement of receipt of the report.
This Code of Conduct is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.
Credits for the sources and inspiration of this code of conduct go to Citizen Code of Conduct, SpeakUp! and Contributor Covenant.