Dear Councilors,

We ran out of time to discuss the 2025 Strategic Planning Session (SPS) Outcomes (Agenda Item 8) during the last Council meeting, so we have moved this item to the list.  

What is this about?

Approximately one month ago, many of us were together in chilly Washington, DC, and during our final session, we reviewed a short, bulleted list of outcomes from the SPS. Support Staff took the short list and added some detail to these outcomes and action items. Following Council review, Support Staff will produce a more detailed SPS Outcomes Report and develop a more detailed plan, including identifying volunteers, to begin work on these outcomes and actions.

What am I being asked to do now?

Councilors are asked to perform a quick review the SPS Outcomes List and confirm if the outcomes and actions were captured correctly. We realize this is a busy time as we head into ICANN82, so there will be more time for thorough review once the draft Outcomes Report is distributed. (For those of you who appreciate a beautiful Oxford comma, your time is coming.)  

Where can I find the draft SPS Outcomes?

Here is a link to the SPS Outcomes Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xsVKRbtJVsJg3V7opTpJr5T0-4LFafuYaojq44ikG5g/edit?usp=sharing.

For ease of reference, the outcomes are also included below.

Due date?

Tuesday, 25 February As we are asking for a cursory review only so that we can identify anything that may need to be discussed further in person at ICANN82, please provide feedback in the document or on list by Tuesday, 25 February.

Thank you! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Caitlin

--

DRAFT SPS OUTCOMES

1. GNSO Council’s Role as Manager of the PDP vis-a-vis previously-adopted GNSO PDP recommendations that the Board may “un-adopt”: 

• OUTCOME: GNSO Council discussed and crystallized their ideas for a proposed process for the ICANN Board to “un-adopt” a previously-adopted GNSO PDP policy recommendation:
• ACTION: GNSO Support Staff and Council leadership to propose questions to ICANN org (and possibly others) regarding the preferred method to capture the process for the Board to un-adopt a GNSO recommendation, e.g., advisory, correspondence, et.al.

2. GNSO Council’s Role as Manager of the PDP vis-a-vis non-consensus recommendations: 

• ACTION: Support Staff to collect metrics from at least the last five years regarding consensus designations and Council voting outcomes to inform the current Council on how non-consensus recommendations have been treated in the most recent PDPs.
• ACTION: GNSO Council to communicate the ideas identified during the SPS for how the Council could potentially handle non-consensus recommendations (e.g., scorecard, remanding, reengaging when circumstances change) with the Board Readiness team.

3. GNSO Council’s Role as Manager of the PDP: 

• OUTCOME: During its discussion of the Council’s unique role with respect to policy development, the Council discussed the “picket fence”. Following a discussion of the picket fence and the relevant language in the Bylaws, the Council requested additional background to develop an increased understanding. 
• ACTION: Support Staff to consolidate the relevant Bylaws language related to the picket fence and circulate it to the Council to ensure the Council has a shared understanding

4. GNSO Council’s Role as Manager of the PDP vis-a-vis an Aspirational Statement: 

• ACTION: GNSO Council to reconsider an aspirational statement, which is a statement designed (i) to reinforce the Council’s role as manager of the PDP and (ii) to help councilors socialize the unique role of councilors to their respective Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies. The Council agreed the aspirational statement is NOT binding, a voting directive, or intended to limit the actions of Councilors. 

5. GNSO Council’s Role as Manager of the PDP vis-a-vis its Tools: 

• ACTION: GNSO Council agreed to participate in two comprehensive reviews of the GNSO Projects List, the first to occur prior to the Community Forum (ICANN82) and second to occur prior to the Annual General Meeting (ICANN84). 
• ACTION: The first comprehensive review will occur during the Pre-ICANN82 GNSO Council webinar. 
• OUTCOME: GNSO Councilors expressed an interest in understanding how the Projects List could better show interrelated projects. 
• ACTION: GNSO Support Staff to highlight interrelated projects by calling out interdependencies and including anchor links into the Projects List.

6. GNSO Council’s Ancillary Work Management: Committees, Small Teams, Liaisons - (GNSO Council Standing Committee on Continuous Improvements (“SCCI”):

• ACTION: In an effort for the GNSO Council to better understand the portfolio of upcoming work for the SCCI, GNSO Support Staff to provide a detailed presentation during a future Council meeting. 

7. GNSO Council’s Ancillary Work Management: Committees, Small Teams, Liaisons - Role of GNSO Council Liaison to the GAC:

• ACTION: GNSO Council Liaison to the GAC to perform a review of mutual topics of interest to both the GAC and GNSO and identify potential subject matter expert volunteers that could assist with capacity building, knowledge sharing, and improved communication between the GNSO and GAC.
• ACTION: GNSO Council Liaison to the GAC to provide a progress report to the Council on the enhanced communication efforts in six months.

8. GNSO Council’s Ancillary Work Management: Committees, Small Teams, Liaisons - WSIS + 20:

• ACTION: GNSO Council to form an informal small team to track the progress of this work and provide ad hoc updates to the Council as needed. Small team volunteers: Anne Aikman-Scalese, Farzaneh Badii, Sebastien Ducos, Bruna Martins de Santo, Desiree Miloshevic.