Colleagues, in last Wednesday's CPWG call, I offered the following suggestions with respect to the comment on evolving the multistakeholder model:

I grouped all 21 issues presented to us on the previous call inside 4 categories -- explicitly recognizing that some of these things fit into various categories.

1. Structural issues -- Wholistic view (20); Complexity (2); Roles and responsibilities (15); Terms (21); Accountability (11);Transparency (12)

2. Process issues -- Precision in scoping (10); Prioritization (4); Efficient use of resources (16); Work processes (19); Costs (13); Consensus (9); Timing (1)

3. Participation issues -- Demographics (5); Recruitment (6); Representativeness (7); Inclusiveness (8); Volunteer burnout (17)

4. Intergroup relations -- Cultural issues (13); Trust (14); Silos/tribalism (18)

I then suggested that we take each category and present our thoughts on how we can address these issues -- paying attention to the fact that addressing one group of issues will impact issues in other groups. This way of proceeding seemed to meet the approval of those who were on the call.

In continuation, during the call, we focussed on the "low hanging fruit" here -- namely category 4: Intergroup relations -- i.e the perceived lack of trust, tribalism and silos, etc. which can result in stalled processes that can go on forever and eventually lead nowhere or sometimes result in time consuming and unproductive negative interactions between groups and/or individuals.

Here are some suggestions offered for potential recommendations on how this group of issues might be addressed:

– that training in multistakeholder processes be an important part of onboarding activities

– that consensus be clearly defined and that all parties to a policy process commit to the the goal of achieving consensus  

– that a culture of trust be supported by consequences for publicly disparaging other groups 

– a commitment by ICANN to fully address the resource needs (both financial and human resources) of volunteer groups working in the SO/AC communities

I have not yet had an opportunity to go back to the recording of the call so not all suggestions are reflected here. However, in the interests of moving the process along (deadline June 4), please use the suggestions offered here to begin a discussion on how we should respond to this call for comments.

Thank you

Marita