Version 1.0 5th May, 2026

Contribution is one of the core ways Regen Commons comes alive.

The commons grows through what members bring into it: knowledge, relationships, tools, practices, infrastructure, care, and other forms of value that can be shared, stewarded, and built on over time. This protocol is here to make that process more legible. It helps members understand what contribution can look like, how it is held, and how it begins during Cohort 1.

This is an evolving framework. It is meant to be usable now, while leaving room for the process to evolve through practice.

Guiding Principles

Contribution is a two-way relationship from the start. Reciprocity is one of the protocol's guiding principles: members give into the commons, and the commons gives back. When you contribute into the commons, the commons commits in return to:

• Honour your work — attribute it clearly, witness what it took to make, and hold it with care.
• Carry it forward — connect your work to aligned peers and other commons assets, so it meets work it would otherwise never meet, and reaches people who would otherwise never find it.
• Open the common pool to you — at admission, you receive access to everything other members and the commons itself have pooled: knowledge, methodologies, tools, relationships, infrastructure, ongoing work. Contribute into the commons, and the commons opens to you. The richer the commons grows, the more substantial this exchange becomes.
• Share stewardship where the contribution invites it — as your contribution matures and integrates into commons life, the commons takes on its share of carrying it. How this looks depends on the tier, the asset's maturity, and your ongoing relationship with the work — real but contextual, not a blanket promise.
• Develop ways to resource contributions over time — as the commons matures, develop structured ways to recognise and resource the people whose work keeps it alive (peer crediting, retrospective reward, maintenance support). The intention is foundational from day one; specific mechanisms are deferred to the full protocol.

What enters the commons shapes what the commons becomes; where your work enters shapes what your work becomes. The promise runs in both directions.

Before You Start: Three Things to Understand

Three concepts shape what this form asks of you. Each is described briefly here; the full reasoning lives in the Member Contribution Protocol document.

1. Four Tiers of Depth

Every asset-form contribution enters the commons at one of four depths. These are not a hierarchy you have to climb — each is a valid first contribution. They make the relationship between your asset and the commons explicit.

The four tiers map onto a more fundamental binary the commons uses for talking about its library — Indexed (assets present under terms you set) and Within (assets governed by terms the commons has set for itself). Tiers 1 and 2 are Indexed; Tiers 3 and 4 are Within.

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Pledging at Tier 2, 3, or 4 signals additional alignment and intent toward the commons. It is celebrated, not required. Tier 1 is a fully meaningful first contribution.

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