🌿 Mossdale Village Hall
As part of our efforts to establish the hall as a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) we have drafted a discussion document called
Ethics as Community Practice — Foundational Charter (v1.0)
Purpose:
To root our shared actions, decisions, and relationships in attentiveness, reciprocity, and integrity — honouring both people and place.
This Charter is not a fixed code but a living agreement, reviewed seasonally and grown through practice.
1. Principles of Practice
1.1. Attentiveness
We begin with listening — to each other, to land, to weather, to silence.
Ethical action starts with awareness.
1.2. Reciprocity
We recognise interdependence. Every act — planting, building, deciding — involves a return.
We give back what we take, in kind or in care.
1.3. Transparency
Community thrives on trust.
All decisions, spending, and partnerships are open to scrutiny.
Secrecy corrodes; openness fertilises.
1.4. Stewardship
We hold resources (soil, time, energy, money) as commons, not possessions.
Our role is custodial, ensuring the hall and its lands endure beyond our lifetimes.
1.5. Inclusion
All voices are valued.
We seek diversity of age, background, ability, and belief — seeing difference as strength.
Consensus, not dominance, is our method.
2. Community Practice
2.1. Ethics Circles
Monthly open gatherings for reflection and dialogue.
Members share dilemmas, gratitude, and learnings.
Facilitators rotate each season.
2.2. Commons Logbook
A shared ledger (digital + physical) recording not only what is done, but how it is done — documenting process, tone, and ecological impact.
2.3. Seasonal Reviews
At solstice and equinox, the Charter is read aloud, amended where necessary, and renewed.
These gatherings are celebratory — music, food, and storytelling ground the ethical reflection in joy.
2.4. Reciprocity Acts
For every project (event, build, purchase), we include a reciprocal gesture — planting, volunteering, or creative offering to the land or community.
3. Ecological Governance
3.1. Decision-Making
We weigh choices not only in terms of cost or convenience but relationship — does this choice sustain or diminish connection?
This becomes our measure of right action.
3.2. Energy & Materials
Wherever possible, we use local, renewable, and non-toxic resources.
Waste is designed out; reuse and repair are celebrated.
3.3. Time as an Ethical Resource
We move at human and seasonal pace.
Urgency is not an excuse for carelessness.
4. Cultural Practice
4.1. Art as Inquiry
Creative expression is one way the community thinks and feels together.
Art at Mossdale is not decoration; it’s dialogue.
4.2. Story as Stewardship
We keep the story of this place alive — past, present, and imagined futures — as an ethical act of belonging.
4.3. Celebration
Feasts, music, and laughter are forms of gratitude.
Joy is part of the moral ecology.
5. Living Document
This Charter is amended through shared consent at seasonal assemblies and held publicly within the Village Hall
We welcome your comments and ideas related to this document which will be presented in 2026 to the AGM run January 6th 2026 for consideration in the overall constitution.
