Civics Meeting Minutes 15th Jan 2026

Attendees:

Name	Attendance	Role	Voting Seat (Y/N)	Election Term
Nicolas Cerny,	Yes	Chair	Y	April 2026
Larisa Mcfarlane	Yes	Secretary	N	N/A
Thomas Lindseth	Yes	Intersect	N	N/A
Ken-Erik O	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Nana Safo	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Alex Seregin	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Randy	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Dzubang Mermoz	Yes	Member	Y	April 2026
Ian Hartwell	Yes	Member	Y	Oct 2026
Megan Dyamond	Apologies	Member	Y	Oct 2026
Musa Ridwan Itopa	No	Member	Y	Oct 2026

Recording: CIVICS Committee (Intersect) Meeting - 2026/01/15 12:57 GMT - Recording

Transcript: CIVICS Committee (Intersect) Meeting - 2026/01/15 12:57 GMT - Transcript

Chat Transcript: Cardano Civics Committee Meeting - 2025/8/21 - Chat Transcript

Agenda 15th Jan 26

• Governance action: “critical” parameter changes, SPO voting expectations

• Civics X Spaces next Wednesday proposal, regular monthly slot, naming & format

• CIP-149 comms plan, publication channels & reallocation discussion

• Working Group updates: CAP, Governance Education, Governance Health (paused)

• ​​Committee business: Vice Chair election & New proposal for Civics member stand-up (roles and focus)

Decisions/Actions

The following decisions and actions were identified from the CIVICS Committee meeting on January 15, 2026:

Decisions

• Committee Governance Proposal: Nicolas Cerny (NC) will prepare a formal proposal for next week regarding the term lengths (suggested 6 months) and separate voting events for both Chair and Vice Chair positions.

• Working Group Support: Larisa Mcfarlane (LM) and NC will provide SR with the template for the new Incentives Working Group charter to begin formalizing its priorities.

• Governance Literacy Data: Members are requested to fill out and share the Governance Education Working Group's data-gathering form to help identify educational gaps in the ecosystem.

• Education Form Enhancement: Nana Safo (NS) will update the education resource form to include a link to existing data to prevent repetitive submissions.

• Strategic Planning (Homework): Each committee member is tasked with identifying one specific topic they individually want to lead or work on regarding Cardano governance for 2026 to be discussed in the next session.

Action Items

• Vice Chair Election Process: Proceed with the Vice Chair election currently live on the Intersect members portal.

• Establishment of a New Working Group: The committee agreed to form a DRep Incentives Working Group, led by Seomon Register (SR), to consolidate and aggregate various compensation research and proposals.

• Regular Public Outreach: The committee locked in a regular "Civics Space" on X (Twitter) to be held every third Wednesday of the month, starting January 21st at 2 PM UTC.

• Explorer Accuracy Requirements: It was confirmed that an SPO vote is required for the current parameter change due to critical parameters; Intersect has approached known explorers to ensure they display this requirement correctly.

Topic	Discussion	Notes
Vice Chair Election Update	NC opened the agenda with the Vice Chair election. Two candidates have stepped forward. A controversy was addressed regarding DM's vote count from June 2025.	The poll is live on the Intersect members portal. Candidates have until the end of the call to register.
Internal Governance & Re-election Motion	NC discussed that committee governance is self-determined. He proposed a motion for a new chair election to ensure a fresh mandate every time new members join, though the motion was dismissed during the session.	Committees can technically trigger new elections for leadership roles at any time with the support of two members.
Election Transparency Controversy	DM raised concerns that original election framing suggested the second-place candidate would automatically become Vice Chair. TL confirmed June 12th minutes stated the Vice Chair election would be revisited, not finalized.	NC agreed the original framing was ambiguous and emphasized the need for clearer processes to avoid future controversy.
Vice Chair Election Proposal	NC proposed formalizing two separate voting events for Chair and Vice Chair in the future. He suggested 6-month terms aligning with the entry of new committee members.	NC will prepare a formal written proposal for the group to discuss next week.
CAP Working Group Update	NC and TL provided updates on the Constitutional Amendment Process (CAP). Analysis shows the new GitHub-based process fulfills nearly all requirements defined in Phase 1.	Next steps focus on repository setup and simplifying Git processes (e.g., issue templates) for non-technical users.
Gov Education Working Group Update	NS requested help filling a data-gathering form to identify existing governance literacy materials. Alex Seregin (AS) has prepared a Cardano Forum post for wide distribution.	Form aims to identify educational gaps. NC suggested adding a link to existing resources in the form to avoid duplicate entries.
Twitter (X) Spaces Initiative	LM scheduled an X Space for Wednesday, January 21st at 2 PM UTC. She proposed making this a regular monthly "Civics Space" every third Wednesday.	The space will cover Civics updates and recent governance actions. KEØ suggested experimenting with X live streams to reach a wider audience.
2026 Focus Areas & Homework	NC assigned "homework" for members to identify one specific topic (e.g., incentives, social workshops, or ledger logic) they want to lead in 2026.	Goals are to establish high-level objectives for the year and move toward a unified 2026 budget.
DRep Incentives Working Group	SR proposed a new working group to consolidate DRep and governance actor compensation efforts. TL noted existing SIPs and compensation talks by Murasaki (Emergo).	The group will act as an aggregation point for various existing incentive research and proposals.
Parameter Change Update (Param 03)	IH flagged an inconsistency in how explorers (ADAT, Cardano Scan, C Explorer) display voting requirements for critical parameter changes.	TL confirmed that because critical parameters are involved, an SPO vote is required; explorers have been notified to update their displays.