HORIZONTAL GOVERNANCE
How do we flow together?
Catfarm is an intentional community in the South of France, near Montpellier, where creativity, belonging, and regeneration come alive. Through non-formal education, we invite curious minds to explore intentional community living and to co-create a regenerative future grounded in resourcefulness, collaboration, and imagination.
For the past five years, we have been collectively and continuously shaping our horizontal governance structure to bring balance, clarity, and resilience to our decision-making. Inspired by sociocracy and holacracy, we distribute responsibilities across circles and roles to reduce hierarchical power dynamics and strengthen transparency, accountability, and collaboration.
Every part of our structure has gone through collective rounds of questions, reactions, and objections before being implemented, and it remains open to review at any time. We aim for a healthy balance between horizontality and verticality, supported by clear, adaptable processes that cultivate trust, cooperation, and grounded action, even in moments of crisis.
Governance Principles
Circles
A Circle is a group of people working together around a common purpose. Each Circle is responsible for a specific area of community life while staying connected to Catfarm’s overall vision.
And seven Sub-Circles →
Roles
A Role is a set of specific responsibilities within a Circle, energised by one person. Each role has:
- Purpose: why it exists.
- Responsibilities: what must be done.
- Domains: what it can decide/control.
- Checklist/Metrics: how we track progress.
Ensure a shared direction and purpose
Cultivate gardens and provide food.
Initiate and support artistic projects.
Maintain hygiene, comfort, and living quality.
Manage and improve infrastructure.
Balance human energy, promote well-being and hold the community culture.
Manage budgets and bookkeeping.
The Guardian Role
Each Sub-Circle is represented in the Anchor Circle by a Guardian. This role is energised by a person from the Sub-Circle and has three essential functions:
- To carry the energy of their Sub-Circle into the Anchor Circle, ensuring its voice and needs are heard.
- To keep the domains of the community balanced, maintaining coherence between Sub-Circles and the whole.
To define weekly priorities together with the other Guardians, feeling into the needs of the group and balancing the energy between Circles.
Guardians act as bridges, aligning Sub-Circle autonomy with community-wide purpose and preventing imbalances in governance or resources.
Circle Meetings & Decision-Making
Meeting Roles
Every meeting is guided by two key roles:
Facilitator: ensures the meeting follows the agreed method, keeps time, and supports the consent process.
Secretary: takes notes and publishes outcomes.
Meeting Rhythm
Sub-Circles meet at the start of each week.
The Anchor Circle meets every Friday, with Guardians from all Sub-Circles, to align and take final decisions.
All information from meetings is published in the Catfarm Wiki (currently hosted on Notion), which organises community knowledge and ensures transparency.
Tensions & Consent Process
At Catfarm, a tension is the gap between what we want for the future and what we have in the present. Tensions are seen as opportunities to adapt and improve.
All decisions follow a consent process, where proposals are refined until no one has a reasoned objection.
Solution Council
When tensions cross more than one Circle, a Solution Council is convened, open to the whole community. The process follows these steps:
- Tension: presenting the issue.
- Proposition: suggesting a solution.
- Question: clarifying.
- Reaction: sharing thoughts.
- Amend: refining the proposal.
- Objection: identifying risks.
- Approval: consent to move forward.
Decisions from the Solution Council are then implemented through the relevant Roles.
Visual Maps of Governance and Information Flow
Catfarm uses two complementary structures to ensure clarity and transparency:
Information Flow Map
Catfarm uses two complementary structures to ensure clarity and transparency:
Organises knowledge around five clusters: Community Life, Projects, Human Resources, Finance, and Marketing & Design. All information passes through the Catfarm Wiki (hosted on Notion), which acts as the central hub for documentation.
(5 clusters + Wiki at the center) → shows how information flows across Catfarm, with the Wiki as the central hub. How knowledge and communication flows in Catfarm.
Circle Structure
Governance is organized around the Anchor Circle and six Sub-Circles (InfraBuilding, Garden, Vision, Balance, Life, Finance, and Art). Each Sub-Circle contains its own roles and responsibilities, and is represented in the Anchor Circle by a Guardian. This structure ensures that all areas of community life are balanced and connected.
Anchor + 6 Sub-Circles) → shows the governance structure, with the Anchor Circle coordinating Guardians from each Sub-Circle. How governance and decision-making is structured.
Resource Allocation in Projects
When running educational and European projects (e.g. Erasmus+), the circular structure is complemented by temporary project teams, aligned with the permanent circles:
Kitchen: meals, hygiene, food logistics.
Community Life: tidiness and harmony in spaces.
Site & Safety: safety, setup, maintenance, first aid.
Sparkling: welcome, playfulness, creative support.
Facilitation: design and delivery of learning.
Care Cat: community well-being and mediation.
Financial resources are overseen by the Finance Circle, ensuring compliance with Erasmus+ standards. Material resources are managed by Infrabuilding (infrastructure), Garden (food), and Art (creative spaces). Human resources are managed by Life (kitchen and spaces), Balance (caring) and Vision (managing).
Conclusion
This governance model ensures clarity of roles, transparent decision-making, and empowered collaboration. Through its Main Circle, Sub-Circles, Guardians, Roles, and structured meetings supported by facilitation and documentation, Catfarm is able to:
• define and balance priorities each week,
• transform tensions into opportunities,
• maintain harmony across all domains,
• manage resources effectively,
• and deliver high-quality European educational projects.
It provides a solid framework for both daily community life and the long-term resiliency of Catfarm.