Code of Conduct: EGI Community
Contents
1. Preamble
2. Scope
3. Encouraged Behaviours
4. Unacceptable Behaviours
5. Acceptable Use of EGI Resources
6. Reporting
7. Enforcement
8. Non-Retaliation
9. Relationship to Other Documents
10. Entry into Force, Publication and Review
1. Preamble
EGI is committed to providing safe, inclusive, and productive environments for all participants in EGI activities. Mutual respect, open collaboration, and professional conduct are essential to the success of the research and innovation communities that EGI serves. This Code of Conduct establishes the standards of behaviour expected of all participants in EGI-related activities. It aims to:
- Promote a welcoming and inclusive environment where all participants can contribute fully.
- Set clear expectations for professional and respectful conduct.
- Provide accessible mechanisms for reporting concerns and addressing potential breaches.
- Protect the safety, dignity, and well-being of all community members.
2. Scope
This Code applies to all participants in EGI coordinated activities that are organised, convened, or formally supported by the EGI Foundation, including activities run jointly with Participants. These include, whether in person or online:
- Conferences, meetings, webinars, training events, and hackathons.
- Working groups and task forces.
- Collaborative platforms and digital communication channels (mailing lists, chats, services, forums, and EGI-related social media).
- Social events organised as part of EGI activities.
- External events where a participant is authorised to represent EGI or to present on EGI work.
The Code binds every participant without exception, including attendees, speakers, sponsors, organisers, volunteers, online contributors, and EGI Foundation staff and contractors.
Conduct within projects is governed by the applicable consortium agreement, which may adopt this Code.
3. Encouraged Behaviours
All participants in EGI activities are encouraged to:
- Treat all participants with courtesy, dignity, and respect, regardless of background, identity, or role.
- Be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences, recognising that diverse perspectives strengthen the community.
- Give and accept constructive feedback gracefully, focusing on the substance of ideas and contributions.
- Take responsibility for your actions and contributions, including acknowledging mistakes and working to repair any harm caused.
- Respect the personal boundaries of others, whether in physical settings (personal space, physical contact) or online (private messages, contact requests).
- Contribute to a welcoming and inclusive environment, being mindful that words and actions may be interpreted differently across cultures, backgrounds, and languages.
- Use EGI platforms and channels for their intended purpose, respecting the norms and expectations of each space.
- Respect the privacy of others in online settings, including by not recording, screenshotting, or redistributing content from meetings, chats, or forums without the consent of those involved, unless the content is intended for public distribution.
- Maintain professional conduct in online interactions, including in chat messages, forum posts, video calls, and shared documents, applying the same standards as in face-to-face settings.
- Report concerns promptly through the designated channels described in Section 6.
4. Unacceptable Behaviours
The following behaviours are unacceptable in all EGI activities and spaces. This list is illustrative, not exhaustive.
- Harassment: unwelcome personal attention, following or stalking (whether physical or online), and any conduct that creates a hostile or intimidating environment.
- Discrimination: demeaning or derogatory remarks or conduct based on protected characteristics, including race, ethnicity, national or social origin, colour, age, disability, neurodiversity, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, language, socio-economic position, or other status.
- Sexual harassment: unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, inappropriate sexual comments or imagery, and any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.
- Intimidation and threats: intimidation, threats, or incitement to violence of any kind.
- Deliberate misgendering: deliberate misgendering or persistent use of names that a person has explicitly asked not to be used.
- Violation of privacy: sharing or acting on another person’s private or personal information without their explicit consent, including publishing private messages, sharing screenshots of private conversations, and redistributing recordings not intended for public distribution.
- Unwanted recording: taking photographs, video, or audio recordings of individuals without their consent, or screenshotting online interactions (such as video calls or chat conversations) for the purpose of harassment or public shaming.
- Abuse of authority: using a position of authority or influence within the EGI community to intimidate, coerce, or unfairly disadvantage others.
- Sustained disruption: deliberate disruption of presentations, discussions, meetings, or other activities, including (in online settings) flooding chat channels, repeatedly interrupting speakers, or misusing platform features.
- Unsolicited commercial communications: using EGI platforms, channels, or events for unsolicited commercial, promotional, or vendor communications outside the established norms for that activity.
- Retaliation: retaliation against anyone who, in good faith, reports, testifies, or cooperates under this Code. See Section 8.
5. Acceptable Use of EGI Resources
Participants who are granted access to EGI computing, network, or information resources (including event Wi-Fi, collaborative platforms, and shared tools) shall:
- Use resources consistently with their intended purpose and in accordance with applicable EGI policies.
- Use resources for lawful purposes only.
- Respect the intellectual property rights of others and maintain the confidentiality of information accessed through EGI resources.
- Protect access credentials and not share them with unauthorised persons.
- Report any security incidents or suspected misuse promptly to the relevant EGI contact.
Limited personal use of event and collaboration resources, such as event Wi-Fi, collaborative platforms, and shared tools, is permitted, provided that it is occasional, of negligible scale, and does not interfere with EGI activities or the work of others. Personal use shall not be made for commercial gain or political campaigning and remains subject to the standards of behaviour set out in Sections 3 and 4 of this Code.
Access to and use of federated EGI infrastructure services is governed by the EGI Acceptable Use Policy and Conditions of Use, together with any terms accepted on enrolment in a Virtual Organisation. The personal use allowance in this Section does not extend to those services.
6. Reporting
6.1 How to Report
Anyone who experiences or witnesses behaviour that goes against this Code, or has any other concern about conduct, is encouraged to raise it. The quickest way is to speak to an organiser, session chair or moderator, who can act at once (Section 7.2). Reports can also be sent at any time to [email protected].
Every report is acknowledged, and the person who made it is told how it was handled, as far as confidentiality allows. Where someone's safety is at risk, those running the activity will help them contact venue security or the police and stay with them until they feel safe.
6.2 What to Include
Where possible, reports should include:
- A description of the incident, including dates, times, and setting (event name, online platform, channel, or meeting).
- The names or descriptions of the individuals involved.
- The names of any witnesses.
- Any supporting evidence (e.g. screenshots, messages, links to relevant content, recordings).
6.3 Confidentiality
All reports will be treated confidentially to the greatest extent possible. Information will be shared only with those who need to be involved in assessing and resolving the matter.
6.4 Good Faith
Reports should be made in good faith and based on genuine concern. Making a report that is knowingly false or malicious may itself constitute a breach of this Code.
7. Enforcement
7.1 Graduated Enforcement
Where a breach of this Code is established, one or more of the following measures may be applied, proportionate to the nature and severity of the conduct:
- Correction. A private communication to the person concerned, clarifying the nature of the issue and the expected standard of behaviour. No formal record is created beyond internal notes.
- Warning. A formal written warning specifying the conduct that breached the Code and the conditions for continued participation. Repeated breaches following a warning may result in further measures.
- Temporary restriction. Exclusion from specific activities, communication channels, online platforms, or events for a defined period. This may include removal of access to mailing lists, chat services, forums, or other EGI platforms. The terms of the restriction and conditions for reinstatement will be communicated in writing.
- Permanent exclusion. Removal from all EGI community activities and platforms, including revocation of access to all online spaces. Permanent exclusion is reserved for the most serious breaches or for cases where previous measures have failed to resolve the conduct.
7.2 Decision-Making
Those who run an EGI activity or space, such as event organisers, session chairs, moderators and platform administrators, uphold this Code there. They may take whatever step is needed to keep the activity safe and productive, from asking a person to stop to removing them from the session, event or channel. Such steps apply to that activity only and are not measures under Section 7.1. Removing a person is reported under Section 6; for other steps, they use their judgement on whether a report is needed, and most situations are resolved locally.
Measures under Section 7.1 are decided on a report under Section 6. The EGI Foundation Director, or a person the Director designates, assesses the report and hears the person concerned (Section 7.3). Where a breach is established:
- Correction or warning. Decided by the Director.
- Temporary restriction. Decided by the Director together with the Chairperson of the Executive Board, or with a member of the Executive Board designated by the Chairperson; where they disagree, the Executive Board decides.
- Permanent exclusion. Decided by the Executive Board on the proposal of the Director.
Where a restriction is needed without delay, the Director may impose it, and the joint decision under (b) follows within ten working days. A person who has a conflict of interest in a case, including the Director or the Chairperson, takes no part in it, and the Executive Board designates a replacement.
7.3 Right to Respond and to Appeal
Decisions on enforcement will be communicated privately to the person concerned. Before a final decision is taken on any measure beyond a correction, the person shall have a reasonable opportunity to respond and present their account.
A person subject to a warning or a temporary restriction may appeal in writing to the Executive Board within twenty working days of being notified of the decision; a member who took part in the decision takes no part in the appeal, and the decision of the Executive Board is final.
7.4 Records
A record of formal enforcement actions (warnings, temporary restrictions, and permanent exclusions) shall be maintained by the EGI Foundation in accordance with its data protection policies. The Director reports formal enforcement actions to the Executive Board at its next meeting, in a form that protects the confidentiality of those involved.
8. Non-Retaliation
Anyone who reports a concern, provides information during an investigation, or cooperates with an enforcement process in good faith shall not face adverse consequences as a result. The EGI Foundation will take reasonable steps to protect those individuals.
9. Relationship to Other Documents
This Code of Conduct complements and should be read in conjunction with:
Where there is any inconsistency between this Code and the Statutes, the Statutes shall prevail. Where there is any inconsistency between this Code and the EGI Acceptable Use Policy and Conditions of Use, or other service-specific conditions of use, those documents shall prevail in respect of the use of the resources and services they govern.
Members of the Governance Bodies are bound by the Code of Conduct “EGI Governance” for conduct in the exercise of their governance role, and by this Code as participants in all other EGI activities. A report under Section 6 that concerns a Member acting in a governance role is referred to the Chairperson of the relevant Governance Body and handled under that Code.
10. Entry into Force, Publication and Review
This Code enters into force on the date of its adoption. It is published on the EGI website and referenced in the registration terms of EGI events and in the terms of use of EGI online spaces; taking part in an EGI activity implies acceptance of this Code.
This Code shall be reviewed at least once every three years, or sooner if circumstances require. Proposed amendments shall be submitted to the Council for approval in accordance with the procedures for amending Council policies.
EGI Council Policy 10, version 1.0, approved by the Executive Board as delegated by the EGI Council on 12 October 2026. The reference version is the PDF in the EGI Document Database (EGI-doc-4303).
This Code draws on the Contributor Covenant (version 3.0, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0) and the Council of Europe Code of Conduct (January 2023).
The terms used in this Code follow the definitions of Article 1 of the EGI Foundation Statutes. The EGI glossary of terms is available at go.egi.eu/glossary.
This work by EGI Foundation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.