Supporting Native Grassroots Projects in the Fediverse

We urgently need to balance the current #mainstreaming inrush in to the #Fediverse, to do this we need to rally support for native grassroots projects. Which strengthen community-driven networks. With funding applications submitted to NLnet, we invite your comments, feedback, and wide sharing of these proposals. Here’s an overview of the projects:

1. The MakingHistory Project

A collaborative effort to create a decentralized and participatory network for documenting and sharing:

Grassroots movements
Historical events
Underrepresented narratives

This initiative empowers communities to control their own stories and ensure diverse histories are preserved and accessible.

2. IndymediaBack Project

A Fediverse project to reboot the radical grassroots media network, #Indymedia, with a foundation in trust-based principles:

#4opens: Open Data, Open Source, Open Process, and Open Standards

This project aims to restore Indymedia as a vital, decentralized platform for radical journalism and activism.

3. The OGB Project

Focused on creating a trust-based, decentralized framework for governance, the #OGB project supports:

Grassroots networks
Community-driven decision-making

Its goal is to enable fair, transparent, and inclusive governance for communities striving for equity and sustainability.

With all the projects, feedback and support can make a difference. Let’s work together to build goodwill and foster consensus around “native” projects. If you think that there is a need for decentralization, trust-based systems, and grassroots empowerment, please comment, share widely, and help to create a stronger, more inclusive future.

Should we apply again?

Yes, not because they’ll suddenly “get it,” but because persistence itself is part of the composting, a record, a point of pressure.

Apply and simultaneously build a parallel path of community support, donations, partnerships, volunteer time. That way, the inevitable #NLnet rejection doesn’t kill all the momentum.

Shifting the blocking? Maybe translate native ideas into their language. Bureaucracies like “deliverables,” “impact metrics,” “alignment with EU digital policy.” Wrap your radical #4opens core in a frame they can recognise: resilience, digital sovereignty, anti-disinformation, democratic participation. That’s harder for them to ignore and strengthens the “native” path.

Expose the bias. Not in a bitter way, but in a constructive one: point out the repeated rejection of grassroots-native projects while funding flows to #geekproblem/NGOs. This pressure helps them re-balance (and others will maybe notice).

If you want to help, share the 3 projects (#MakingHistory, #IndymediaBack, #OGB) in #Fediverse channels. Frame this positively: “If we want a living #openweb, we need to fund and support native projects, not just corporate/NGO clones.” make it harder for them to keep sidelining.

#KISS