A civic project, open and in pilot phase

Many good ideas for a town end up as a chat in a bar, a message in a group chat or a meeting only a few people attend. We want any resident to be able to propose, ideas to be judged on what they say, and the town’s priorities to be clear.

We do not replace the town council or elections. We add an organised, public way to take part between one election and the next.

Bema works municipality by municipality. Each one has its own public page with what is being discussed, what is proposed and what has the most support: find yours.

The first pilot runs in Cardedeu, together with the Fòrum Obert de Cardedeu, which brought in the conclusions of its in-person sessions. You can see it on the Cardedeu page.

The bema was the stone platform from which any citizen could speak to the Athenian assembly. We explain it on the home page and, in more depth, in the vision.

Bema is driven by a small founding team. We are not a legal entity yet: we are setting up a non-profit association or foundation that will take over running the platform.

Until it exists, the person responsible for the platform and for data processing is the one listed in the legal notice. Once the organisation is registered, we will update this and let registered users know.

• Independence. Bema is not linked to any party or electoral list.
• No advertising. We do not sell data or show ads.
• Transparency. The town’s priorities and the administration’s answers are public.
• Open source. The software is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence so anyone can review and improve it.
• Honesty. The pilot is non-binding, and we say so clearly.

We are looking for residents, local organisations and town councils who want to try Bema or help us improve it. Write to us.