Regenbogen von der Kalkbreite aus gesehen.

General Council

The General Council is a forum for planning and decision-making that generally meets once per month. It provides all tenants and employees of the building with the opportunity to obtain information about social, cultural and political initiatives, ask questions regarding budget, construction and maintenance issues, etc., and to participate in the decision-making processes or launch their own projects.

Read more...

Profile

The General Council meetings are moderated by a committee consisting of residents and/or tenants. Anyone wishing to submit a topic to the General Council should contact the committee. The meeting agenda items will be dispatched by e-mail and posted on the bulletin board and in the elevator. There is a mailing list which you can register for at: gemeinrat@kalkbreite.ch (mailto: gemeinrat@kalkbreite.net).

Any decisions in the General Council will be made using the consensus principle. The General Council is quorate as of a minimum of 7 participants. Any decisions may be contested within 10 days of the publication of the meeting minutes. In such a case, these topics will automatically be re-submitted to the agenda of the next session. If no consensus is reached after two discussions of the same agenda item, the General Council will make a decision based on the majority principle.

Complex and labor-intensive initiatives may be delegated to work groups or recommended for handling by the board, branch office or operations team. Work groups are open to all Kalkbreite residents and employees.

The minutes will be published no later than two weeks after the meeting. The invitation is publicly available (bulletin board, dispatch via General Council newsletter and website). Due to privacy reasons, the minutes will only be dispatched by e-mail.

Competences

The General Council makes decisions on questions concerning the cohabitation and/or the interior and exterior space of the Kalkbreite complex and on volunteer work initiatives. The General Council has the right to submit its own motions to board meetings. For their part, the board, management and operations team will introduce to the General Council important topics regarding the cohabitation and interior and exterior space of the Kalkbreite complex.

Within the framework of the annual budget approved by the board, the General Council has free access to the funds allocated to the General Council and to volunteer work initiatives.

Volunteer work

Volunteer work initiatives refer to individual and collective contributions to the utilization and enlivenment of the non-private interior and exterior space of the Kalkbreite complex. The General Council will decide on ideas and projects defined as volunteer work initiatives and coordinate their implementation. Initiatives are generally implemented by work groups (WG) but in some cases also by individuals. The volunteer work initiatives are driven by voluntary and unpaid commitment, and outsiders are invited to become involved in social, cultural and political issues as well. The volunteer work initiatives are designed as such that anyone can participate according to their wishes and possibilities – tenants of all ages, children, business people and employees, neighbors, significant others, external cooperative members and former tenants.

If community space and/or financial support is made available to an initiative/project based on a decision by the General Council, at least one tenant must be involved in the project.

During large-scale community projects, unpaid volunteers may work together with paid employees.

Read more...

Tasks

  • Implementation of initiatives in art, culture, politics and social affairs, such as painting classes, French lessons for children, theme movie nights, discussion events, etc.
  • Implementation of ideas and projects passed by the General Council.
  • Maintenance and operation of non-private interior and exterior outdoor space, for example, people who are interested in crafts can support the workshop, garden lovers can maintain the outdoor space.
  • Assumption of existing sub-tasks of the operations team by users (for example, list for weekend snow removal on the large staircase).

Organization of the volunteer work

The General Council, the list of work groups and the committee are of central importance. The following principle applies: Volunteer work projects by WGs and individuals may be introduced to any meeting of the General Council after submission. One council meeting per year is dedicated to volunteer work initiatives and active WGs. During this meeting, all WGS will introduce themselves, report on the past year and provide a brief outlook.

The profile will be reviewed at least every 2 years or as needed.

General Council, November 2018