FAQ’s

Short answer: WE Share operates through a true bottom-up framework where decisions are guided by community needs and values, not by commercial, political, or external interests. This approach contrasts with traditional top-down or council-led or financed models by independently empowering local participants to shape outcomes directly through a consent-based governance process.

Detail: The WE Share governance framework provides a structured pathway for community-led decision-making — from concept to implementation. Within this model, community members identify priorities, discuss initiatives, and reach decisions through consent-based processes within Governance Circles. These Circles ensure transparency, alignment, and shared accountability at every stage.
The Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust acts upon the community’s wishes as expressed through the Governance Circles. It serves as the legal, compliance, and financial body that gives effect to those decisions on behalf of the community — ensuring they are implemented responsibly, lawfully, and in alignment with community values and national regulatory obligations. In doing so, the Trust also works to ensure equitable outcomes across the community and its supporting stakeholders.

Short answer: Community Governance Circles are structured groups where selected members of the community discuss, agree, and decide how projects should progress. Each Circle reports to the Platform One Foundation, which translates those collective decisions into strategy while ensuring compliance and alignment with community priorities.

Detail: Each Governance Circle has a defined number of members carefully selected to represent a fair balance of community voices, expertise, and key stakeholder interests. Circles provide a structured yet participatory way for the community to shape direction, ensuring accountability and equitable outcomes for everyone involved. They work closely with the Platform One Foundation Trustees, who integrate the Circles’ recommendations into governance and strategy—maintaining transparency, compliance, and alignment with WE Share’s shared values and purpose.

Short answer: Participants use the system, members help guide and govern it, and partners collaborate formally to grow community energy. While WE Share currently operates as an ad-hoc initiative, it is progressing toward a future community energy-cooperative under the Platform One Foundation.

Detail:

• Participants are households, schools, or community facilities that install or operate solar and battery systems within the WE Share framework.
• Members are individuals or groups who contribute to governance, uphold shared values, and help shape decision-making. In the future cooperative model, members are expected to have the option to become member-owners within a formal community energy-cooperative.
• Partners are organisations — such as installers, funders, researchers, or technical collaborators — that work with WE Share under formal agreements to deliver equitable and transparent community outcomes.

This tiered structure keeps ownership, decision-making, and benefit anchored within the community today, while laying the groundwork for an inclusive cooperative energy model under the Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust.

Short answer: All major decisions are reviewed through Governance Circles and then ratified by Trustees under the Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust Deed.

Detail: Proposals originate through Circles or community consultations and are assessed for alignment with WE Share’s objectives, values, and compliance requirements. After open discussion and consent-based agreement, final approval is given by the Trustees, who act as fiduciaries on behalf of the community. This ensures transparent and accountable decision-making rooted in both collaboration and legal governance.

Short answer: WE Share is a community energy framework that operates under the Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust, (currently under registration) which provides the legal, financial, and compliance base. While it reflects cooperative values, WE Share is not yet a cooperative — but the framework is designed to evolve into a community-owned cooperative in the future.

Detail: WE Share itself is a framework, not a standalone legal entity. It connects participants, governance circles, and partners under shared community values and transparent decision-making.
The Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust holds all assets and manages funds on behalf of the community, ensuring that benefits remain equitable, accountable, and aligned with the public good. This charitable structure provides a secure foundation for pilot projects, partnerships, and future replication.

In the long term, WE Share aims to establish a community-owned cooperative, where participants and members will have the option to become member-owners. This evolution will allow local people to take direct ownership within a legally recognised cooperative model, while the Trust continues to safeguard values, compliance, and the overarching public-benefit mission.

Short answer: Consent-based governance means decisions move forward when there are no reasoned objections — enabling progress through alignment rather than majority rule.

Detail: Consent-based governance is a collaborative decision-making approach that values inclusiveness, transparency, and mutual respect. Instead of seeking unanimous agreement or majority votes, it focuses on identifying and resolving objections so decisions can move forward confidently and collectively.
Within WE Share, this approach ensures that every Governance Circle member’s voice is genuinely considered, preventing dominance by a few individuals or groups. It builds trust, accountability, and cohesion — allowing the community to act efficiently while staying aligned with shared values and equitable outcomes.

Short answer: Join open sessions, volunteer for Circles, talk to someone who is already  involved or express interest through the website

Detail: Community members can participate in governance by joining specific Circles, attending public meetings, or contributing expertise to focused working groups (such as technology, education, or policy). Opportunities are open to all who share WE Share’s values and commitment to community energy. Your involvement strengthens representation and builds capacity for the long-term sustainability of the initiative.

Short answer: WE Share prevents private capture through transparent governance, open reporting, rotating roles, and independent oversight by the Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust and professional trustees with no direct interests. Decisions are guided by community values and collective accountability, not private or commercial interests.

Detail: WE Share is intentionally designed to protect community ownership and decision-making. No private individual, company, or organisation can control assets, data, or direction.
Key safeguards include:

• Independent oversight: The Platform One Foundation Charitable Trust holds all assets and funds on behalf of the community, with professional independent trustees who have no direct financial or organisational interests.
• Transparent processes: Governance Circle minutes, financial records, and partnership agreements are accessible for community review.
• Rotating leadership and term limits: Governance roles rotate regularly to prevent entrenched influence.
• Values-based evaluation: All partnerships and projects are reviewed against WE Share’s values and equity principles.
• Open framework and shared data: Agreements, data, and learnings are shared under community-access protocols to prevent closed or biased decision-making.

Together, these safeguards maintain trust, transparency, and fairness, ensuring WE Share remains a community-driven framework, free from private capture or bias.

Short answer: An agreed set of WE Share community values is enforced through the WE Share framework — beginning with the Charter and Guiding Principles, embedded within the Constitution, and applied through every level of governance and consent-based interaction.

Detail: The WE Share framework ensures that values must be honoured and built into the foundation of how decisions are made and projects are delivered.
These values, established through the Charter, Guiding Principles, and Constitution, shape how collaboration, transparency, and accountability function across all projects.
The system is self-integrating by design, grounded in declared alignment and agreement. Every participant, partner, and governance body formally commits to act within these shared principles.
If an individual or organisation acts out of alignment — or chooses not to uphold that agreement — they effectively step outside the framework and its decision-making processes.
This ensures that integrity, fairness, and equity are maintained not through enforcement from above, but through collective consent, continuous alignment, and shared accountability. It is a living, self-policing system that keeps the community’s first interests at its core.