FOSS4G 2019 is a global event with international participation open to anyone interested in geospatial information related technologies, activities and/or initiatives, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political views, physical appearance, disability, financial situation.

All communication should at all times be polite, appropriate for a professional gathering. Please, keep in mind that most attendees are not native English speakers.

The Bucharest Local Organizing Committee will not tolerate any form of harassment towards attendees, organizers, volunteers, presenters, instructors, sponsors or technical staff during the conference, as well as during all other related events: code sprint, workshops, Open Source EO Data Challenge, B2B meeting, BoFs,  OSGeo Annual General meeting,  welcome party, gala dinner

Harassment includes: (1) offensive language, inappropriate jokes or gestures with regard to one’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political views, physical appearance, disability, financial situation, (2) deliberate inappropriate physical contact, badgerring photography or voice recording, unwanted sexual attention, (3) repeated disruptive activities during different FOSS4G events.

All participants must comply to the FOSS4G 2019 Code of Conduct. If a participant disregards it, the conference organisers may take any action they consider appropriate for the issue in question, including expulsion from the conference and any other FOSS4G 2019 related activity with no refund.

OSGeo is a grassroots community that draws its power from diversity, inclusiveness and open mindness. Be kind to all others, help us make everyone feel welcomed to FOSS4G 2019 Bucharest!

What to do if you are or hear/see of a harassment incident:

This procedure has been adopted from the Ada Initiative’s guide titled “Conference anti-harassment/Responding to Reports”, PyCon 2017’s policy and FOSS4G 2017 Attendee Procedure For Handling Harassment.

Because this is an aspect of great importance to the Bucharest Local Organizing Committee, all 22 members are fully committed and prepared to assist with unwanted incidents. Thus, during all FOSS4G events (conference, code sprint, workshops, Open Source EO Data Challenge, B2B meeting, BoFs, OSGeo Annual General meeting, welcome party, gala dinner, pub race) members of the BLOC will be present and wear distinctive signs (specific T-shirts and/or badges).

Any BLOC member can be approached at sight for help.

If you are or hear/see a harassment incident, please contact

On site- any of the 22 conference organizers with distinctive signs “ORGANIZER”: Vasile Craciunescu, Tudor Barascu, Octavian Borcan, Marius Budileanu, Roxana Burlacu, Bogdan Candrea, Sorin Constantin, Stefan Constantinescu, Olimpia Copacenaru, Cristian Flueraru, Bogdan Grama, Codrina- Maria Ilie, Robert Ille, Florin Iosub, Iulian Iuga, Narcisa Musat, Ion Nedelcu, Dan Nita, Ionut Serban, Daniel Urda, Cristina Vrinceanu, Andreea Duminicioiu. 

Report the incident, (preferably in writing, foss4g2019@gmail.com) to conference organizers: Vasile Craciunescu- Chair of Conference (0040) 721 295 948, Codrina Maria Ilie- (0040) 740 162 086- organizer, Tudor Barascu- (0040) 752 169 049 organizer, Andreea Duminicioiu- 0743 677 543 organizer- ALL REPORTS ARE CONFIDENTIAL  and will be handled with discretion.

When reporting, try to gather as much information as possible, but do not interview people about the incident – Staff will assist you in writing the report/collecting information.

Important information:

Identifying information (name) of the participant doing the harassing

The behavior that was in violation

The approximate time of the behavior (if different than the time the report was made)

The circumstances surrounding the incident

Other people involved in the incident

If at any moment, you feel unsafe, please immediately call 112 for law enforcement. If you do not have the possibility to call, ask any staff member to assist you. All staff members are aware of the Code of Conduct policy and of the actions to take if it is not respected. 

What to do if an attendee approaches you to report a harassment incident:

This procedure has been adopted from the Ada Initiative’s guide titled “Conference anti-harassment/Responding to Reports”, PyCon 2017’s and FOSS4G 2017 similar documents.

Make sure you understand the FOSS4G 2019 Code of Conduct, available here [link].

Make sure you understand what an attendee expects from you when approaching you to report a harassment incident, guidelines available here [link].

IF YOU CONSIDER THAT ANYONE INVOLVED IN THE SITUATION COULD BE IN DANGER, DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL 112 FIRST.

All reports must be made directly to: Vasile Craciunescu- Chair of Conference (0040) 721 295 948, Codrina Maria Ilie- (0040) 740 162 086- organizer, Tudor Barascu- (0040) 752 169 049 organizer, Andreea Duminicioiu- 0743 677 543 organizer.

A.      Incident Report. Make sure you gather as much information as possible in written form, with an emphasis on the following aspects:

a.       Identifying information (name) of the participant doing the harassing

b.      The behavior that was in violation

c.       The approximate time of the behavior (if different than the time the report was made)

d.      The circumstances surrounding the incident

e.      Other people involved in the incident

B.      Initial response. This is a crucial step and it must be fulfilled with total responsibility. Depending on the severity/details of the incident, follow the guidelines:

a.       If there is any general threat to attendees or the safety of anyone including conference staff is in doubt, summon security or police.

b.      Offer the victim a private place to sit, ask “is there a friend or trusted person who you would like to be with you?” (if so, arrange for someone to fetch this person). Offer your undivided attention!

c.       Provide them with your list of emergency contacts if they need help later.

d.      If everyone is presently physically safe, involve law enforcement or security only at a victim’s request.

Please, carefully read what NOT to do in case of a harassment incident report:

Do not overtly invite them to withdraw the complaint or mention that withdrawal is OK. This suggests that you want them to do so, and is therefore coercive. “If you’re OK with it [pursuing the complaint]” suggests that you are by default pursuing it and is not coercive.

Do not ask for their advice on how to deal with the complaint. This is a staff responsibility

Do not offer them input into penalties. This is the staff’s responsibility

Staff meeting. After an incident report at least 2 of the Code of Conduct responsables must meet to decide:

What happened?

Are we doing anything about it?

Who is doing those things?

 When are they doing them?

Follow-up with the alleged harasser.  With respect to the decision made, have a staff member (preferably the conference chair or event coordinator if available) communicate with the alleged harasser. Make sure to inform them of what has been reported about them. Allow the alleged harasser to give their side of the story to the staff. After this point, if report stands, let the alleged harasser know what actions will be taken against them.

The decision on the action(s) against the harasser are the responsibility of the conference staff and could be on or more of the following:

Warning the harasser to cease their behavior and that any further reports will result in sanctions.

Requiring that the harasser avoid any interaction with, and physical proximity to, their victim for the remainder of the event.

Ending a talk that violates the policy early.

Not publishing the video or slides of a talk that violated the policy.

Not allowing a speaker who violated the policy to give (further) talks at the event now or in the future.

Immediately ending any event volunteer responsibilities and privileges the harasser holds.

Requiring that the harasser immediately leave the event and not return.

 Publishing an account of the harassment and calling for the resignation of the harasser from their responsibilities (usually pursued by people without formal authority: may be called for if the harasser is the event leader, or refuses to stand aside from the conflict of interest, or similar, typically event staff have sufficient governing rights over their space that this isn’t as useful).

Additional common responses that are outside the scope of FOSS4G 2019, but are maintained here for future consideration:

 Requiring that the harasser not volunteer for future events your organization runs (either indefinitely or for a certain time period)

Requiring that the harasser refund any travel grants and similar they received.

Banning the harasser from future events (either indefinitely or for a certain time period)

Removing a harasser from membership of relevant organizations

Follow-up Communication. It is essential for the FOSS4G 2019 event, in particular, and for the OSGeo community, in general, the manner in which we publicly handle such incidents. It is essential to transmit that such incidents are in complete discord with the community and not tolerated at its events, but with high regard for privacy.  Depending on the incident, the conference chair or their designate may decide to make one or more public announcements. If necessary, this will be done with a short announcement either during the plenary and/or through other channels. No one other than the conference chair or someone delegated authority from the conference chair should make any announcements.

If any hard feelings remain after the incident, it is best to suggest contacting the conference chair through email and it will be dealt accordingly.

F.       Record the incident. All records and actions take ar to be preserved for future LOC and OSGeo to be able to identify patterns if such events ever occur again. Data protection We use your personal data according to our Data Protection Policy (GDPR), which you can find here.