Consent¶

Consent is not about explicit agreement. It is about the absence of serious objections. A proposal is accepted when it is "good enough for now and safe enough to try." This distinguishes consent from consensus, which requires active agreement from all participants.

How it works in Rhizome¶

All participants check for substantiated objections. An objection must explain how the proposal would cause harm to a shared goal. If no objections are raised, the proposal is accepted.

Objections and vetos¶

Participants can click "No objection" or raise an objection. Objections must include a rationale — optionally with a proposed solution. Objections can be replied to, for example by the facilitation or the proposal's creators.

The person who raised an objection can edit it, mark it as resolved, or delete it independently.

The facilitation can declare a decision valid even when an objection exists — however, this carries the risk that the objecting person may then raise a veto and put the decision under review.

A veto blocks the process entirely: a decision cannot be completed successfully as long as a veto exists on the current version. The veto must either be withdrawn or resolved through a new version of the proposal.

Versions¶

When the facilitation wants to integrate an objection, they can create a new version of the proposal via the three-dot menu on the proposal. The title, description, and deadline can be adjusted — for example when an objection was raised shortly before the deadline.

When a new version is created, all previous participations are reset. All participants are asked to respond again. This turns consent into an iterative, versioned process.

Proposing alternatives¶

Since a consent process always concerns a single proposal, it can happen that an objection cannot be resolved by adjusting the existing proposal. In this case, participants can propose an alternative. Rhizome then automatically initiates a resistance poll that compares both proposals. The facilitation can then continue the consent process with the favored proposal.

Use cases¶

Use consent when "good enough" is sufficient and you want to move forward quickly. It is common in self-organized teams and agile environments where iterative progress matters more than full agreement upfront.