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About the projects

1. What kind of projects can take part?

   Aroyi is a platform in which it is possible to propose many types of projects - creative and innovative initiatives of a social, cultural, scientific, educational, technological or ecological nature, which help to build communities around them and contribute to the development of the commons, open code and/or free knowledge so as to benefit the largest possible number of people.
   
   We're focussed on projects with an "open DNA": free culture, social action, free hardware and software, alternative economy, architecture, gastronomy, research, permaculture, learning etc. which contribute to the enrichment of the commons through collective returns thanks to free and/or open licenses (Creative Commons or GPL for example).
   
   These are projects, therefore, that share information, knowledge, processes, results, responsibilities, benefits, digital content and other resources related to the proposals for which they are seeking help and crowdfunding.

2. Social Good vs Common Goods - What is the difference?

   This is a really important nuance! Although there can be projects that have a high social interest (social good), orientated towards creating positive change in concrete places or communities, Aroyi isn't oriented at solidarity or social initiatives if they don't clearly establish a collective return.
   
   This means that they ensure that the project is transferable and reusable by other people and collectives (common good) according to the rights which govern free knowledge and which are usually regulated through free and open licences.

3. What kind of project are NOT published in Aroyi?

   Aroyi is not oriented towards the funding of project designed exclusively for profit. Neither can it host sales processes of products or services, or lottery campaigns, electoral campaigns,or charity fund-raising.
   
   Just like most crowdfunding platforms, it is not a tool to fund or lead projects related to contents that may result inappropriate, criminal, or which can prejudice people's dignity.

4. Why use free and/or open licences?

   To make sure that the proposed ideas contribute to strengthening the commons, open code and/or free knowledge, the projects which want to be financed and developed with the help of Aroyi need to be focussed, produced or distributed under one of the numerous existing free and/or open licences. These licences favour the "digital footprint" of the projects with different specifications or restrictions - permitting the explicit copying, public communication, distribution, modification and/or commercial use of all or part of every creation.
   
   Free and/or open licences not only permit the preservation of the authorship and control over uses derived from the creations, but is a real mechanism of replication and distribution through followers, prosumers and disseminators. It is an ever more rich and diverse source of common content where many people look to find all types of inspiration, talent and resources (educational, artistic, documentaries etc).
   
   For all these these reasons, and always taking into account that Aroyi guarantees precisely renumeration for the ideation and creation of projects (which at the same time can have their own parallel mechanisms for economic sustainability), we share the increasingly widespread opinion that free and/or open licences do not harm, but can only benefit projects and the people behind them and society in general.
   
   Aroyi suggests, and offers advice about, a series of licences such as Creative Commons (CC), General Public Licence (GPL), GNU Affero General Public Licence (AGPLv3), Open Database (ODBC), Licencia Red Abierta Libre Neutral (XOLN) and Open Hardware Licence (OHL). You can see the details of these and other licences at Creative Commons, Free Software Foundation or Safe Creative.

5. All this sounds great, but how do I "open" my project?

   The world of free knowledge is full of possibilities, but they're not always easy to find and deploy is one isn't used to working within the parameters of openness. Bearing this in mind, Aroyi has an assistant who guides the full process of signing up of a project, which explains the importance of the decisions the project leader needs to take at each step, and what kind of information s/he needs to provide.
   
   If this is not enough for you, let's talk. The mission of the Aroyi Foundation is the diffusing, promotion and applied research around the commons, open source and free knowledge, in different social, cultural and economical realms. This is why we offer specialised guidance and advice to project leaders on how to configure or adapt their projects: kinds of licences, collective rewards, new products and derived services, etc. This guidance is produced by the Foundation and a community of experts and enthusiasts in specific subject areas.

6. I’m afraid someone will plagiarize my idea or project, what does Aroyi do to prevent this?

   First of all you have to consider that crowdfunding in general is also an act of public dissemination of ideas or potential projects, which in this way want to be carried out with the support of small contributions via the Internet.
   
   In addition, Aroyi promotes the commons, open source and free knowledge with the philosophy that sharing as much as possible what someone creates is not incompatible with being able to make a living from it. We aspire to generate a pole of attraction on collective returns that involve reuse (rather than plagiarism) of useful things, inspiration, learning and shared progress for society as a whole.
   
   Therefore, if you can't explain what you want to do and / or don't want to share the how-to through collective returns, through free or open licenses, Aroyi financing may not be the best option.

7. Can I present a project which is effective or has its community outside Spain?

   Of course, projects can operate or be effective in Spain or anywhere else in the world.
   
   Nevertheless, since the intention of Aroyi is to grow reinforcing the local with geographical proximity, it is possible that the final decision on publishing or not a project on the platform might depend on prioritising closer projects.
   
   You must take into account that, if you promote a project abroad and you don't have a bank account in Spain, service charges for international transactions will be greater, and currency exchange rates will affect your income.

8. Can I have more than one project running a campaign on Aroyi?

   Not running a campaign, but yes, you can have various projects being edited or pending evaluation. The general rule of thumb is that what matters and what's effective is focusing on a single project. Also, bear in mind that, in Aroyi, each project has two funding rounds of 40 days each, and you need to focus on them and work hard to communicate and make progress in each one of them. Also, in this initial beta stage, what we value is diversity, of ideas as much as of people and project teams, so, for the time being, you can only have one project per project leader under campaign.

9. Can the same project be on various platforms simultaneously?

   We believe it can, and, at least on our behalf, there is no problem with that :). In fact, we have already had cases, and this is precisely what allows the modularity of some projects (which can have derivative and complementary products or processes, with an educational, research, marketing, cross-media or format potential, etc.)
   
   For this reason, it is recommended to research other platforms and see what kind of projects they support. But you must take into account a calendar and break-down of the project (in phases, or in by-products) so that the two campaigns don't overlap on two different platforms, since that can create confusion and suspicion in potential co-financiers.