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As we’ve been talking about on the blog, we are intentionally seeking ways to reengage with the global community, which will likely entail making changes to the current CC Global Network (CCGN). We recently surveyed the CC global community to help inform next steps. 

We received nearly 100 responses from over 40 countries, and we’re so grateful for the insights and ideas you shared. Here’s a snapshot of what we learned from you—and how we plan to respond.

What We Learned About You

We heard from respondents throughout the globe, though most were based in North America and Europe. This is not surprising, as most of our team is based in the U.S. and Canada, and CC has historically focused on U.S. and European copyright policy.  We heard from respondents from outside of these areas that they would like to see CC diversify and deepen our engagement in other regions across the globe. 

When we asked about the languages you use in your community organizing, Spanish, French, and Italian were the top non-English languages listed. Several respondents also mentioned working across all six official UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

In terms of how you connect with Creative Commons, 80% of you identified as supporters or followers. The next most common affiliation was as CC Certificate alumni—an encouraging sign of ongoing engagement from those who’ve taken the course. Notably, nearly 1 in 5 respondents are new to the CC community, underscoring the importance of creating clear and accessible entry points for newcomers to CC and the open movement.

What You Value About the CC Community

One of the most valued ways CC supports the community is by providing clear, accessible information on open licensing, copyright, and CC’s licenses and tools. These resources help guide creators, students, and institutions in making ethical and legally sound decisions around sharing.

Beyond tools and resources, many of you highlighted the importance of a supportive global community of practice. Several also expressed nostalgia for earlier phases of the CC network, when coordination around localized license porting provided a clear structure for deeper engagement among legal and policy experts. 

What Support You Need

When asked what CC should prioritize to support the open movement globally, your top request was for us to stay focused on our mission and maintain the core tools that power open sharing.

You also encouraged CC HQ to shift from leading community activities to enabling them. Rather than managing engagement from the top down, you asked us to provide the scaffolding—toolkits, engagement pathways, and meaningful opportunities to contribute both locally and globally. You want to see local chapters and communities revived, regional events supported, and leadership empowered at the grassroots.

What Role You Want CC to Play

You’ve called on us to play a stronger role in facilitating meaningful collaboration—locally, regionally, and globally. 

Some of you also asked that we convene more communities of interest, and that we improve our communication with you through regular newsletters, events, and updates.

Transparency in governance and opportunities for participatory decision-making also came through as key priorities.

Finally, many of you expressed the desire for CC to take a more active stance in relation to AI.

How You Want to Connect

What we heard most clearly is your desire to be more connected with each other—to share stories, collaborate, and learn across regions. You’re interested in more events, both in person and virtual.

When asked what kind of non-financial support would be most helpful, the top response was “opportunities for training or skill sharing.” There’s strong interest in regional coordination, localized resources, and peer-to-peer mentorship opportunities.

Listening More, Engaging Meaningfully

Much of what we heard echoes feedback we’ve received in the past: frustration with top-down decision-making, and a desire for more meaningful listening and engagement. We know we have room to grow, and we’re committed to doing the work to build stronger, more equitable relationships across our global community.

We also know that when community members feel recognized, supported, and heard, they’re more likely to contribute actively. We’re excited to continue building mutual trust and collaboration—especially as we approach our 25th anniversary as an opportunity to reconnect.

On Funding

It’s not surprising to see continued requests for more financial support. The financial landscape is challenging for many nonprofits, and we continue to actively fundraise to support CC’s initiatives. At this time, our goal is to approach funding decisions on a year-by-year basis. We intend to be transparent about where funding may be available in the coming years and not over-promise where we aren’t able to deliver.  

What’s Next

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be launching a new community chat platform to replace Slack very soon! Stay tuned for more details on how to join and engage—this chat space will be created for regional and thematic collaboration across our communities.

We’re continuing to work on plans for updating our membership and governance structures and creating new ways to engage with CC and other community members.

A new community newsletter is also on the way—sign up here to stay in the loop.

The post What We Heard: Insights from the CC Global Community appeared first on Creative Commons.

This year, we’re focusing on re-engaging with the CC community and building new relationships, especially as emerging technologies like AI reshape how people create and share. We want to ensure CC’s tools, training, and resources evolve to meet real community needs, and we’re committed to being transparent and realistic about what we can offer in support. This is happening during a period of economic uncertainty for organizations in the open movement, so we are focusing on delivering sustainable pathways for community engagement at CC.

From CC Global Summit to New Ways of Connecting 

One big change you may have noticed is that we haven’t announced the next CC Global Summit. Unfortunately, CC’s budgets over the last two years have not allowed for such a significant expense, and most of the past Global Summits ran at a deficit. Without sufficient funding to support participant attendance, the Global Summits cannot be as inclusive as we aspire for them to be.

But this doesn’t mean we can’t spend time together – quite the opposite! We believe that supporting more regional gatherings for in-person engagement and virtual gatherings for increased inclusion will help to meet these challenges. Interested in exploring collaborating on an event in your region or in your community? Let’s chat. 

The CC Community in 2025

Earlier this year, we shared some of the history of the Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN), and talked about the importance of an expanded view of the CCGN. 

In thinking about the future of our community, the shared sentiment is that the CC community is much more expansive than the formal structures of the CCGN; the CC community is anyone who uses, advocates for, or supports the infrastructure that enables open licensing or who supports and believes in the power of the commons.

To enable this broader community, we are evaluating the existing (though currently inactive) membership process of the CC Global Network and how we support country chapters. Our goal is to strengthen our community engagement spaces and create clearer, more accessible pathways for people to get involved with CC.

Let’s Get to Work!

We are excited to reconnect and hear about your experiences and vision for the future of the CC community. Your input will help shape future decisions around governance, community infrastructure, communication tools, and engagement spaces. Please fill out the CC Community Survey by May 30:

• Creative Commons Community Survey – English
• Creative Commons Community Survey – Español
• Creative Commons Community Survey – Français

Our commitment is to make CC a space where collaboration thrives, knowledge flows freely, and communities feel empowered to shape the future of the commons. Stay tuned for opportunities to share your input, connect with others, and co-create what comes next.

The post The Next Chapter: Strengthening the Creative Commons Community Together appeared first on Creative Commons.

In case you missed it, we recently published our 2025-2028 Strategy which sets the stage for our goals and activities over the next few years. This updated strategy reaffirms our three goals at CC: 

1. Strengthen the open infrastructure of sharing
2. Defend and advocate for a thriving creative commons
3. Center community

As CC’s Community and Licensing Program Manager, I’m particularly  excited to share more details about Goal 3: Center community. For those of you who attended our strategy consultations in August 2024, you’ll know that reaffirming CC’s commitment to community was a top priority for community members, and we completely agree! In our strategy, community is listed as a goal in and of itself, but it is also recognized that all three of our goals are interconnected and each goal is required to fulfill the other goals. With that in mind, community is also central to strengthening the open infrastructure of sharing and defending and advocating for a thriving creative commons. 

We are excited to find new ways to support a CC community of anyone who uses, advocates for, or supports the infrastructure that enables open licensing or who supports and believes in the power of the commons. 

When we think about centering community now and in the future, it may first be useful for a quick history of the Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) and past community efforts. If you are well aware of the history of the CCGN, feel free to skip ahead to the next section! 

A Quick History of the CCGN

The Creative Commons Affiliate Network was founded in 2001 alongside the founding of Creative Commons in order to support the global adoption of CC Licenses, and to port (or legally and linguistically adapt) the licenses to different legal jurisdictions. In November 2013, the 4.0 licenses, which no longer required porting, were launched. This presented an opportunity to shift the role of the Network to regional policy work, general awareness raising, and other local priorities. As a result, there was a need to rethink the Network structure to support this shift. A steering committee was launched in 2015 to create a new network strategy starting in 2015. The outcome of this work was the publication of Faces of the Commons, which included  the ultimate recommendation for a revised Creative Commons Global Network (CCGN) to be created by the global network itself. With the goal of meeting this challenge, in 2017, the Global Network Strategy was published. Alongside the 2017 strategy, Network Platforms were introduced (and then reintroduced in 2020) as a means to collaborate across jurisdictions on specific themes. The network strategy states these platforms as the intended primary locale for network collaboration, and today they are the most active spaces of the CC community.

Adjustments to the CCGN continued. In 2019, a set of  recommendations was published (though not adopted formally), in 2020, a report on the state of the network was produced, and in 2022, some major needs were identified.  Much of this occurred while the CC team itself was facing a tough budgetary reality and was unable to adequately resource community management of the CCGN and support recommended changes. 

Today, the CCGN is in need of renewed support from CC (the organization) to make sure the wonderful work of the global community can continue to be sustained. Many of the stated goals of the Network Strategy are out of alignment with how the network currently functions. As it stands, the Network Council—the body that governs the CCGN—has not met in over a year, and approved changes to the membership process have not been implemented because of the technical limitations of the current network website. 

We have an engaged and vibrant community of almost 1,000 CCGN members, many of whom participate in local, self-governed CC Chapters, and some of whom do not (or may wish to but don’t know how to get more involved). Many folks have inquired about the ways in which they could join the CCGN but as a result of past governance shifts and untied loose ends, the CCGN is stuck in a bit of governance limbo. That brings us to today and why Goal 3: Centering Community is so important to the success of CC’s vision and mission. 

Creating A Shared Vision of the Next Generation of the CCGN

Over the last year as we consulted on CC’s strategy, we have also been chatting with community members, some who are formally CCGN members and others who are CC advocates within their communities without formal affiliation with the CCGN. We conducted an internal assessment of the CCGN using historical data, community surveys, and interviews with chapter leads. In thinking about the future of our community, the shared sentiment is that the CC community is much more expansive than the formal structures of the CCGN; the CC community is anyone who uses, advocates for, or supports the infrastructure that enables open licensing or who supports and believes in the power of the commons. 

Today, nothing feels more important than both supporting and belonging to a community of values-aligned CC and open advocates who champion access to knowledge, and freedom of information as the foundations of a democratic society. We are excited to adapt the CC global community to the contexts and realities of 2025 so that together we can protect and strengthen the thriving creative commons as a means to solve the world’s greatest challenges. 

Sign up for our new Community newsletter to continue engaging with our work to refresh and center the CC community in our work.

The post Community in 2025 appeared first on Creative Commons.