Folgendes Abkommen wurde auf Englisch zwischen den Vorständen des Novastan e.V. und von Novastan France verabschiedet. Hier könnt ihr es im Original lesen:

Purposes of the agreement

This agreement defines what it means to be Novastan: it outlines the principles that shall be respected by the associations signing this agreement in order to use Novastan’s brand, and what activities and expenses shall be shared by all Novastan associations. It is to be validated by the boards of each of the organisations.

What are Novastan’s activities

Novastan is a journalistic and cultural project, represented by the parties of this agreement. Its main activity is to publish content according to the common editorial rules defined below on the website “www.novastan.org” (henceforth: Novastan.org).

Novastan.org is an independent and innovative associative media specialized on topics related to the region “Central Asia”, defined as the states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan as well as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Novastan also plans and organises events in Europe in order to inform, discuss, and share information about Central Asia, to develop the links between Europe and Central Asia, as well as journalism-related events in Central Asia.

Novastan’s brand shall not be used for other activities than stated above.

Common values and commitments 

Independent: fair and not influenced by any other third person or legal entity

Commitment to our value of independence:

• Novastan’s content represents the views of its authors only and Novastan mainly relies on financing from its members and donors and shall not accept funding by politically motivated organisations.

Transparent: clear and easy to understand, open and honest, without secrets

Commitment to our value of transparency:

• Novastan publishes all its sources of financing without exception
• Novastan publishes and contextualises the sources of its contents wherever it can do so without causing harm to them
• Novastan informs about the origin and the process of creation of its content

A bridge between Central Asia and Europe:

• Respectful of identities and individuals
• Local, using a majority of material/content produced in Central Asia
• Respecting the local views and trying to counter post-colonialist discourses

Inclusive: link and foster exchange between regions, countries, peoples, cultures and societies in a respectful and balanced manner.:

• Respect different cultures
• Report on cultural and social trends without discrimination
• Gather the different communities in a inclusive and respectful way

Common expenses

Novastan associations shall share by equal parts all the common expenses related to the functioning of Novastan.org and the development of the overall project. In particular, this includes:

• The website hosting services;
• Expenses for social media tools (such as Hootsuite);
• Organisation of the yearly meeting of the whole team and
• All common projects agreed by the boards of all the associations.

Common editorial rules

The editorial rules to be respected by editorial boards

The editorial teams shall respect the charta on editorial content and publication.

The editorial teams refer to two technical documents on how to publish on the website of Novastan.org („The Coran“ – valid in English) and on ortho-typographic rules valid for each of the languages.

Responsibility for the content 

The German and French sites of Novastan.org are the property of the respective German and French Novastan organisations. Each organisation is responsible for the content published on its site in accordance with, respectively, German and French law.

The content published on Novastan.org is created by the French and German editorial teams who are members of their respective associations. The head of each editorial team and director of publication shall be a member of the board of her/his organisation.

Common organisational rules

The internal organisation of the associations shall be in application of the organisation chart and the principles decided upon during the first Novastan Congress on 11th November 2018, as adapted in the statutes of each association. All amendments to the common organisational rules are subject to agreement between the Novastan associations.

Convergence principle

All the points not specified by this agreement are to be decided by each association locally. The associations agree to consult each other on a regular basis to guarantee the unity of the overall project.

Each association signatory of this agreement pledges to converge with each other in the respect of the decisions and direction taken by the association locally on the points not mentioned in this agreement. Diversity of grassroots views, dynamics and initiatives developed by each association locally are encouraged, and shall be a source of inspiration for the other associations and the common project. This is concretely applied through the yearly Congress organised to discuss the common project with the presence of as many as possible members of all the associations.

The Boards of Novastan e.V. and Novastan France