# Idea: Sustainable Best Practices Badge

**URL:** <https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge/124>\
**Category:** Community\
**Created:** [December 20, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge/124 "2018-12-20T13:10:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GeorgLink](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/georglink/32/19_2.png) [@GeorgLink](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/GeorgLink)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge/124/1 "2018-12-20T13:10:26Z")

</div>

The idea is to establish a checklist of best practices for sustainable open source communities. We could follow the same model that the [CII Best Practices Badge](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/en) has for security best practices. Communities voluntarily sign up to achieve a badge and provide public evidence for following sustainable best practices. A Sustainable Best Practices Badge 🥇 application tracks this information, serves as a place for checking the status of a community’s badge, and provides badges that communities can display on their repositories, websites, blogs, newsletters, marketing material. With wide adoption, this badge becomes a quality signal for open source communities. Foremost, the badge serves as a checklist for communities to review their practices and improve where necessary.

Open to discussion. What do you think?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GeorgLink](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/georglink/32/19_2.png) [@GeorgLink](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/GeorgLink)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge/124/2 "2018-12-20T14:08:42Z")

</div>

To further the conversation, I wrote a blog post with background about the idea and how it could work:

[http://www.georglink.de/2018/12/20/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge--772](http://www.georglink.de/2018/12/20/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge--772)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jdorfman](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/jdorfman/32/14_2.png) [@jdorfman](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/jdorfman)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 4:24pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge/124/3 "2018-12-20T16:24:24Z")

</div>

> [@GeorgLink](#):
>
> [Georg J.P. Link | Idea: Sustainable Best Practices Badge 🥇](http://www.georglink.de/2018/12/20/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge--772)

That is great work. [Tweeted](https://twitter.com/SustainOSS/status/1075788619384672258).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jdorfman](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/jdorfman/32/14_2.png) [@jdorfman](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/jdorfman)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge/124/4 "2018-12-21T03:10:42Z")

</div>

> [@GeorgLink](#):
>
> CII Best Practices Badge

Maybe we should mention this in the Manifesto? E.g. FOSS project SHOULD have _CII Best Practices “passing” level criteria_.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GeorgLink](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex032/user_avatar/discourse.sustainoss.org/georglink/32/19_2.png) [@GeorgLink](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/u/GeorgLink)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://discourse.sustainoss.org/t/idea-sustainable-best-practices-badge/124/5 "2018-12-21T18:21:40Z")

</div>

> [@jdorfman](#):
>
> > CII Best Practices Badge
> 
> Maybe we should mention this in the Manifesto? E.g. FOSS project SHOULD have _CII Best Practices “passing” level criteria_ .

Going back to the [conversation that started the idea for the badge](https://twitter.com/adamhjk/status/1075100251927719936): We should separate best practices from principles or we loose sight of what we are trying to accomplish.

I view the Manifesto as principles that don’t say how specifically we achieve out goals. The CII Best Practices Badge is a specific means or best practice and belongs somewhere else.