This online presentation about ‘social contracting’ was delivered for the research group Decentring Through Digitality (DTD). DTD was founded by Josie Cockram from Falmouth University and Dr Sarah Tripp. DTD meet monthly online and provide a space to experiment and test anti-oppressive pedagogies in online spaces, as well as to offer and receive peer review. Drawing on the principles of commoning, DTD share resources and experiences to support the growth of an ambitions practice-led research-base – and a dynamic ethics of practice – for art education online. ‘Social contracting’ was presented in this context as a method of establishing transparency and relational ethics within a group of people who intend to work together on a longer-term participatory, collaborative, community or research project.

Within this online social contracting session, the DTD participants formed a social contract (in order to learn how to create social contracts for community based research projects and to enhance the building of cohorts. Contracting (or social contracting) is a process shared by a group who plan to work together. With a facilitator, the group establish guidelines for how they can work respectfully and inclusively. Once the guidelines have been transcribed on the whiteboard, by the facilitator, the group sign the whiteboard to make a commitment to working in this way. Contracting is an ongoing process which can be revisited as the group grows and changes through a participatory or community led project. Tripp presented her knowledge and experiences of ‘social contracting’ at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Collective’s Satellites Programme (Edinburgh) and Intermedia (Glasgow). Tripp reflected on the differences of ‘social contracting’ with community groups and groups of students. Tripp has facilitated contracting with groups of postgraduate students, PhD candidates and artists and craftspeople working in shared studios. Tripp described the origins of contracting within the training of counsellors as part of an Introduction to Listening Skills Course run by COSCA. Within this setting, contracting was used to establish guidelines for group practice of active listening where confidentiality is essential to learning.