Choosing Ethical Technology: Open-Source Tools for Community Collaboration

How can communities use technology in ways that strengthen relationships, protect privacy, and support regenerative ways of working? In this session, Esther Molina and Sam Rossiter from Transition Network International (TNi) explore the role of ethical technology in helping communities organize, collaborate, and create together.

From communication and project management to content sharing and knowledge archiving, this session explores how open-source and community-owned platforms can provide transparent, privacy-respecting, and sustainable alternatives to mainstream digital tools.

Esther and Sam share practical guidance for choosing technologies that align with community values, including considerations around data protection, environmental impact, accessibility, and digital wellbeing. They explore how the tools we choose shape the ways we relate, organize, and participate—and how technology can either support or undermine collective resilience.

The session also includes the first public introduction of Community Waves, a new Transition Platform developed and tested by the Transition Network International team. Designed to support connection, collaboration, and resource sharing across the Transition Movement, Community Waves reflects a commitment to building digital spaces that are more aligned with the values of openness, care, and community ownership.

This session is ideal for community organizers, nonprofit teams, Transition initiatives, digital collaborators, and anyone interested in ethical technology, open-source software, digital sustainability, privacy-conscious tools, and creating healthier relationships with technology.