<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p>Dear OSGeo Board,</p>
<p>We are writing to request formal recognition of <strong>OSGeo Slovenija</strong> as an <b>official OSGeo Local Chapter</b>.</p>
<p>Our community has been evolving organically over the past years,
shaped by contributions from a diverse group of researchers, students,
professionals, and enthusiasts across disciplines - including GIS,
geodesy, biology, computer science, forestry, social sciences, etc. From the
beginning, inclusivity and openness have been core to how we operate and
grow.</p>
<p>Over the last three years, we have been connecting with interested
individuals from all over our little country. Through shared activities,
informal meetups, and regular presence at FOSS4G events, we’ve grown
together into a critical mass that decided to take this step
collectively. While we are more focused on geeking out, building (and
destroying) things, and fostering community than on formal structures or
bureaucracy, we felt it was the right moment to make this official.</p>
<p>A cornerstone of this journey has been our annual <strong>Open Source Geospatial Slovenija</strong>
conference in Ljubljana, which has become a central platform for
collaboration, idea exchange, and showcasing open geospatial work in our
region. Over the years, we’ve also had the pleasure of hosting members
of the global OSGeo community at this event, strengthening our ties with
the broader network. While many Local Chapters have served as valuable
references, it was especially the story of the <a rel="noopener">Romanian Local Chapter</a>
- presented at FOSS4G 2022 Firenze and later again at our Slovenian
conference (2024) - that motivated us to move forward with formal
recognition.</p>
<p>Throughout this incubation period, we have:</p>
<ul><li>
<p><b>Organized annual </b>(totally DIY, free-of-charge, 100+ attendees) <b>Open Source Geospatial Slovenija</b> conferences in <b>Ljubljana</b><br>
<a rel="noopener" href="https://github.com/OSGeo-si/OpenSourceGeospatialSlovenija2024" target="_blank">2024</a><br>
<a rel="noopener" href="https://github.com/OSGeo-si/OpenSourceGeospatialSlovenija2023" target="_blank">2023</a><br>
<a rel="noopener" href="https://github.com/OSGeo-si/OpenSourceGeospatialSlovenija2022" target="_blank">2022</a></p>
</li><li>
<p><strong>Launched a series of technical meetups under the name <a rel="noopener" href="https://github.com/OSGeo-si/GeoDev" target="_blank">GeoDev</a></strong>
— open, hands-on gatherings focused on geospatial development. We
joined forces with other IT-crazy people to create a space where
geo-developers can share tools, workflows, and experiments in a relaxed,
community-driven setting with beer and pizza (the last one was
yesterday),</p></li><li><p><strong>Supported field-based use cases</strong>
like dragonfly tracking (in collaboration with the local odonata
society) and analyzing beaver population spread by tracking their poo -
both carried out using QField in support of environmental and academic
projects.</p></li></ul>
<p>We are formally organized as a non-profit, with a statute aligned with OSGeo values. Our current membership includes <strong>50 active individuals</strong>, and all core information is published on our wiki page:<br>
<strong><a rel="noopener" href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Slovenia" target="_blank">https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Slovenia</a><br></strong></p><p>Our logo is currently under development.</p>
<p>We feel ready to formally join the OSGeo family and continue
contributing - as we already do - the global open geospatial movement.
We hope we didn’t mess up the formal steps too badly along the way.</p><p>Thank
you for your time and consideration. Please let us know if there are
any next steps or additional information needed to support this request.</p><p></p>
<p>Best Regards,</p><p><strong>Alen Mangafić</strong><br>
Secretary, OSGeo Slovenija<br>
<a rel="noopener" href="mailto:osgeoslovenija@gmail.com" target="_blank">osgeoslovenija@gmail.com</a><br>
<a rel="noopener" href="https://osgeo.si" target="_blank">https://osgeo.si</a><br>
<a rel="noopener" href="https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Slovenia" target="_blank">https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Slovenia</a></p></div><br></div>