[Board] Request - formal recognition - OSGeo Slovenija as an official OSGeo Local Chapter

[Alen Mangafić]

Dear OSGeo Board,

We are writing to request formal recognition of *OSGeo Slovenija* as
an *official
OSGeo Local Chapter*.

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.

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.

A cornerstone of this journey has been our annual *Open Source Geospatial
Slovenija* 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 Romanian Local Chapter -
presented at FOSS4G 2022 Firenze and later again at our Slovenian
conference (2024) - that motivated us to move forward with formal
recognition.

Throughout this incubation period, we have:

   -

   *Organized annual *(totally DIY, free-of-charge, 100+ attendees) *Open
   Source Geospatial Slovenija* conferences in *Ljubljana*
   2024 <https://github.com/OSGeo-si/OpenSourceGeospatialSlovenija2024>
   2023 <https://github.com/OSGeo-si/OpenSourceGeospatialSlovenija2023>
   2022 <https://github.com/OSGeo-si/OpenSourceGeospatialSlovenija2022>
   -

   *Launched a series of technical meetups under the name GeoDev
   <https://github.com/OSGeo-si/GeoDev>* — 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),
   -

   *Supported field-based use cases* 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.

We are formally organized as a non-profit, with a statute aligned with
OSGeo values. Our current membership includes *50 active individuals*, and
all core information is published on our wiki page:

*https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Slovenia
<https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Slovenia>*

Our logo is currently under development.

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.

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.

Best Regards,

*Alen Mangafić*
Secretary, OSGeo Slovenija
osgeoslovenija at gmail.com
https://osgeo.si
https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Slovenia
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