Mettonsles

Mettonsles is a decentralized, Francophone collaborative platform that supports participatory media creation and civic storytelling. It brings together artists, researchers, and technologists to produce open, community-led projects that combine writing, data visualization, and interactive media.

Launched in 2019 by a network of volunteers, Mettonsles aims to lower barriers to collaborative work and to share outputs openly. It operates through regional chapters and online collectives, coordinating projects that explore social issues, governance, and culture through co-authored works and publicly accessible data.

Activities include an open online platform for project collaboration, documentation, and licensing; annual residencies; public exhibitions; and free workshops on topics such as data ethics, storytelling, and open-source tools. All content and code are released under open licenses to encourage reuse and remix by others.

Organization is decentralized. A rotating steering group coordinates major initiatives, while local nodes manage day-to-day activities. Decisions are often made by consensus, with transparency through public meeting notes. The project maintains multilingual outputs, primarily in French with English translations when feasible.

Reception and impact are mixed. Mettonsles is praised for inclusivity, accessibility, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, and is cited as a potential model for open, community-led practice that bridges art, technology, and public discourse. Critics point to fundraising volatility and uneven visibility across broader audiences. Proponents argue that its flexible structure supports experimentation and long-term ethical engagement with communities.