SYN-001
The principles are the foundation
These guidelines take the Burning Man principles as practised in the AfrikaBurn ecosystem — including Consent and Each One Teach One — as their value foundation. The guidelines interpret the principles for community safety; they do not replace them.
Deliberately left open
The source file is titled "11 principles" but lists 12 (INDEX anomaly #1) — the group should confirm the canonical set it is adopting.
Which principle set is canonical — 11 or 12?
The source material is titled '11 principles' but actually lists 12 (INDEX anomaly #1). Because these guidelines take the principles as their value foundation, the exact canonical set matters.
If left open Left unresolved, every guideline derived from 'the principles' rests on an ambiguous base: two readers can cite a different foundational set, and any future 'we uphold the N principles' statement is contestable.
Where this comes from · 12 source items
This draft merges what the community actually said across 12 source items — every source ID is permanent and traceable.
- PRIN-001 Radical Inclusion: Anyone may be a part of Burning Man, welcoming and respecting the stranger without any prerequisites for participation.
- PRIN-002 Gifting: The community is devoted to acts of gift-giving, where the value of a gift is completely unconditional and free from expectations of return or reciprocity.
- PRIN-003 Decommodification: To preserve the spirit of gifting, social environments are completely free from commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising.
- PRIN-004 Radical Self-reliance: Individuals are encouraged to discover, exercise, and completely rely on their inner resources to survive in a harsh desert environment.
- PRIN-005 Radical Self-expression: Arising from the unique gifts of the individual, nobody other than the creator can determine its content, though it must always respect the autonomy of others.
- PRIN-006 Communal Effort: The community deeply values creative cooperation, collaboration, and protecting shared public spaces and methods of communication.
- PRIN-007 Civic Responsibility: Community members who organize events assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to conduct events in accordance with local laws.
- PRIN-008 Leaving No Trace: The community heavily respects the environment, committing to cleaning up everything and leaving places in a better state than when found.
- PRIN-009 Participation: Transformative change happens only through deeply personal, active participation—everyone is invited to work and play, meaning there are no spectators.
- PRIN-010 Immediacy: Immediate, real-world experience serves as the primary touchstone of value, seeking to overcome barriers between our inner selves and the surrounding environment.
- PRIN-011 Consent: Widely formalized by regional networks like Burnt Oranges and Blazing Swan, this principle mandates enthusiastic and ongoing consent for physical interactions, property use, boundaries, and photography.
- PRIN-012 Each one teach one: It's the responsibility of each burner to teach other burners about the burn and what acceptable and encouraged behaviour looks like.
Themes · scope of community safety · consent and feedback culture · governance and legitimacy
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