A Federated Unconference is an unconference (often inspired by Open Space Technology) that is designed to work across many semi-independent hosts, hubs, and online spaces, while still feeling like one coherent event.
The “federated” part means you do not rely on a single central platform, a single organiser, or a single venue: multiple communities can host sessions, publish outcomes, and welcome participants from their own “home base,” while still being discoverable and legible to the whole network.
A good Federated Unconference behaves like a constellation: many local stars (hubs) sharing a theme, shared norms, and a shared index of what is happening, without forcing everyone into one walled garden. The goal is not maximum decentralisation for its own sake, but resilient participation: people can join and contribute even if one hub fails, one tool breaks, or one organiser disappears.
# Why federate
Federation solves three classic unconference problems: discoverability (how do people find sessions), continuity (how do outcomes persist), and inclusion (how do remote and local participants participate on equal terms). A federated approach also reduces the “single point of failure” risk that comes from relying on one commercial ticketing platform, one chat server, or one schedule system - mobilizon.org 
Federation is also a cultural choice: it signals that ownership is distributed and that communities can host parts of the event in their own style, language, and time zone, while still contributing to a shared commons of notes, recordings, and follow-ups.
# Core patterns
The following patterns show up repeatedly in successful decentralised gatherings.
Theme + lightweight rules: one shared question or theme, plus a small number of behavioural norms (for example the Law of Two Feet and explicit note-taking expectations). The theme is the gravitational centre; the rules protect movement and psychological safety. - openspaceworld.org
A shared “marketplace” index: even when sessions are hosted across many hubs, there is usually one shared view of what is happening (or a way to aggregate many views). In a federated design, the index is not the whole event, it is the map. - pretalx.com
Portable proceedings: notes are captured in a consistent format, published in durable places (wikis, repos, or pads that are archived), and linked back into the shared index so that the event produces a “book of proceedings” rather than a collective amnesia. - iiw.idcommons.net - indieweb.org
# Examples of federated or decentralisation-friendly unconferences
IndieWebCamp runs as a community of many unconference events across cities and years, with strong culture around shared note-taking (often with Etherpad) and post-event “wikifying” so knowledge accumulates rather than evaporates. - indieweb.org - indieweb.org
The Internet Identity Workshop (IIW) uses an open space unconference format and publishes session notes and proceedings through an ongoing wiki-like archive, showing how repeated unconferences can build a durable knowledge commons. - iiw.idcommons.net
Mozilla Festival (MozFest) demonstrates a “federated inside the festival” model: many semi-autonomous Spaces curate collections of sessions and experiences, while a shared schedule provides discoverability across the whole event. - mozillafestival.org - schedule.mozillafestival.org
Fediverse communities have been actively building federated event discovery and calendaring, including platforms like Mobilizon and Gancio (both using ActivityPub patterns), plus efforts to bridge events from WordPress into the fediverse - mobilizon.org - gancio.org - en-gb.wordpress.org
# Tooling stack A “latest and best” stack is not one tool, but a set of roles. You can swap implementations per hub, as long as the outputs remain linkable and indexable.
# Federated event discovery
Mobilizon is an open-source event and group platform that federates between instances using ActivityPub server-to-server delivery, so communities can host their own event listings while still being followable across the fediverse. - mobilizon.org - docs.mobilizon.org
Gancio is another open-source events agenda that supports federation via ActivityPub, often used by activist and community networks, and can be followed from the wider fediverse - gancio.org - gancio.org
If you already run a community site on WordPress, the ActivityPub “Event Bridge” approach is an emerging path: publish events on your own site and let them be aggregated and followed across decentralised platforms without moving your community to a new hub - en-gb.wordpress.org
# Shared schedule and session index
pretalx is a widely used open-source conference planning tool that supports CfP, review, scheduling, and published schedules that attendees can rely on as the “map,” even when sessions happen in many different tools and places. - github.com - pretalx.com
For a Federated Unconference, the schedule layer often needs less “paper selection” and more “marketplace grid,” but pretalx is still useful as the canonical index if you treat each session entry as a bundle of links (room link, notes link, host contact, hub). - docs.pretalx.org
# Notes, pads, and proceedings
Etherpad remains a proven default for real-time session notes because it is simple, fast, and culturally normal in unconference communities, especially IndieWebCamp where it is deeply embedded in practice - indieweb.org
HedgeDoc is a strong modern alternative when you want collaborative Markdown notes that can be exported, versioned, and turned into durable pages, while remaining self-hostable - hedgedoc.org
CryptPad is valuable when you need collaboration plus strong privacy properties, because it is open source and end-to-end encrypted, which can matter when sessions include sensitive discussions or vulnerable participants - cryptpad.org
# Chat and coordination
In federated events, chat should be multi-home: participants can join from different communities without being forced into one proprietary app. In practice, Matrix ecosystems are commonly used for this, because it supports decentralised servers and bridging patterns (though the specific clients and bridges are a design choice per event) - wikipedia
# Video rooms and hybrid participation
BigBlueButton is a mature open-source web-conferencing platform designed for structured facilitation, offering breakout rooms, shared notes, whiteboard, polling, and moderator controls, which helps when you want consistent session hosting across many hubs. - bigbluebutton.org - github.com
WorkAdventure is an open-source “2D virtual space” approach that can act as an online venue with proximity chat and a strong sense of place, which can be useful as the social glue and hallway track in a distributed unconference. - workadventu.re - github.com
# Asynchronous follow-through and decisions
Decidim is a free/open participatory platform with structures for assemblies, processes, proposals, and accountability, which can hold the longer tail of outcomes after the unconference ends. - decidim.org - docs.decidim.org
Loomio is a decision-making tool designed for consensus-focused group decisions and records, useful for turning unconference energy into concrete, trackable outcomes between live gatherings. - en.wikipedia.org - help.loomio.com
# Facilitation practices that make federation work
Invitation design: the invitation should explicitly name the theme, the autonomy of hubs, and the social contract (movement, consent, inclusion, and note-taking). In a federated model, the invitation also clarifies how hubs can “join the constellation” and what minimal metadata they must publish (times, links, accessibility notes). - openspaceworld.org
Session host kit: give every session host a tiny playbook (how to open, how to include remote participants, how to capture notes, how to end with next steps). This is more important in federated events because consistency comes from shared practice, not from central control. - artofhosting.org
Harvesting discipline: require a notes link for every session, encourage a simple template, and run a daily “harvest circle” that turns session outputs into visible artifacts and commitments. The IIW “session notes” tradition shows how powerful this is when done consistently over years. - iiw.idcommons.net
A real hallway track: decentralised events die when every interaction is scheduled and transactional. Use a social space (in-person commons, WorkAdventure-style map, or just an always-on lounge room) and treat it as first-class infrastructure. - workadventu.re
Cross-hub rhythm: use a daily opening and closing touchpoint that all hubs can join (even briefly) so the network stays coherent. The rhythm can be lightweight, but it must be reliable. - openspaceworld.org
# A simple “minimum viable” federated unconference recipe
Each hub publishes an event listing (Mobilizon, Gancio, or a WordPress site bridged to the fediverse) and provides a hub page with accessibility notes, times, and joining links. - mobilizon.org - gancio.org - en-gb.wordpress.org
A shared schedule index exists (often pretalx) where each session entry includes a room link, notes link, and host. The schedule is the map; the hubs are the territory. - github.com
Every session has a collaborative notes surface (Etherpad, HedgeDoc, or CryptPad) and every day ends with a harvest circle that produces an updated proceedings index. - indieweb.org - hedgedoc.org - cryptpad.org
Follow-through is handled asynchronously in a durable system (wiki, Decidim, Loomio), so outcomes become commitments rather than memories. - decidim.org - loomio.com
# See - Open Space Technology Harrison Owen Law of Two Feet. - Art of Hosting Liberating Structures Facilitation. - Federation ActivityPub Fediverse. - Harvesting Proceedings Sensemaking.
# See - Unconference