The Community Devroom will be back at FOSDEM 2027. Our goals in running this DevRoom are to: Educate those who are primarily software developers on community-oriented topics that are vital to the lifecycle of free and open-source software, such as effective collaboration and resilient governance. * Provide concrete advice and practical frameworks for dealing with complex human problems and project operations. * Unpack preconceived ideas of what community is and the vital role it plays in society, free software, and a shifting technological landscape. * Explore ways we can make open-source software sustainable, secure, and inclusive for maintainers and contributors. * Share knowledge on all aspects of creating, nurturing, and protecting communities for free and open-source projects. **Talk Topics** Here are some themes and topics we are particularly interested in hearing more about this year: * Governance & Sustainability: Models for healthy governance (moving beyond BDFL and heavy corporate stewardship); funding and resourcing community projects equitably; and navigating emerging digital regulations, security mandates, and software liability laws. * Maintainer Well-being & Resilience: Self-care in our communities for members and leaders alike—addressing burnout, maintainer overload, institutional turnover, the "bus factor," and the impacts of economic and geopolitical shifts on our contributors. * Managing AI-Era Contributions: Dealing with the operational fallout of high-volume automated PRs and AI-generated code floods ("AI slop"), and maintaining human-centric review processes and community signal-to-noise ratios. * Inclusion, Onboarding, and Pathways: Creating clear, welcoming, and safe pathways for new contributors; addressing regional and cultural contexts; improving physical and digital accessibility across codebases, tooling, and events; and fostering psychological safety. * Collaboration Across Boundaries: Cross-project and cross-domain initiatives (shared tooling, documentation standards, security responses); community responses to global challenges (such as sovereign infrastructure and climate resilience); and lessons from unique or emerging ecosystems. *Community Management & Growth: Best practices for managing toxic behavior while keeping spaces welcoming; creative ways to reward and motivate volunteer contributors; and maintaining authentic connections across hybrid online/offline environments (virtual office hours, livestreams, and asynchronous engagement). Again, these are just suggestions. We welcome proposals on any aspect of community building, collaboration, and open-source sustainability! To Submit Head to the FOSDEM 2027 Pretalx website and submit your talks for the Community Devroom. https://pretalx.fosdem.org/fosdem-2027/cfp Final submission deadline: December 1st Talk schedule posted: December 15th Important Guidelines: * You must be available in person to present your talk in Brussels. * Speaking slots are 25 minutes in length (to include any Q&A). * The Community Devroom is unfortunately unable to sponsor travel or accommodation. Laura Czajkowski & Shirley Bailes