# Catalyst Circle: Deep Dive

**Origin:**
The Catalyst Circle was first introduced at the beginning Fund 5 and implemented for Fund 6 by IOHK.(Fact check needed)

The following is a summary of the below article published on July 7th, 2021.

Reference Article:
https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2021/07/08/introducing-the-catalyst-circle/

**What is the Catalyst Circle?**
* The Catalyst Circle is a “human sensor array” acting as the representative body for all the different groups participating in Project Catalyst. The Circle that monitors the current state and future plans regarding governance in Catalyst. It detects and discusses concerns, objections and opportunities arising within the Catalyst ecosystem.

*Examples of what the Circle might discuss:*
The definition of amounts allocated to challenges Fund over Fund; changes or conditions to incentive parameters; the Catalyst API, etc.*

**Key Goals of the Circle:**
* To facilitate communication between the different functional groups
* To provide a heads-up when red lines are crossed within a certain group
* To suggest improvements on plans and processes that shape Project Catalyst
* To define the election process for Circle V2

**Member duties and responsibilities:**
Like Project Catalyst itself, the Circle will also evolve over time. Initially, elected members will serve 3-month terms, and elections will follow to continue improving and iterating the process.

**Each member of the Circle should:**

* Represent the community that selected them
* Exercise their own best judgement about matters that come before the Circle
* Familiarise other members with the projects, activities, aims, hopes, and concerns of their communities
* Periodically take the opportunity to introduce policy proposals into the Circle’s agenda for consideration
* Inform their communities about initiatives of the Circle
* Each member also has the responsibility to:
* Regularly attend meetings every two weeks
* Maintain an agile backlog list to track issues between meetings
* Review and comment on agenda issues ahead of time
* Maintain awareness of the interests and concerns of their community
* Disseminate the Circle’s outputs transparently and accessibly
* Learn and practice effective meeting procedures
* Produce an election protocol document for the next elections
* Attend training sessions focused on inclusive and lean startup leadership techniques
* Provide feedback on the effectiveness of the Circle

**Evolution:**
The Circle has gone through three phases of sensing and new member appointments since July, 2021.
The below links contains details of all the Circle meetings through time.
(Special thanks to QA DAO)

Circle Version 1:
https://catalyst-swarm.gitbook.io/catalyst-circle/

Circle Version 2:
https://quality-assurance-dao.gitbook.io/catalyst-circle-oversight-v2/

Circle Version 3:
https://quality-assurance-dao.gitbook.io/catalyst-circle-oversight-v3/

**How can a Catalyst stakeholder work/communicate with the Circle?**
Although there are no official communication channels between the the Circle and the community, most Circle members can be reached through social media, email or open office hours.

The openess to communicate with the community varies from circle member to circle member.

Below are a list of possible channels for public communication with the members:
* [Cardano Forum](https://forum.cardano.org/t/catalyst-circle-candidate-events/109899)
* [Cardano Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/cardano/)
* Telegram Groups
* [PAs](https://t.me/CatalystCommunityAdvisors)
* [Cardano Announcement Channel](https://t.me/cardanocatalyst)