First Year Strategy

This document should be read in conjunction with the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political Statement. It sets out the operational plan for AURIO’s first year: from the Founding Congress to the first Ordinary Congress.

Introduction and Vision
Strategic Objectives
Interim Governance
Branch Building
Member Onboarding
Thinking Schools
Staffing
Electoral Preparation
Political Education
Timeline

1. Introduction and Vision

AURIO is a party that builds before it asks. The first year is about building the structures, the knowledge base and the community that will make AURIO a credible political force.

The party has been founded in Aisymi, Evros, by a founder who reversed the brain drain. The first year must translate that founding act into an organisation that others can join, contribute to and eventually govern through.

AURIO’s first year is not about winning elections. It is about earning the right to contest them. That means demonstrating, in practice, that evidence based policy, participatory democracy and cultural renewal are not slogans but working methods.

The party’s three election horizon is:

2027: National parliamentary elections. Run across Greece. Be heard. Establish AURIO as a credible national presence.
2028: Municipal elections (October). Contest the Alexandroupoli mayoral race. Win local power. Implement the pillars from the mayor’s office.
2029: European Parliament elections. Take the movement to Brussels.

The first year lays the groundwork for all three.

2. Strategic Objectives (First Year)

The first year is organised around four objectives:

a. Building membership. Grow the party from 200 founding members to a membership base sufficient to contest elections credibly. Focus first on Evros and the Greek diaspora communities most likely to return or engage remotely. Reach into communities abandoned by the major parties, where disillusionment is highest and the appetite for something different is strongest.

b. Building structures. Implement the Constitution and Standing Orders. Establish local branches, beginning in Evros. Run the first internal elections. Launch the Thinking Schools. Build the digital infrastructure for online participation, voting and policy development.

c. Building organisation. Root the party in communities. Launch community assemblies in every branch area. Connect with local cooperatives, cultural organisations and civic groups. Begin the community organising work that will underpin the 2028 municipal campaign.

d. Building knowledge. Launch the Thinking Schools and begin producing evidence briefs on the 12 policy pillars. Commission research on municipal implementation of AURIO’s programme. Develop political education materials for members and communities.

3. Interim Governance

From Founding Congress to First Ordinary Congress

3.1. The Founding Congress shall elect an initial Political Council, as set out in Constitution Article 22.4. This council takes over management of the party immediately.

3.2. The Party Leader designated in the Declaration of Establishment serves as Acting Leader until the first Ordinary Congress elects a Leader under Constitution Article 8.

3.3. During the interim period, a Members’ Oversight Committee of 5 ordinary members, selected by sortition from the founding membership, shall work alongside the Political Council. Their role is to ensure transparency and accountability during the party’s formative period. Members of the Oversight Committee may not be members of the Political Council.

3.4. The Members’ Oversight Committee shall:

a. Observe and report on Political Council decisions to the membership.

b. Ensure that decisions taken during the interim period are consistent with the founding documents as adopted by the Founding Congress.

c. Flag concerns to the membership through the party’s online platform.

3.5. The Members’ Oversight Committee ceases to exist upon the convening of the first Ordinary Congress.

3.6. Candidates for the initial Political Council elections shall be excluded from all oversight of operations related to the running of those elections.

Principles

3.7. The interim period shall be governed by the principles of transparency, neutrality and democratic accountability. The Political Council shall publish regular reports to the membership on its decisions, finances and activities.

4. Branch Building

4.1. Local branches are the foundation of the party. The first year priority is to establish branches in key areas, beginning with Evros.

4.2. A branch may be established in any municipality or regional unit where at least 10 party members reside, as set out in Constitution Article 9.1.

4.3. Branch formation process:

a. A founding meeting must be attended by at least 10 members in the area.

b. At the founding meeting, branch officers (coordinator, secretary, treasurer) must be elected by democratic vote.

c. The founding meeting must be approved by the Political Council, which verifies compliance with the Constitution.

4.4. Target areas for the first year:

a. Evros (Alexandroupolis municipality, Aisymi area): first branch, established within 3 months of the Founding Congress.

b. Thessaloniki: second branch target, within 6 months.

c. Athens: third branch target, within 9 months.

d. Overseas Branch: established within 6 months for diaspora Greeks with voting rights, adapted for remote participation as set out in Constitution Article 9.8.

4.5. The Political Council shall provide support to emerging branches, including: guidance on the formation process, access to digital tools, templates for meeting agendas and minutes, and connection to the party’s Thinking Schools.

4.6. All branches shall be resourced to carry out their full range of organising activities, within the party’s financial capacity.

5. Member Onboarding

5.1. Every new member shall receive:

a. A welcome communication explaining the party’s structure, principles and how to participate.

b. Assignment to their local branch or, where no branch exists, to the Overseas Branch or a provisional national membership group.

c. Access to the party’s online platform for policy discussion, voting and engagement.

d. An invitation to a political education session within their first 3 months of membership.

5.2. The Political Council shall set membership growth targets for the first year, reviewed quarterly.

5.3. Membership dues shall be set at an accessible level, with reduced rates for students, unemployed members and pensioners, as determined by the Political Council.

6. Thinking Schools

6.1. Thinking Schools are AURIO’s distinctive contribution to political organisation. They are research grounded advisory bodies, one per policy pillar, anchored in the thinkers and evidence that underpin the AURIO programme as set out in the Intellectual Framework.

6.2. The Political Council shall establish the first Thinking Schools within 6 months of the Founding Congress, prioritising the pillars most relevant to the 2028 municipal campaign:

a. Direct Democracy (Bookchin: libertarian municipalism; Castoriadis: autonomy and citizens’ assemblies; Poulantzas: democratic socialist state) b. Local Economy (Schumacher: appropriate scale; Gordon Nembhard: cooperative ownership; Raworth: doughnut economics) c. Community Energy (Ostrom: governing the commons, community energy cooperatives) d. Culture as Infrastructure (Illich: convivial tools, community-created culture)

6.3. The next Thinking Schools shall be established within the first nine months:

e. Education as Liberation (Freire: problem posing education, praxis, critical consciousness; Sahlberg: Finnish system design) f. Food Sovereignty (Shiva: seed sovereignty; Berry: agriculture as cultural act; Altieri: agroecology as science) g. European Sovereignty (Sen: development as freedom, capabilities approach; Fanon: liberation from the colonised mind; international law) h. Gender Parity and Anti-Racism (Duflo: women leaders invest more in public goods; Tripp: African governance innovations; Amadiume, Oyewumi: indigenous female political authority)

6.4. The final Thinking Schools shall be established within the first year:

i. Border Region Justice (original to AURIO, drawing on Castoriadis and Poulantzas: strategic contribution must generate local benefit) j. European Democracy (Ostrom and Bookchin applied to EU institutions: subsidiarity, commons governance, democratic accountability) k. Healthcare as a Commons (Tudor Hart: inverse care law; Marmot: social determinants of health; Gawande: implementation as craft) l. Social Security and Dignity (Sen: poverty as capability deprivation; Standing: the precariat; Polanyi: the double movement)

6.5. Each Thinking School shall:

a. Recruit a small council of members, supplemented by invited external advisors.

b. Produce at least one evidence brief for the Political Council and membership within its first 6 months.

c. Begin building a network of researchers, practitioners and partner organisations relevant to its pillar.

6.6. Thinking Schools feed into the policy development process as set out in Constitution Article 17 and Standing Orders Section 4.

7. Staffing

7.1. In the immediate term, the party shall operate primarily through volunteer effort, supplemented by a minimal paid team as finances allow.

7.2. The Political Council shall appoint or hire for the following priority roles within the first year, subject to available resources:

a. Organiser: responsible for branch building, community organising and member engagement.

b. Communications coordinator: responsible for the party’s public communications, website and social media.

c. Finance and legal officer: responsible for financial compliance under Greek Law 3023/2002, donation reporting and legal affairs.

7.3. All hiring shall follow the fair and open procedures set out in Constitution Article 14, with strong safeguards against conflicts of interest and nepotism.

7.4. Staff shall report to the Executive Committee and be answerable to the Political Council, as set out in Constitution Article 14.3.

7.5. The Political Council shall present a staffing plan with financial projections to the first Ordinary Congress for approval.

8. Electoral Preparation

2027 National Elections

8.1. The party shall begin candidate identification and selection for the 2027 national parliamentary elections, using the democratic process set out in Constitution Article 15.2 and Standing Orders Section 3.

8.2. The Political Council shall determine which constituencies the party will contest, balancing strategic impact with available resources. The minimum goal is to field candidates in Evros and in at least 3 additional constituencies.

8.3. The party shall produce a concise national election manifesto, drawing on the existing National Manifesto and Thinking School research, for publication at least 6 months before the expected election date.

2028 Municipal Elections

8.4. Preparation for the October 2028 Alexandroupolis municipal elections shall begin in the first year.

8.5. Key activities:

a. Research the legal requirements for filing a syndiasmos (candidate slate) under Law 4804/2021. Verify with a Greek election lawyer.

b. Begin community engagement in the Alexandroupolis municipality through the Evros branch’s community assemblies.

c. Identify potential candidates for the mayoral race and council seats, ensuring compliance with the 40% gender parity requirement.

d. Develop a local programme for Alexandroupolis, building on the existing Evros Local Programme and grounded in Thinking School research.

8.6. The Political Council shall appoint a municipal election working group, including Evros branch members and Thinking School representatives, within the first 9 months.

2029 European Elections

8.7. First year activity for the 2029 European elections is limited to: establishing AURIO’s European policy positions through the Foreign Policy Thinking School, and building relationships with allied European movements.

9. Political Education

9.1. Political education is essential to building a membership that understands AURIO’s evidence based approach and can articulate it to their communities.

9.2. The Political Council shall develop a political education programme within the first 6 months, covering:

a. The 12 pillars of the AURIO programme, with evidence and thinker references.

b. The Constitution, Standing Orders and how to participate in party governance.

c. Community organising skills: how to run assemblies, engage neighbours, build local campaigns.

d. The Freirean method: dialogue, praxis, critical consciousness. Political education sessions shall themselves use participatory methods, not lecture formats.

9.3. Political education sessions shall be offered to all new members within their first 3 months, as set out in Section 5.1(d).

9.4. Branches shall be encouraged to run regular study groups on the thinkers and evidence underpinning the party’s programme.

10. Timeline

This timeline runs from the Founding Congress (Month 0) to the first Ordinary Congress (Month 18-24).

Months 1-3: Foundation

Political Council takes office and begins regular meetings.
Members’ Oversight Committee established by sortition.
Digital platform launched for member engagement, policy discussion and voting.
Member onboarding process operational.
Evros branch founding meeting held.
Membership dues structure set.
Finance and legal compliance established under Law 3023/2002.

Months 4-6: Structure

First 4 Thinking Schools launched (Democracy, Economy, Energy, Culture).
Overseas Branch established.
Thessaloniki branch founding meeting held.
Political education programme developed and first sessions delivered.
First Thinking School evidence briefs published.
Initial staffing decisions made (organiser, communications, finance/legal).
Community assemblies begin in Evros branch area.

Months 7-9: Growth

Next 4 Thinking Schools launched (Education, Food, European Sovereignty, Gender Parity).
Athens branch founding meeting held.
Municipal election working group appointed for 2028 Alexandroupolis campaign.
National election candidate identification begins for 2027.
Quarterly membership growth review.

Months 10-12: Consolidation

Final 4 Thinking Schools launched (Border Region, European Democracy, Healthcare, Social Security).
All 12 Thinking Schools operational and producing research.
National election manifesto drafting begins.
Municipal election legal requirements verified with election lawyer.
Community engagement in Alexandroupolis municipality intensifies.
Staffing plan with financial projections prepared for Congress.
Full review of first year progress prepared for membership.

Months 13-18/24: Toward the First Ordinary Congress

Candidate selection process opens for 2027 national elections.
Draft municipal programme for Alexandroupolis prepared.
Financial report and audit prepared.
First Ordinary Congress convened. All interim provisions expire. Full democratic governance under the Constitution begins.

11. Review

11.1. This strategy is a living document. The Political Council shall review progress against this timeline quarterly and report to the membership.

11.2. Significant deviations from this strategy shall be communicated to the membership with reasons, and any structural changes shall be submitted to the first Ordinary Congress for ratification.

First Year Organisational Strategy

Contents