Incident Response
Framework
How you and we can respond when something happens.
More details on definitions, principles & limits of the Incident Response Framework can be found here.
When it applies
The Incident Response Framework (IRF) applies to incidents within Karada House in-person events and spaces, and within digital spaces we directly host during the active period of an event.
When it does not apply
It does not apply to incidents outside our events or spaces, including private relationships, dynamics between attendees outside our events, or conduct on third-party platforms unrelated to our programming.
How it works
Many situations can be navigated directly between the people involved, and we trust your capacity to do that. When you would like our assistance,
tell a member of the team: the color code, and a brief description.
You do not need all the details, and you do not need to be 100% certain. The colors in the color code are a guide, not a rigid system. They are also not “stages”. An incident can begin at any level.
In what concerns you directly: we will not act without your consent. The one exception is when the safety of the group, the project or our team is at stake; there we may act on our own judgement, and we will be transparent with you when we do within the limits of what we are able to share, including but not limited to our obligations under data protection (GDPR).
If it happened to someone else: If you are raising a concern on someone else’s behalf or about an incident you are not directly part of, we are grateful for the information and will act on it as best we can, but decisions about how to respond rest with the person it happened to, where they are able and willing, unless the safety of the group, the project or our team requires us to act regardless.
After an event has ended: you are still welcome to come to us, though there is less we can do in the moment.
Yellow — Persistent unease, disruption
When: Something is happening that keeps making you uneasy, is disruptive or has left you with a feeling that won’t settle. Your gut tells you something isn’t right, even if nothing has explicitly happened yet.
What we can do: Together with you, we first look at what is happening. If specific people are involved, we can keep an eye on and witness them with or for you. You decide whether or how to engage with them yourself. Where it lies more in a pattern, a dynamic, or the setting itself, we will discuss and if possible implement changes.
Orange — Potential breach of consent/boundaries
When: Something has happened that could be considered inappropriate behaviour, non-consensual or boundary crossing, but it may not be entirely clear.
What we can do: Together with you, we first look at what is happening. Where it comes down to a specific behaviour, we can speak to the person and ask them to pause, reflect, and change how they show up, regardless of whether it was intended. If a behaviour continues, we can ask the person to leave. Where it lies more in a pattern, a dynamic, or the setting itself, we look at what needs to change.
Red — Clear breach of consent/boundaries
When: There has been a clear case of inappropriate behaviour, a breach of consent and/or boundaries.
What we can do: Our first priority is the immediate physical safety and psychological wellbeing of those whose consent and/or boundaries were breached. Where the group’s or our team’s safety is at stake, we will do what the moment requires, including removing the person from the event right away. Otherwise, what happens next is decided together with those whose consent and/or boundaries were breached. Afterwards, future participation of the person who the “red” has been called on will be reviewed by the team.
This framework is inspired by the Color Code of Conduct developed by Homeroom Restaurant, Oakland, and further developed in collaboration with Studio Allegory, Vancouver and Sophia Rose, London.
Definitions, Principles & Limits
of the Incident Response Framework
Karada House Berlin — updated June 2026
What this is
The Incident Response Framework (IRF) offers everyone in our in-house and virtual spaces, independently of their role, a shared structure and language for responding to incidents.
Framework
This framework is a form of support, and we are very aware that it is far from perfect. It cannot always resolve the frictions that arise between people, dynamics, and systems, nor can it help us find a solution that works for everyone, or offer adequate help in every situation.
Like all of us, it is embedded in larger oppressive systems that none of us can step outside of. And yet it is a beginning, a guide, an attempt, one that we keep working to improve together with you and our collaborators and friends.
Incident
Within the realm of the IRF, we understand an incident to be anything that happens in our spaces that raises enough of a concern for you to bring to our awareness and/or seek our assistance, from a persistent sense of unease to a clear breach of consent or boundaries.
Incidents are not limited to singular occurrences between individual people but also include any structural forms of discrimination, harassment, and abuse that can appear in the form of accumulative patterns or dynamics.
Response
Within the realm of the IRF, we understand a response to begin not with us, but with you: with you noticing your concern, whether it touches you directly or someone near you, and trusting what you notice even if things are unclear or confusing. What you do from there is yours to decide. Many things can be worked out directly between the people involved, without us. And when you would like us with you, bringing it to us turns your own response into a shared one, whether you are speaking for yourself or on behalf of someone else.
From there, how we respond depends on the situation. It can move toward the individual, through listening and attending to what is needed in the moment, and/or toward the group or structures, through tending to the conditions of the space as a whole. It can happen in the moment or afterwards, in how we carry what we have learned into later decisions. And it is shaped by who holds the decision: in what concerns you directly, you do; where the safety of the group or our team is at stake, we may need to.
What this is not
The IRF is not a legal process, a court, or an investigation. It is not a mediation or therapy service, and it does not guarantee a particular outcome. As space holders, we cannot investigate or judge what we were not present for, enforce private agreements or boundaries between individuals, or act as arbiters in dynamics that originate outside our events.
It is also separate from a broader question: who we choose to host. We are generally open to receiving information relevant to group safety, including from outside our events, and may weigh it in decisions about participation but do not consider this part of the Incident Response Framework.
What we can and cannot do
| WE CAN | WE CANNOT |
| ✓ Respond to incidents that occur in our spaces and events | × Investigate or adjudicate incidents we were not present for |
| ✓ Witness and support you in the moment | × Provide ongoing support, mediation, or counselling beyond immediate first aid and short-term support during and shortly after events |
| ✓ Speak to another person about their behaviour and ask for changes or implement structural/group changes. | × Enforce privately established agreements or boundaries between individuals |
| ✓ Ask someone to leave a current event | × Act as arbiters in relationship dynamics or disputes that originate outside our events |
| ✓ Decide next steps together with you about how to respond | × Guarantee a specific outcome or response from our side |
| ✓ Act proactively when a situation poses a risk to the group | × Guarantee continuous or uninterrupted attention to any one person during an event |
| ✓ Review participation in future events based on what we have observed | × Disclose information about other participants, due to GDPR |
Important notes
On interpretation
Not all situations fit neatly into predefined categories. Human interaction is shaped by context, cultural background, neurodivergence, trauma history, power dynamics, communication style, and many other factors. The colour code is a tool for shared understanding, not a rigid classification. We assess each situation with care and discernment.
Asking someone to pause, change, or leave is not a judgement of their character. We take context into account, including neurodivergence and distress, but it does not change our responsibility to respond and ensure the safety of the group.
On outcomes
Telling us about an incident does not guarantee a specific or desired outcome. We take all concerns seriously and respond with care, but our actions are guided by the information available to us, the needs of those involved, our actual capabilities, and the safety of the group as a whole.
On good faith
This framework is designed to support the wellbeing and safety of the group. It is not a tool for managing personal conflicts, enforcing private agreements, or exerting pressure on other participants. We expect concerns to be raised in good faith. Using this framework deliberately or repeatedly to pursue personal agendas, rather than to address genuine concerns, may itself become something the team needs to address.
On concerns involving a team member
When a concern involves a member of our team, that person takes no part in handling it with you. Where this cannot be resolved within our team, we bring in someone external to hold the process.
On space holder safety
The wellbeing and safety of our team is essential to holding this space for everyone. We will intervene when it is safe and feasible to do so. If a situation cannot be addressed immediately, we will respond as soon as it is safe. Holding space takes capacity, time, energy, mental wellbeing and financial resources. We recognize that our resources are finite, and that their overwhelming or depletion poses a risk to us, the group and the project itself. When a matter, or its accumulation in time and/or quantity, exhausts the team’s capacities, we reserve the right, in the interest of the group’s safety, to step back. Where we do, we will, where possible, point to other places or people better suited to help.
This framework is inspired by the Color Code of Conduct developed by Homeroom Restaurant, Oakland, and further developed in collaboration with Studio Allegory, Vancouver and Sophia Rose, London.
