Drupal Association Finland Joins the La_EU Project
The Local Association (La_EU) Project continues to gain momentum across Europe. The latest to join the initiative is Drupal Association Finland, which has just launched its new website Drupal.fi. The site is built on the shared Drupal codebase that originated from Drupal.nl, the platform of Stichting Drupal Nederland (SDN). What started in 2020 as a national website has evolved into a cross-border collaboration that now connects eight European Drupal Associations through one open-source foundation and counting.
From a Local Initiative to a Shared European Platform
After completing the redevelopment of Drupal.nl, SDN made the code publicly available on Drupal.org under the name Local Association (EU Sites Project). The idea was simple: share the code, and let’s grow it together with other associations.
“We wanted to make use of Drupal’s strengths by keeping the website modular,”
explains Björn Brala, SDN board member and initiator of the project.
“Each country can decide which features to enable. That’s diversity at its core: a shared foundation that still reflects local culture and identity.”
Other associations and enthusiasts joined the initiative with time, energy and finances. Today, organizations in France, Norway, Belgium, Germany, London, the Netherlands, and now Finland use and contribute to the same codebase. With other associations working to migrate as we speak.
Shared Benefits, Shared Responsibility
The La_EU project has become a textbook example of open collaboration within the Drupal community. Participating associations enjoy:
- Shared development and maintenance costs, reducing duplication of effort.
- A unified and professional online presence, strengthening Drupal’s visibility across Europe.
- Closer community collaboration, as associations exchange ideas and code contributions through open meetings and a shared backlog.
As discussed during a Birds of a Feather session at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024, the project’s real success lies in its open governance model. Each association helps shape priorities and features, ensuring that the platform grows organically based on real community needs.
Built Together and Still Growing
Development of the shared codebase continues with support from Lemberg Solutions, which provides technical guidance and implementation. Community members regularly contribute new features, such as multilingual support and member registration systems. To facilitate the project’s agile process, Esmeralda Tijhoff has taken up the role of Product Owner, coordinating open community meetings to create user stories, set priorities together and keep the flow going.
“It’s a community effort,” says Esmeralda. “It can only succeed if the contributors are engaged and we deliver features that really support the activities of local associations. It’s great to work with a project with this much potential and with such a wide variety of people collaborating.”
The long-term vision is ambitious: a global Drupal Associations network running on one sustainable, community-driven platform.
“Every improvement made by one association benefits all the others,” says Brala. “That’s what open source is all about.”
Anyone interested in joining or contributing to the La_EU project can find more information on Drupal.org/project/la_eu. You can also reach out via bestuur@drupal.nl or join the #la_eu channel on Drupal Slack.
If you’re attending DrupalCon Vienna 2025 (14–17 October), be sure to visit the Network for European Drupal Associations (NEDA) booth or stop by the La_EU project table in the contribution room to meet the people behind the initiative.
Ruud de Bruyn A boss with (search) words, Ruud shakes the texts out of his sleeve as if it were nothing.
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