uniFires - Cardano & Polkadot Agents/Ambassadors

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

uniFires

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Not Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

We facilitate builder handshakes, introduce projects to each others ecosystems and actively bootstrap cross chain governance participation across the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystems

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

As we dont plan to do much coding in this project, we couldn't license a lot, however, any open source worthy material will be fully open sourced

[METADATA] Horizons

Cross-chain

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Short context

UniFires started as a loose collective between a few Cardano & Polkadot Ambassadors in late 2023. Since then, we got a first time funding in Catalyst Fund 11, learned a lot about each other's ecosystems and facilitated a healthy amount of builder and project introductions across the both ecosystems. By mainly targeting experienced and committed builders, we arrived to build a strong network of builder networks which already started to grow its fruits.

Besides hosting a series of workshops, sessions, spaces and other events, we also started to facilitate first concrete collaborations around specific projects, e.g in collaboration with Polkadot Ambassadors and Event organisers to introduce local Ambassadors to each other, a group of Polkadot & Cardano Stake Pool Operators able to support each other in understanding each other protocols or direct initiatives around governance and for sure, as each new team starting to work together, we did a bunch of messy stuff and for sure some valuable mistakes. However, we are still here, and more committed than ever to continue our efforts in further bringing the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystem closer together.

This proposal is a natural follow up to our completed F11 proposal, and this is what we want to do:

• Improve Project Management: 

Setup improved uniFires project management interoperable to both ecosystem onchain processes, including web2 + Web3 components

• Meetings: 

Facilitate ecosystem introductions between Cardano & Polkadot builders, host meetings, sessions, workshops, spaces etc with Cardano & Polkadot builders

• Study:

Participate in ecosystem events, online/offline, read material and level up ecosystem knowledge, insights and active presence

• Moderation

Moderating the uniFires public Discord server

• Governance

Define and launch, in coordination with Project Management, an effective governance participation of uniFires at both ecosystems, as DRep/Voting Representative collective

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

• Accumulate and share knowledge

uniFire members have already gained great insights on not only their own, but each other's respective ecosystems. 

• Apply knowledge to facilitate ecosystem introductions

This knowledge helps us to understand the different ecosystem ups and downs and to figure where support is most needed.

• Build relationships

To get stuff done, people need to work with each other, it's our responsibility to establish strong relationships across the builder communities and to facilitate cross chain handshakes

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

As uniFires, a small collective of Cardano & Polkadot Ambassadors who work together since late 2023, we may be fitting candidates to get for this proposal. We know each other and gained strong insights on each others ecosystems, we started to establish strong relationships and launched first spin offs. And, we are fully committed and equipped to continue our work and to improve and enhance our performance.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1

Milestone timeline: January 2025

Milestone Budget: 20,000 Ada

Milestone Outcomes:

• Project Management: 

Setup improved uniFires project management interoperable to both ecosystem onchain processes, including multisig etc

• Meetings: 

Facilitate ecosystem introductions between Cardano & Polkadot builders, host meetings, sessions, workshops, spaces etc with Cardano & Polkadot builders

• Study:

Participate in ecosystem events, online/offline, read material and level up ecosystem knowledge, insights and active presence

• Moderation

Moderating the uniFires public Discord server

• Governance

Define, in coordination with Project Management, an effective governance participation of uniFires at both ecosystems, as DRep/Voting Representative collective

Acceptance Criteria

• Successfully initiated improved uniFires project management
• Completed & shared public monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events with Cardano & Polkadot builders with uniFires members
• Completed & shared a public document outlining uniFires governance engagements at both ecosystems
• Maintained and moderated the uniFires Discord server

Evidence of Milestone completion

• Public url to uniFires project management & documentation
• Public url to a monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events with Cardano & Polkadot builders with uniFires members
• Public url to a public document outlining uniFires governance engagements at both ecosystems
• Public url to the uniFires Discord server

Milestone 2

Milestone timeline: February 2025

Milestone Budget: 20,000 Ada

Milestone Outcomes:

• Project Management: 

Further improve project management

• Meetings: 

Facilitate ecosystem introductions between Cardano & Polkadot builders, host meetings, sessions, workshops, spaces etc with Cardano & Polkadot builders

• Study:

Participate in ecosystem events, online/offline, read material and level up ecosystem knowledge, insights and active presence

• Moderation

Moderating the uniFires public Discord server

• Governance

Active onchcain governance participation by unIFires on Cardano & Polkadot 

• Child initiatives

Actively spark, facilitate and maintain builder collaborations and initiatives across the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystems

Acceptance Criteria

• Successfully improved uniFires project management
• Completed & shared public monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events with Cardano & Polkadot builders with uniFires members as well as a overview of all initiatives facilitated by uniFires
• Maintained and moderated the uniFires Discord server
• Active uniFires engagement as on chain entity DRep/Voting Representative
• Active child initiatives/spin offs from uniFires engagements

Evidence of Milestone completion

• Public url to uniFires project management & documentation
• Public url to summary of project management improvements
• Public url to a monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events, active initiatives setup and maintained by uniFires
• Public url to uniFires onchain governance engagements at both ecosystems
• Public url to the uniFires Discord server

Milestone 3

Milestone timeline: March 2025

Milestone Budget: 20,000 Ada

Milestone Outcomes:

• Project Management: 

Further improve project management

• Meetings: 

Facilitate ecosystem introductions between Cardano & Polkadot builders, host meetings, sessions, workshops, spaces etc with Cardano & Polkadot builders

• Study:

Participate in ecosystem events, online/offline, read material and level up ecosystem knowledge, insights and active presence

• Moderation

Moderating the uniFires public Discord server

• Governance

Active onchcain governance participation by unIFires on Cardano & Polkadot 

• Child initiatives

Actively spark, facilitate and maintain builder collaborations and initiatives across the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystems

Acceptance Criteria

• Successfully improved uniFires project management
• Completed & shared public monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events with Cardano & Polkadot builders with uniFires members as well as a overview of all initiatives facilitated by uniFires
• Maintained and moderated the uniFires Discord server
• Active uniFires engagement as on chain entity DRep/Voting Representative
• Active child initiatives/spin offs from uniFires engagements

Evidence of Milestone completion

• Public url to uniFires project management & documentation
• Public url to summary of project management improvements
• Public url to a monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events, active initiatives setup and maintained by uniFires
• Public url to uniFires onchain governance engagements at both ecosystems
• Public url to the uniFires Discord server

Milestone 4

Milestone timeline: April 2025

Milestone Budget: 20,000 Ada

Milestone Outcomes:

• Project Management: 

Further improve project management

• Meetings: 

Facilitate ecosystem introductions between Cardano & Polkadot builders, host meetings, sessions, workshops, spaces etc with Cardano & Polkadot builders

• Study:

Participate in ecosystem events, online/offline, read material and level up ecosystem knowledge, insights and active presence

• Moderation

Moderating the uniFires public Discord server

• Governance

Active onchcain governance participation by unIFires on Cardano & Polkadot 

• Child initiatives

Actively spark, facilitate and maintain builder collaborations and initiatives across the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystems

Acceptance Criteria

• Successfully improved uniFires project management
• Completed & shared public monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events with Cardano & Polkadot builders with uniFires members as well as a overview of all initiatives facilitated by uniFires
• Maintained and moderated the uniFires Discord server
• Active uniFires engagement as on chain entity DRep/Voting Representative
• Active child initiatives/spin offs from uniFires engagements

Evidence of Milestone completion

• Public url to uniFires project management & documentation
• Public url to summary of project management improvements
• Public url to a monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events, active initiatives setup and maintained by uniFires
• Public url to uniFires onchain governance engagements at both ecosystems
• Public url to the uniFires Discord server

Milestone 5

Milestone timeline: May 2025

Milestone Budget: 20,000 Ada

Milestone Outcomes:

• Project Management: 

Further improve project management

• Meetings: 

Facilitate ecosystem introductions between Cardano & Polkadot builders, host meetings, sessions, workshops, spaces etc with Cardano & Polkadot builders

• Study:

Participate in ecosystem events, online/offline, read material and level up ecosystem knowledge, insights and active presence

• Moderation

Moderating the uniFires public Discord server

• Governance

Active onchcain governance participation by unIFires on Cardano & Polkadot 

• Child initiatives

Actively spark, facilitate and maintain builder collaborations and initiatives across the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystems

Acceptance Criteria

• Successfully improved uniFires project management
• Completed & shared public monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events with Cardano & Polkadot builders with uniFires members as well as a overview of all initiatives facilitated by uniFires
• Maintained and moderated the uniFires Discord server
• Active uniFires engagement as on chain entity DRep/Voting Representative
• Active child initiatives/spin offs from uniFires engagements

Evidence of Milestone completion

• Public url to uniFires project management & documentation
• Public url to summary of project management improvements
• Public url to a monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events, active initiatives setup and maintained by uniFires
• Public url to uniFires onchain governance engagements at both ecosystems
• Public url to the uniFires Discord server

Milestone 6

Milestone timeline: June 2025

Milestone Budget: 20,000 Ada

Milestone Outcomes:

• Project Management: 

Further improve project management

• Meetings: 

Facilitate ecosystem introductions between Cardano & Polkadot builders, host meetings, sessions, workshops, spaces etc with Cardano & Polkadot builders

• Study:

Participate in ecosystem events, online/offline, read material and level up ecosystem knowledge, insights and active presence

• Moderation

Moderating the uniFires public Discord server

• Governance

Active onchcain governance participation by unIFires on Cardano & Polkadot 

• Child initiatives

Actively spark, facilitate and maintain builder collaborations and initiatives across the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystems

• Project Close Out

Complete the proposal close out Video and Report

Acceptance Criteria

• Successfully improved uniFires project management
• Completed & shared public monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events with Cardano & Polkadot builders with uniFires members as well as a overview of all initiatives facilitated by uniFires
• Maintained and moderated the uniFires Discord server
• Active uniFires engagement as on chain entity DRep/Voting Representative
• Active child initiatives/spin offs from uniFires engagements
• Completed Close our video & report

Evidence of Milestone completion

• Public url to uniFires project management & documentation
• Public url to summary of project management improvements
• Public url to a monthly summary of monthly meetings, session and other online/offline events, active initiatives setup and maintained by uniFires
• Public url to uniFires onchain governance engagements at both ecosystems
• Public url to the uniFires Discord server
• Public url to the proposal close out video
• Public url to the proposal close out report
• 
  

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Felix Weber

https://www.linkedin.com/in/felix-swarm-339590209/

Cardano builder, Cardano Ambassador, SPO/DRep member. Technosoph wearing many hats and serving many projects. 4+ yrs full time Cardano and through our past uniFires efforts, heavily engaged in Polkadot since late 2023.

Luuuu

https://x.com/Just_Luuuu

Luuu is an engaged and committed Polkadot Ambassador with extensive experience in organizing and leading successful Polkadot events, effectively enhancing community involvement and knowledge-sharing within the ecosystem

Peter Wolcott

https://x.com/sirwolcott

Cardano builder, certified scrum master, virtual office jockey and a Project Catalyst contributor since 2021. Systems architect, help desk specialist, cyber security and generative ai trainer. Fiat mine full time as a chief information officer’s apprentice.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

We aim to fund uniFires second iteration via both proposals equally. In this proposal, we request 100K Ada, which will be used to partly cover:

uniFires salaries:

We reward the core group with ideally max 3500 Ada per month per person.

4 X Contributors X 3.5K X 6 months = 84.000 Ada

6.000 Ada to tooling and admin costs

10.000 Ada for unforeseen events

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Cross-Ecosystem Collaboration: By facilitating collaboration between Cardano and Polkadot builders, we aim to enhance the knowledge exchange and cooperation between the Cardano & Polkadot ecosystems. This creates long-term value by building strong, interconnected communities, which can lead to innovative cross-chain solutions and wider ecosystem collaborations and partnerships.

Building Networks: We focus on creating relationships among developers, builders and ambassadors, within both ecosystems, which helps align goals and efforts. These connections could result in collective growth and the potential for shared initiatives, maximizing resource efficiency.

Governance Participation: By engaging in governance activities within both Cardano and Polkadot, we support decentralized decision-making and aim for the community's attention and engagement. This is critical for ensuring that the voices of Cardano's builders and users are reflected in key ecosystem decisions across the respective ecosystems

Knowledge and Capability Development: We invest in learning and sharing knowledge across ecosystems. The insights gained can optimize the development process, making builders more effective and informed, thus contributing to the overall robustness of the Cardano ecosystem.