Witzil: using the Cardano Blockchain to bring decentralized, collaborative change to Mexican urban environments

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Iker Toledo

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

Entity (Not Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Co-proposers and additional applicants

Andrés Leal

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

12

[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)

Witzil has gathered a group of conscientious professionals with expertise in architecture, design, biology, geography and blockchain tech to team up and change the way we see and develop public spaces

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

Yes

[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.”

Witzil has spent the last few years developing an amicable relationship with experts in the field, gathering trustful and respected voices in the Mexican urbanization and development community and academia as well as gathering the necessary knowledge to approach local government officials.

We depend on the local governments (town halls, municipalities, etc) to get permits for our work to be possible and we're proud to be able to confirm that we've already succeeeded on a small scale to do so.

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

No

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

We expect to have a third party minting infrastructure which will help us down the line. We only talk on our behalf but for anyone wary about the needs and wants of our project, it's all about collaboration. We know that open sourcing our work and making it available to everyone is essential for our success.

[METADATA] SDG rating

SDG goals:

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

SDG subgoals:

By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries

By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities

Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning

By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements

By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts

Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems

Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation

Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically

Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space

Forest area as a proportion of total land area

Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type

Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI):

#proposertoolsdg

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

At Witzil, we believe that one of the main issues a population that lives in a society in development is their high level of distrust. How can one love thy neighbour when rampant corruption creates a dog eat dog enviroment where everyone is on the lookout for themselves? How can someone think of helping others when they don't see help for themselves? How can one care about the state of their community, when the resources that should be gone to their development go to those at the top? Indeed, the sad state of affairs in Mexico are quite paradoxical. Such a rich country where its richness go to so few and where it seems like there's not much for the rest.

Witzil doesn't pretend to change the world with pretty promises but we know that little by little, we can make our cities a better place. We started as a simple idea, make public areas better. How? We are comformed by a community of capable architects, designers, artists, media figures and creatives. We started this project years ago and we tried to have a solid understanding of what's needed to make this possible.

For us, trustless solutions in the form of the blockchain technologies have been the missing link to make our vision possible. After years of deliberation on how Witzil should move forward, we became 100% convinced that without Cardano, our vision, our scope, wouldn't be possible

When we say that we've spent years gathering the most capable team we could think of, we aren't making empty promises. Because we also want to be part of Cardano. We are here to change the world, one brick at a time.

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

Witzil will not only serve as a non-profit focused on making our public areas a better place. Think of Witzil as a marketing think-tank for all Cardano related things. One of our main mottos is "Good design shines bright in the darkness". We might want to make our cities a better place to live in, but we're a deeply focused art, architecture and design project. We are here because we think that even though NFTs as exciting pieces of art that create a new form of resonation and identification of the holder, they also are untested water for real life creatives.

One of our main jobs, is to find that light within our youth through creating partnerships with the best design and architecture universities in the city. We want to introduce hundreds if not thousands of young, capable people to the concepts of decentralization and open sourcing their own work.

Mexico City has a population of around 9,209,944 people (INEGI, 2020).

How would you feel, as someone who cares about the Cardano ecosystem, if you had the chance to share this amazing piece of technology and all the possibilities of its use to millions of people, every day. If we add to that the fact that Mexico City is ranked as one of the best cities on the planet for digital nomads, we could guarantee that our proposal will reach people that will not only be interested but provide a symbiotic relationship with Cardano

THAT, is what we want Witzil to mean to Cardano

[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?

I've been within this community for more than 3 years. In this time, I've developed relationships with communities and people that I hold dear. I've shown artistic, design and intellectual work which, even though I tend to do in facetious manner because of an irrational disdain for protagonism, has proven that I have a set of skills that could be consider above the norm.

Well, if I'm risking my image and all my work in the Cardano community all these years, you better believe that I will gather a team that I consider in extremely high regards.

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

We could argue that we've already succeeded in a "pre-milestone" which was acquiring the permit to work on the land for its restoration and making the topological study, still...

Our first milestone would be the development of the area and gathering of our community. This should be showing signs of feasability around the 5th month, with constant updates and improvements. These updates will be shown in the form of topological studies of the first area, renders, proof of permits from local authorities to work on the land and videos/images showing initial restoration of the area before any actual construction is done.

Our second milestone will be pretty apparent and self-explicative:

We will produce changes in the enviroment

We will have Cardano shown to thousands of people on a daily basis. This will be done through marketing made on-site. The use of Cardano's blockchain to achieve said restoration will be shown explicitly through Mexican idiosyncratic love and focus for public art in the form of murals. We also expect to make campaigns around the restored areas which will serve as a learning experience for the onlookers, tracking how many of them have been inclined to create a wallet and/or participate in the ecosystem

We will also provide NFTs which will stem from a community of artists, architects and designers

We have access to universities to further our search for the best talent

Our progress will be measured through creation mainly yet we also have the technology to gather hard numbers such as number of pedestrians that gather through the area daily/weekly/montly, increase in endemic species activity in the area, etc

The final milestone would be expanding to newer areas, this time seeking partnerships with the private sector which would introduce them to this innovative crowd sourced public restoration model but also to the Cardano blockchain and the unique opportunity to use blockchain technology to become patrons of socially responsible causes

Of course, to reach this milestone and make this project attracted to private enterprises, we would have already produced a video detailing all the process involved, from gathering the funding to restore the area (through the sale of NFTs) to the actual restoration of the area in the form of timelapses.

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

Andrés Leal - CEO, architecture graduate from UNAM

Iker Toledo - CSO, industrial design graduate from Universidad Iberoamericana @ikeri0 on twitter

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

We've already budgeted for our first area, it's around 100k USD, yet we expect that most of this money will come from the sales of NFTs within our community.

We need the 75k ADA to

Initial payments for artists, designers, web development and third party minting solution = 25,000 ADA

Acquiring the technology needed for data gathering (IoT sensors) = 20,000 ADA

Consulting (includes legal) and paid promotions within the Mexican Republic = 15,000 ADA

Online marketing = 15,000 ADA

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

Aside from material costs like equipment and raw materials, most of the rest of the costs are actually higher than what we're asking, if you were to simply hire a professional. It's our commitment to put our highest efforts into this, as we've done for years before we reached to this stage.

Through this moderate budget we expect our team and allies to give their best effort into not only a simple restoration but a modern and holistic experience which will be able to truly call itself a 21st century city, or, as we like to call it, a meta-city.