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How does success look like?

If funded, with the support of this research Cardano community stakeholders will be able to learn from the proposals of Fund 6 what projects are being implemented that align with the UN SDGs, in what countries, and what hubs currently exist in the Cardano global ecosystem.

Key Metrics to measure

With the support of the research, the Cardano community can establish:

• How many proposals in Fund 6 and Fund 7 are working in synergy with global agencies and frameworks?
• How many are implemented that are using local hubs, and where are they situated?
• How many projects have a formal relationship with the Cardano Foundation?
• Which countries are represented/not represented?

This will all in all provide a clearer, global picture with which to approach multi lateral agencies such as the UN and provide necessary information and data that captures the dynamic, entrepreneurial, mission driven Cardano ecosystem.

Why is it important?

Collaboration with International bodies working in the developing world will accelerate mass adoption for Cardano´s blockchain solutions.

In order to accelerate mass adoption and work seamlessly with diverse stakeholders from multilateral organisations like UN to national Governments, it is important to be able to understand one another, and therefore a common language is helpful.

We propose to research the use and application of one such common language through the prism of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Once this framework is established in connection with current Fund 6 proposals and those that gain funding, we can expand the scope to include other sustainability frameworks.

Doing so will greatly facilitate and enhance the ability for any funded proposal in Project Catalyst, or Cardano project to communicate impact with a global audience, using a global framework of goals and common language. This can take place in hubs, in physical and online spaces.

Plan in detail:

The objective of the challenge is to enter into global partnerships with UNDP and the world bank group in 3-6 months and develop local community centers in 130 countries.

To be able to focus on the best partnership opportunities we suggest to focus on a deep research of the proposals ecosystem.

Research gathered will be open access and useful for the Cardano community as there is currently a gap in research carried out for a non technical, non blockchain audience, and also a lack of research from the humanities and social sciences focusing on the Cardano Project Catalyst community and funded proposals and through lenses and global frameworks measuring progress in sustainability terms (Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs, environmental, social, governance - ESG).

With millions of dollars already distributed to winning proposals, and with more to come in future funds, it is crucial to ensure that we measure and understand the impact of funded proposals and that future proposals are funded to have maximum positive impact.

Research rationale:

Will look over current Fund 6 proposals, researching how each proposal aligns within the Sustainable Development Goals framework.

Is there a basis to propose a tool that can educate, easily inform and connect proposers with methods of structuring their proposals? In turn, making them more impactful, in a measurable way on a global stage, using a common language within frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals?

Existing funded proposals total +150, with +150 expected this Fund 6. Proposals submitted total +1000.

If funded to carry out further research, we would use the funds to direct time and resources to carry out a wide survey of all proposals submitted and collect information and data using mixed research methods (quantitative and qualitative), online surveys, remote interviews.

Research and development:

Hypothesis:

Having access and knowledge of frameworks and datasets helps make better decisions, design impactful projects and robust proposals.

Possible Research Questions:

• Does Cardano's Blockchain Protocol and Decentralised Innovation Fund offer novel mechanisms that can enable entrepreneurs to launch projects that have measurable positive impacts?
• How much of the millions of dollars of ADA being used in Cardano's community governed treasury to fund projects are contributing to progress according to global sustainability frameworks such as UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and others?
• How many proposals submitted feed into progress according to SDGs?
• Have you allocated a budget to monitoring and evaluating your project?
• Have you allocated any secured funds from Catalyst for monitoring and evaluation?
• Have you used any goals, data or framework external to Catalyst in your project and proposal?

Would having access to impact/SDGs, datasets and frameworks make a difference in:

• Your proposal project planning?
• Your chances of success to secure funds in Catalyst and beyond?
• Your project implementation?
• Your project impact measuring?

Deliverables:

• A paper that can be submitted in journals (Frontiers) for open access - https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/18154/blockchain-for-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals-sdgs
• A paper to inform the Cardano community of proposals submitted and how they were/are connected to global reaching goals and frameworks (SDGs and others).
• A short video that summarises the research carried out/conclusions, learning outcomes into a video (1 minute - 4 minute video for open access usage and knowledge sharing).

Budget and roadmap: Total request = $8400

Research and development:

$4200 1 - 3months (Sept - Nov) (Fund 6) Phase 1

$4200 1 - 4 months (Nov - Feb) (Fund 7) Phase 2

Phase 1:

September 2021 - preliminary research currently ongoing:

Literature review of current research (i.e. translate a 2020 French research journal 'whitepaper' on Blockchain and SDGs into English - possible other languages too in the Cardano ecosystem) seeking to address gaps in research within the Cardano ecosystem and externally for comparative purposes across the blockchain space.

October 2021 - November 2021:

Review current Fund 6 proposals with a voluntarily completed survey by proposers. Determine and assess the current state of Catalyst proposals using the sustainable theoretical framework lens, establishing a baseline survey of Fund 6 proposals that align with SDGs.

Collate results into a publicly accessible database and written paper. Findings of this shorter paper will help feed into a submission of a manuscript for blockchain journal (Frontiers Dec deadline).

Phase 2: November 2021 - February 2022

Building on research from phase 1 into the tracked funded projects and their connection to SDGs, will explore additional sustainability frameworks (Doughnut Economics etc...) and how they align and can be integrated for greater project impact.

Will support the development of a multi- framework proposal tool.

Key dates:

• COP 26 - 31st October 2021 - 12th November 2021, UK - Global Summit with World Leaders and Civil Society having Climate Talks. https://ukcop26.org/

• Research into Catalyst Proposals and projects that are aligned with SDGs, and addressing Climate Change can be presented to stakeholders and across social media through network connections

• 31/12/2021 Manuscript deadline for submitting in Journal 'Frontiers in Blockchain'. - https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/18154/blockchain-for-united-nations-sustainable-development-goals-sdgs

Relevant connections and links:

• I am in talks with Positive blockchain, an organisation building an open access global database of projects within the blockchain space that have social impact - https://positiveblockchain.io/
• I am in contact with 2 of the authors who were my professors when I studied my MA Sustainable Development at University Paris Dauphine (2013-2014) - https://www.institutlouisbachelier.org/et-si-la-blockchain-favorisait-le-developpement-durable/
• Member of The Commonwealth Informal Network for closing the Digital Divide
• Member of Global Insights Panel - MIT Technology Review
• We will aim to partner with the SDG LAB Geneva https://www.sdglab.ch/ where we have contacts and collaborate on how the research can match the lab objectives and facilitate interest and partnerships with UN organizations

Team:

Cardano AIM (Assembly Inspiring Masses) is currently made up Lucio, Victor, Phil, Razali and a number of supporters. We are all active Catalyst Community members and currently design and build tools that support the community. These include the popular voter-tool (https://cardanocataly.st/voter-tool/#/), the Community Advisor Tools (CA and vCA-tools) (https://cardanocataly.st/ca-tool/#/ & https://cardanocataly.st/vca-tool/#/)))))))) as well as the community landing page (https://cardanocataly.st/)

Razali is an Educator, Editor, Digital Economy, Blockchain & Sustainability Researcher, Social Entrepreneur, Catalyst Proposal Mentor, Wada UN SDG and Education Coordinator, Co-Founder of Sustainable ADA & Catalyst School Core Member - https://www.linkedin.com/in/razali-samsudin/

Victor is an active Catalyst Member, Community Advisor and Proposal Mentor, member of the 1st Catalyst Circle, leader of the Catalyst School, core member of the Catalyst Swarm, and has a strong professional and academic background in Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science and Machine Learning.

Lucio is a developer with 9+ years of experience (mainly focused on web/mobile. Languages and frameworks: PHP, Javascript, Typescript, Python, Ruby - Laravel, Ruby on Rails, Wordpress, Angular.js, Vue.js, Node.js). CA and vCA, co-creator of the Community Tools (Proposer/CA/vCA/Voter Tools).

Phil has experience as an accountant, UI/UX frontend and graphic design and business advisor amongst numerous other pursuits. He currently has a lead position in the development and direction of Cardano AIM and is co-creator of the Community Tools

Yoram Ben-Zvi is a social entrepreneur. In the last years, Yoram is focusing on combining impact and business. 3 years ago he left his comfort zone and joined an NGO Earthworm.org to work on sustainable business models across agriculture supply chains. Yoram also works with tech impact companies such as GivingWay.com. - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoram-ben-zvi-446836/

Affiliated proposal:

DLT

Title: Proposal Framework Tool

https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Proposal-Framework-Tool/369300-48088

Research carried out as a result of this proposal also will feed into the development and expansion of the MVP Framework Tool.