A Cardano Impact Ecosystem

Bridge the gap, allowing for change-makers of the world to be included, collaborate and to become active participants in Web3 for impact.

Sustainability & Impact Advisor

Web3 and Tech Trends content writer and marketer

Working group member of the Government Blockchain Association

Blockchain Author and Lecturers (collectively over 160k students to date)

Certified Blockchain Developer and Architect

[IMPACT]

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Can we premise this by sharing that we (Kala and I) do not come from a technical background. The solution that is being proposed comes from experience in the social and environmental impact world, seeing the benefits of being able to leverage technology, learning as much as we can, and seeing the barriers to access and some of the shortfalls in addressing digital exclusion. We have been bringing in more technical expertise to fill the gaps and would welcome any partnerships, input and advice on how best to utilise the technology to fulfil the aims of the ecosystem.

More on the problem

Digital exclusion is real, and collaboration is minimal. Those who both understand and can access and leverage blockchain, Web3 and Cardano for the purpose of positive social and environmental impact is limited, and there is no comprehensive collaborative and supportive way of engaging those who are excluded.

What we see is an increasing digital divide which reduces the potential for inclusivity and the possible scope of tech-based impact solutions, while also limiting engagement with resources such as Cardano. Those who start to learn about Blockchain, Web3, NFTs etc, are left trying to figure out what and where next, how best to get involved, what system is best and then left feeling disappointed because they don’t have a tech community of support to help them figure out solutions and how to move from understanding the possibilities, to developing ideas to understanding what is required for implementation. Current NFT marketplace solutions for impact are limited in their approach to collaboration and support, while percentages are donated to impact, the power of the collaborative to contribute, innovate and scale impact, or to support impact projects to develop concepts through to the point of launch, is not maximised. With existing solutions, there is also limited accountability and transparency around impact outcomes. Those with non-technical knowledge feel like they are removed from the Web3 world, and when even developers consider Cardano to be ‘more difficult’ it is near impossible for those outside of the space to see how Cardano might work for them. Even from personal experience in getting the technical expertise to help determine how this concept could come together with the desire to use Cardano because of its impact ethos, I was surprised by how difficult it was to find Cardano developers. While NFTs allow a great way to fund non-profits when done right, the options for for-profits is limited and while DAOs offer a great opportunity, the information and support as well as gathering a like-minded community to help champion online, (for e.g. when the creator of the DAO is not part of active online communities but is out ‘on the ground’), can be difficult. DAOs are much more than just the vision and the smart contracts, and while there are resources and even DAO builders, this is quite limited on Cardano.

To expand on this in real terms, the following are examples of projects that we are currently working on, that would be so much easier to manage and onboard users onto, with such an ecosystem.

Project 1: We are looking at fun ways to get more people involved in the Web3 space but with a focus on impact, and looked at low-hanging fruit so that we can demonstrate the model. People love animals, and a great way to get to adults, is through kids, so we started with a school, the Girl’s School of Austin. We proposed project to show the kids how we can create NFTs and use NFTs for impact, with the impact in this instance being animal charities and the types of NFTs being animal focused. The school loves the idea, the parents are interested in finding out more and we will hold sessions with them too. We will be creating the training materials and doing these sessions manually, and supporting the children in this way too. Through outreach we’re also getting support from the creative community in the NFT space to help, and we’ve been engaging with the charitable projects and will be coordinating the marketing and so on. We have all the plans in place, but the marketplaces currently available on Cardano aren’t suitable for launching projects in this way where creator contributions can split to impact and the schools/creators etc while also having the ability to showcase the impact post funding. We are having to consider a workaround for our impact model.

Project 2: We are looking at raising funds for an orphanage in Nigeria, and as strange as it may sound, this is for children who are left out in the streets from as young as 2 years old because they are suspected of being witches. Despite the dire situation they are in, these children draw the most amazing paintings and we are looking at bringing the offline art, online through the support of community leaders, teaching them more about Web3, NFTs etc and we will be looking to engage with influencers to support the NFT drops. Again, collaboration has to be facilitated manually and the marketplace issue raised above is the same.

Project 3: We are wanting for more impact-makers to consider technology and have engaged with the Front Runners Innovate (businesses with an impact focus). We will definitely promote Cardano but unfortunately, lack a community that includes technical expertise so that there can be collective problem-solving and collaborative innovation.

The solution in more detail

We aim to create The Impactoverse Ecosystem, a Cardano impact ecosystem, bridging the gap and allowing for change-makers of the world to be included, collaborate and to become active participants in Web3 for impact.

The ecosystem will offer:

- easy to understand and actionable information so that they may engage with Cardano and the world of Web 3, as well as approved resources from the Cardano community

- support with onboarding into the ecosystem

- the ability for vetted impact initiatives, creators, influencers and developers to collaborate on commissions and problems in creatathons

- a project launchpad for vetted impact initiatives to launch their own projects and also for creators to allocate a percentage of their sales toward impact initiatives, with transparent reporting on impact and a body of knowledge to allow for partnerships that scale solutions

- a DAO support hub with resources and signposts to all relevant Cardano solutions and approved resources from the Cardano community

Getting non-technical users to understand Web3 and to become familiar with and align with Cardano as the blockchain for impact, and to be onboarded onto a Cardano-focused platform, or able to utilise solutions, requires not just education, but a clear pathway and support to progress them toward relevant options and solutions that they can consider, as well as a community that can support.

The ecosystem we are proposing comprises of a number of areas, and it’s true that each of them could be a project in itself, but the purpose of presenting all parts of the ecosystem together in one proposal, is so that it can be seen as the individual parts forming the whole. It is only if we look to create more bridges like these that we can address the issue of exclusion and get more people involved in the Web3 space so that we can leverage the innovation that comes through collaboration for impact as well as allow for more users to propel the Cardano mission forward.

Please note that we don’t want to re-invent the wheel, and neither do we want to ‘go it alone.’ Within the ecosystem we would welcome solutions of others that are aligned, and our aim within the ecosystem is also to include and signpost to other Cardano resources and solutions as appropriate.

The parts of the whole

The ecosystem comprises of the following sub-sections.

Education hub: helping users with easy walk-throughs to get informed, comfortable and able to engage with the ecosystem for impact while promoting the benefits and ethos of Cardano as Blockchain for Good. To begin with information would be limited to just the basics for an understanding of Web3, blockchain, NFTs, and the Metaverse and the focus would be on sharing actionable knowledge so that users can learn how to get involved in the space more actively so that they can participate, with their first step into the space being able access to other parts of the ecosystem with an NFT. Longer term we can look to gamify learning and also have lessons in the Metaverse.

Hop-on hub: this is where we would onboard social and environmental impact initiatives that have evidence of impact or have impact measurement and management included in their plans. As far as we are aware, it would not currently possible for this to be automated as the data sets for approved vetting is not available, so this would manually checked and supported through approved partners. If organisations are unsure of how to measure impact we will signpost to support with this. Those approved as showing evidence of impact or intended impact are granted NFTs which would show the approved status, (when engaging in other areas of the ecosystem), for a period of time and this evidence would have to be reviewed at intervals dependant on the project and deliverable timelines.

The Collab Lab: here again users would gain access with the NFTs that gives them a designation and there would be different user types: creative community, influencers, Cardano developers and impact initiatives. In the collab hub, challenges and commissions can be posted by influencers or impact initiatives for the community to respond to through creatathons with the purpose of problem-solving and/or fundraising for impact. Here we would also love to look at ways of incentivising collaboration and are happy to explore Cardano community solutions that are focusing on user rewards. We believe the Collab Lan can breed business tech application innovation but also create the foundations of NFT campaigns and DAO formations. This will also give developers a sense of increasing market demand for Cardano, and our intention is to get more developers in this space.

Launchpad: enabling social and environmental impact projects and individual users to fundraise for impact or support impact and linked to ‘Show & Tell’ below

Do a DAO arena: for support and info on DAO building. Here we will signposting to Cardano resources and tooling that is available at the time. We have seen some proposals on these so hope to have more online soon. Intention is for funding through these mechanisms to also commit to ‘Show & Tell.’

Show and Tell: This will be an area where we can create a common body of knowledge as well as transparency, and opportunities to scale. Funded initiatives can share evidence of impact, as well as lessons learned with the option for open calls for partnerships and sharing of resources to scale impact.

For this stage, we are only looking at acquiring funding to develop the partnerships, grow the communities and develop a basic model of the ecosystem as a proof of concept.

Having received feedback from the community, it was advised that this section is most appropriate as it does not quite fit into any of the other challenges.

We have the communities that we are able to work with, the main challenge we foresee would any difficulties with implementation of the technology within the ecosystem

[FEASIBILITY]

Month 1- confirming project partnerships and the scope of each of the projects, as well as marketing materials and working with Cardano community to get more involvement within the ecosystem

Month 2 - Working with other Cardano projects on the education hub

Month 3 - Setting up a vetting system and a basic collaboration hub and gaining feedback on requirements from the community

Month 4- Compiling Cardano relevant support, community and project signposts to facilitate the Do a DAO area

Month 5 - outreach to engage with projects to share lessons learned and appetite for sharing of knowledge within the impact space.

Month 1:

Project Management part time: $1000

Marketing support part time: $750

Outreach part time: $1500

Month 2:

Project management part time: $1000

Outreach and engagement part time: $1500

Content compiling and creation part time: $1000

Development support part time: $1500

Month 3:

Project management part time: $1000

Development support: $3000

Outreach and engagement part time: $1500

Month 4:

Outreach and engagement part time: $1500

Content compiling part time: $1000

Month 5:

Outreach and engagement part time: $1500

Noleen Mariappen: Project Manager. Extensive experience with startups and non profits and an impact consultant and advsior

Kala Philo: Engagement and outreach: Experience working on technology focused research and community engagement

David Tanaka: Development: Extensive experience in full stack development, blockchain and smart contracts

Marketing and content compilations: To be hired

[AUDITABILITY]

We will audit the project through success in engagement and making more people aware of Cardano, the potential as a resource, and the community.

Month 1- 3 confirmed projects to work on as well as potential partnerships with Cardano projects and community engagement with at least 30 new people

Month 2 - A basic version of an education hub with info from the Cardano community, and on Cardano as a resource

Month 3 - A basic version of a vetting system piloted with 3 projects with community feedback

Month 4- Information compiled on Cardano for DAOs and lists of projects to signpost to

Month 5 - Research findings of outreach with at least 10 projects

Success looks like the basic model trialled with enough knowledge on how to build a full scale ecosystem in next stages

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