ArtSuite Cardano Course Bangladesh

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Nazmul organizes food drops on behalf of Stakepool HOTEL, in collaboration with the পথ শিশুদের স্কুল। School for street children, Address: Ramna Park, Dhaka.

Before we get into the description of the proposed solution, we will pause for a moment and ask ourselves WHY it is important to bring education about blockchain and Cardano to Bangladesh:

Context:

Bangladesh is a country of contradictions with tremendous challenges but also incredible opportunities. So there could not be a better moment for introducing blockchain and Cardano to Bangladesh and do what we can to stimulate a digital revolution.

Some facts about Bangladesh, source Wikipedia Bangladesh - Wikipedia

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=BD

Bangladesh faces many challenges, including the adverse effects of climate change,[26] poverty, illiteracy,[27] corruption,demonstrations, and authoritarianism. However, the poverty rate has halved since 2011.[28][29] Once a historic center of the muslin cloth trade, Bangladesh is now one of the world's largest modern garment exporters. Its economy has constantly been among the fastest growing economies in the 21st century.[30]

Over 60% of the population of Bangladesh is under the age of 30 years old and according to www.statista.com the average age of the population in 2015, when this was last calculated, is 25.7 years old. The target age group of our proposal is from 18 to 30 years.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Bangladesh is working in alignment to the UN SDGs and has set out in its manifesto a commitment to realizing its dreams for a Digital Bangladesh with investment in modern education to equip learners for the 21sr Century, and the “introduction of upcoming technologies like-artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, block chain and IOT will be expedited.”

https://www.sdg.gov.bd/page/manifestotosdg/6#1

Our solution:

We propose to host workshops for in person learning, which will initially teach about blockchain technology, the Cardano blockchain, NFT and art, and digital economy livelihood opportunities, such as Project Catalyst.

For students who demonstrate the enthusiasm, commitment and drive to pursue further opportunities and have reached a sufficient base of knowledge and skills, will at the end of the course be rewarded in the form of an internship and/or employment at The Art Suite NFT platform, an exciting opportunity to become part of one of the fastest growing digital industries in the world.

With the funding we will work to develop the duration of the course, scope, put together educational material and pay for local teaching staff.

• Just like Input Output did with their course in Ethiopia, we will regularly update the community about the progress of the course in our social media
• Our proposal is unique as far as we know because we have highly qualified project members on the ground in Bangladesh
• The outcome of this project, if done well, will be very tangible. The Art Suite will for the first time have created employment in Asia, for a Europe based startup that is currently operational 
• One important aspect that will be stressed in the learning material is how the Cardano blockchain is designed with environmental sustainability in mind
• As we all know, prototypes are never perfect, and nor will be this course. But it will create a first foothold in Bangladesh for Cardano and give us a great opportunity to build on the experience and hopefully in years to come build out this project, for example with the collaboration of other projects that are building on Cardano and that would be interested in finding qualified staff in Asia.

What we have already accomplished and how much has been spent out of pocket for example prior to the proposal?

By running food drops on the ground in Bangladesh we have already understood more about the local reality in terms of logistics and valuable collaborations in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh.

https://theartsuite.io/pages/t4f-mission

Opportunity:

There is a unique opportunity for The Art Suite because one of the founders is from Bangladesh and still lives in Bangladesh. Nazmul Biplob is not only a graduate at the Daffodil International University of Dhaka but also a web designer and developer with many skills and useful contacts in the world of software development and also education.

What would the world look like if our team solved it?

The success of our project will mean that we will have created a first foothold in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh for Cardano, a launchpad that can be used for more similar projects in Dhaka and potentially elsewhere in the country. The positive ripple effect will be tremendous, with our first students being able to feel confident and empowered to carve a path for themselves as architects of the future, and role models in their community.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

"When the challenge succeeds, the beneficiary is the whole Cardano community. It is a call to close our prejudices and open our eyes, hearts and minds to good people who lack the benefits many of us were born with—allowing others with fewer privileged circumstances to rise and succeed."

Our proposal has been crafted with the intent that through the success of this proposal, the positive multiplier effect throughout and resulting from the delivery of the proposal will be tremendous. The experiences and testimonies will act as a beacon of hope, inspiration and motivation that can ripple thoughout the Bangladesh Cardano Community, as a grassroots movement with aspirations and new found connections that bridge them high into the resilient, interconnected, and increasingly decentralised Cardano Community.

Our solution is designed by a team made up of knowledgable and experienced change agents and active Cardano Community members.

As stated in the Challenge brief:

Key Metrics to measure

1. The number of proposals originating from East Asian participants in Project Catalyst
2. Our proposal team includes members from and based in Asia
3. Did we increase the participation of the Cardano community and Catalyst teams with East Asian residents?
4. With the help of our educational workshops, students will progressively learn and journey towards becoming independent users of Cardano tech and active participants in the ecosystem
5. Was there an increase in Daily/Monthly Active Wallets (DAW/MAW) as a proxy measure of momentum and engagement
6. Students will be supported to open wallets as a course learning objective
7. Did we increase the number of Stake Pools and Stake Pool Operators based in East Asia?
8. We will explore the scope of the workshops and course, and as part of the pilot determine if we can connect to other relevant courses and resources that can inspire and inform students about what Stakepools are, and how to become a Stakepool operator

1. Is there good feedback on funded project progress, failure or success that help us understand the nuances of deploying Cardano solutions across East Asia?
2. We will actively shared learnings and experiences, as informed by those who are taking the journey with us as part of our participatory monitoring and evaluation practices.
3. What is the novelty and appropriateness of solutions?
4. With Bangladesh and the capital city Dhaka as a top 10 most populated city in the world, with a relatively low number of people who are aware of blockchain and Cardano and how the opportunities it can provide them with, our solution seeks to be the first of its kind in the locality.
5. Are we on track to improve the lives of people using Cardano in East Asia?
6. We will carry out surveys and get feedback from students to understand if there has been a positive impact in their lives from their participation in the blockchain and Cardano workshops
7. Was social and environmental impact evaluation used to measure proposal performance?
8. We are proposing a solution that connects to SDGs:
9. Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
10. Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
11. Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
12. What is the sustainability of proposals beyond the scope of Catalyst?
13. We aim to become a sustainable business model through The Art Suite, with the support of our proposal submissions in this Fund 9 of Project Catalyst, and long term, if the growth of the platform and its users enable us to generate enough profit, we can self-finance our education outreach projects, and expand at scale as resources are made available.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

The main challenge to deliver this project successfully lies in being able to identify suitable candidates right from the start. 

A working knowledge of the English language and local language/dialects for example are essential.

As our team includes staff based in Bangladesh, who understand the local context and network, we have no concerns regarding identifying suitable candidates for this pilot project.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Phase 1: Week 1 to 8:  Decide on the location, hire a teacher, create the material for the course and lessons and decide on the duration.

Phase 2: Week 9 to 26: Run the course. The exact scope and duration will be determined during the first 8 weeks of the project, considering this is a pilot project.

Phase 3: Participatory monitoring and evaluation carried out throughout the course and sharing with the Cardano Community as a report of findings and experiences, attending public knowledge sharing and exchange forums, and hopefully hire some of the students as interns or employees at The Art Suite.

The deliverable/s and KPIs will be:

# of students that have successfully completed the pilot course and workshops

# of students that are satisfied that the learning objectives are fulfilled successfully

of students that find employment/internships in the blockchain and crypto industry within 6 months of completion of the pilot project

Summary report of learnings from the ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the pilot project

# of teachers/facilitators 

# of Cardano wallets opened

Long term vision 

The long term vision is to go beyond this pilot stage of initial workshops and training courses, but to use it to build infrastructure that other Cardano projects or indeed the existing Cardano community in Dhaka can build on.

6 months: The first course will have concluded and one or more students will hopefully have been offered paid internships or employment at “The Art Suite”

12 months: If “The Art Suite” has developed and become profitable, Bangladesh will be the focus of more programs, to be developed under the guidance of well known Cardano project @sustainableada

Managing workload:

This Fund 9 will be the first time for our Hotel Ginebra and The Art Suite team to propose in Catalyst. We will have multiple proposals submitted this Fund, across categories. We are also receiving support from Sustainable ADA.

Our team are submitting five proposals this Fund 9, as part of a comprehensive approach of not only further developing the technical side of The Art Suite platform, but also to immediately start up our social impact projects which are designed to help further grow the platform by creating interaction with other blockchain ecosystems and employment with The Art Suite in Africa and Bangladesh.

It is therefor important to realise that our five proposals are stand-alone proposals in different categories.  

We feel we can submit these 5 proposals because The Art Suite is fully operational (!). 

(*A big automation and branding update is schedule around July 15).

Each individual proposal is aimed at fortifying and scaling already existing separate initiatives and activities employed by the platform.

Here are links to the other 4 proposals.  

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417400

Scaling ArtSuite NFT4Good Platform 

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417329

The ArtSuite Multi-Chain NFT Events

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417582

HIre ArtSuite Coordinator in Africa

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417615

ETH NFT Artists->Cardano workshops

As we have a globally decentralised, experienced, multiskilled and diverse team, working across timezones, and connected to various networks and communities, we can tap into our multiple connections and resources, to ensure we have a sustainable approach to managing our workload if we are to receive funding from Catalyst.

Here is a link explaining how Razali and Sustainable ADA, who are actively working on previously funded proposals and supporting this proposal, shall manage their workload:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SdUYlUODbPxgipIHgZ5uQDO3MoksnIqdONU1MGm5Uvw/edit?usp=sharing

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Project Management (6 months) = $750 x 6 months = $4500

Teacher/facilitator for workshops = $750 x 6 months = $4500

Rent of Venue (school/hub) for 6 months = $1550

Monitoring and evaluating = $600 x 6 months = $3600

Workshop and course design (one time) = $1600

Marketing and communications = $500 x 6 months = $3000

TOTAL 18.750 US$

We are thinking about putting a model together where the teachers of the course will benefit from the number of students graduating from the course. 

No out of pocket costs have been incurred for this educational project but food drops in Bangladesh have been financed with proceedings of Stakepool HOTEL, the Stakepool of Hotel Ginebra, one of the co-proposers.

We would be looking at collaborating with other Catalyst projects that also target education to perhaps share educational material

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

https://theartsuite.io/pages/team

The project will be set up and organized in Dhaka by Nazmul Biplob as the Bangladesh Project Lead.

Nazmul Islam Biplob - Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Graduated from Daffodil International University. Enthusiastic about history, finance, sociology & technology. Worked on various startup. In 2020 I met Alfred Moesker. I was introduced to Cardano and I was totally overwhelmed by the philosophy behind the project and the welcoming community. It was through collaborating and the meeting of minds with Alfred which led to the development of the Thought 4 Food Project in Bangladesh. The aim is to create a sustainable Thought 4 Food Project initially in Bangladesh and eventually globally.

https://twitter.com/DeveloperNaz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mnazmulislambiplob/

Alfred Moesker - Co-Founder & CEO

One of Cardano's renowned OGs is Alfred Moesker. In 2017 his Hotel Ginebra in Barcelona was the first business in the world to accept ADA as payment. www.hotelginebra.com.es

Stakepool operator of ‘HOTEL’, 25 years experience in the tourist business, managing and network skills. Since then he has contributed to the ecosystem with the Cardano Hotel Podcast and the Cardano Artist Corner, created the The Art Suite and recently partnered with Nazmul Biplop to set up charity food programme Thought For Food in Bangladesh. In September 2021 the "Cardano Hotel '' was sponsored by the Cardano Foundation and World Mobile as a venue for Goguen Summit.

https://twitter.com/bigezdaddy2017

https://twitter.com/thecardanohotel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfred-moesker-71159320/

Tom Wilkinson Co-Founder Innovation Director

Tom is in charge of minting technology and new technologies. Tom is a creative soul who in his ten-year career has worked tirelessly on a myriad of projects. These include designing, promoting and setting a variety of products. With a few years of experience under his belt Tom proceeded to set up several successful companies. Tom is originally a graphic designer but when he found his passion in blockchain technology, Tom was able to combine all the numerous skills he has gathered in different fields and apply them to the development of The Art Suite

https://twitter.com/timonies

Anthony Roberts- Communications Director

"You give a man a fish, he can eat for a day, you teach a man to fish and he can not only feed himself and his family, but he can now teach others to do the same!" I am passionate about being a vehicle to share knowledge, understanding, and engagement that can help to inspire, excite and educate others to live life on their own terms. The world needs more passion!! My vision is using blockchain technology to enable others (that may be mad talented, but not able to live off of their passion) to build, and monetise their passion by making it simple for them to leverage blockchain technology. I am excited to have joined the team at The Art Suite as we all share this vision, and have the passion, integrity and skills to manifest it!

https://twitter.com/gtcryptoant

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-roberts-491037155/

Natalie Attieh - Artist Coordinator

Hello, my name is Natalie Attieh. I was born in Jordan and moved to Canada at the age of 15. I am currently pursuing a degree in Leadership and Organizational Management with a minor in Psychology. During my spare time, I’m an artist dabbling with multiple mediums to express my passion about the art world. The NFT space is one I’m especially enthusiastic about, because of the endless opportunities it has unlocked for creatives and artists around the world. You can also find me on the agent page for both English language as well as Arabic speaking artists. At the same time I am also one of the presenters of the NFThubs Podcast on YouTube.

https://twitter.com/AttiehNatalie

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieattieh/

Razali Samsudin - Social and Environmental Impact Projects Director

14 years of experience as an interdisciplinary Educator from early years settings to postgraduate level, with a background in social sciences, humanities, and sustainability. Freelance Writer, Editor, Digital Economy, Blockchain, Sustainability and Impact Measurements Researcher (#Blockchain4Good, #Cardano4Good, #NFT4Good), Social Entrepreneur, Catalyst Proposal Mentor. 

Wada UN SDG and Education Coordinator, Co-Founder of Sustainable ADA, Contributor at Cardano AIM, PositiveBlockchain, Cardano4Climate, Catalyst School and Adatruth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/razali-samsudin

https://twitter.com/SustainableADA

https://twitter.com/Razlosophy

Elisa Farre - Artist Agent Coordinator

University degree in labor sciences and labor relations, with several master's degrees in business environment, with more than 15 years of experience. Blockchain enthusiast, she entered the Cardano and NFT world with Alfred Moesker. She is an art lover who has found a new way to enjoy this passion in the digital environment, accompanying artists on her digital adventure.

Contributions from stage 0 of the project with the CEO to detect needs to improve the portal, creation of documentation for operation (contracts with artists and agents, questionnaires to resolve doubts). External view of the portal, external point of view as artist/agent/visitor, provide improvements to the structure of the portal. Recruitment, including face-to-face, of artists from the non-digital world (painting, sculpture), answer questions from artists about the blockchain, NFT and Cardano. Wallet advice. Representation of artists physical work and agent in NFT.

https://twitter.com/elisafarre

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisafarre/

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Whether or not The Art Suite will submit a follow up proposal to this particular proposal depends largely on the growth of the platform. We would hope to sustain our operations, expand our team of Artist Agents and onboard more Artists and users into the Cardano ecosystem via The Art Suite, leading to an increase in sales volume, and provide us with the capital and resources to finance our educational projects.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

Progress and development of the project:

Participatory monitoring and evaluation from beginning to the end of the pilot project.

Learning objectives and student progress will be tracked via Assessment of Learning, Assessment for Learning techniques, and Formative testing (a quiz during/end of sessions, and at the end of the course/s and workshop/s).

We will explore the best tools and devices for use in the workshops based on the needs and infrastructure available, and aim to measure and receive feedback using tools such as google forms and have publicly accessible information that we will share via The Art Suite website.

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

Success of this proposal and our definition of ‘done’ is when local educators, learners and a Cardano community is alive and active in a hub and school center in Bangladesh.

With the support of the pilot project, learners are inspired, enabled, empowered to create, and work in the Blockchain4Good and Cardano ecosystem, having been made aware of the new livelihood opportunities and in turn have their lives transformed. They are confident to strive into new terrain, with the skills to help improve their lives and uplift their community, as role models.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This proposal is a new proposal.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG goals:

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

SDG subgoals:

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training

9.c Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020

#proposertoolsdg