# Funding the Commons: Accelerating the Public Goods Funding Ecosystem **URL:** \ **Category:** Public Good Projects Discussion\ **Tags:** allocation-window\ **Created:** [December 19, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148 "2023-12-19T00:56:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/1 "2023-12-19T00:56:20Z")
## Project Name Funding The Commons (FtC) ## Project Description and why it’s classified as a Public Good Funding the Commons (FtC) originated as an event series aiming to cultivate a public goods community spanning across the spectrum, including Web2, Web3, research, philanthropy, government, and industry. Its primary focus is the fostering of innovative public goods funding mechanisms. By leveraging the FtC community, brand, events, extensive resources from key partners, and a growing builder community, the organization aims to establish a sustainable PGF ecosystem, and shape the discourse around public goods funding. This involves integrating existing public goods funding platforms to build a cohesive infrastructure, allocating resources effectively, and incubating innovative projects. Our current focus is to bootstrap a virtuous cycle of builders and a community of protocols in creating and integrating public goods funding infrastructure, and leveraging that infrastructure, in addition to the infrastructure of leading PGF protocols, to fund the next wave of builders. **Conferences** Funding the Commons will continue with its flagship offering: curated, thematic conferences leading the discourse in public goods funding, and bridging the gap between web3, web2, academia, and mainstream philanthropy. We have successfully produced 7 conferences around the world in places such as New York City, Lisbon, Berlin, and Paris, in conjunction with major web3 events. Our speaker roster has included Juan Benet (founder of Protocol Labs), Vitalik Buterin, Jaan Tallinn (founder of Skype, director of Future of Life Institute), and many more. Videos of presentations from previous conferences can be found on our [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@Funding-the-Commons), which exists as an evergreen educational asset for the global community interested in public goods to access our conference virtually in perpetuity. **Hackathons** Our first [Fund Public Goods](https://app.buidlbox.io/ftc/fund-public-goods) hackathon, ran in partnership with Buidlbox and completed on 1 September 2023, saw $100k in bounties allocated amongst 400+ competing builders prototyping public goods funding infrastructure on protocols such as Gitcoin, Brave, Celo, Drips, Filecoin Green, ENS, and more. Upon completion of the first Funding the Commons hackathon, we have identified a positive-sum outcome that generates grants for developers, prototypes for public goods funding protocols, and reputational prestige in the builder communities. The winners can be viewed [here](https://app.buidlbox.io/ftc/fund-public-goods). Our goal with hackathons is to identify global talent in the public goods builder community, and in this way grow our community of builders. **Residencies** Facilitating collaboration over an extended period of time has led to long conversations, and high levels of collaboration and cross-pollination. A very interesting collaboration between two residency projects has emerged as a good example of this: GainForest and impactMarket are collaborating along with Celo, to prototype “Conservation Basic Income” as a way to solve 2 critical issues – poverty and on the ground data labeling – simultaneously. We are currently planning a residency and pilot program in in 2024. We are looking at two locations. The first option is Split, Croatia in 2024, in partnership with the municipality and mayor of Split, local conference and hackathon BlockSplit, and Gitcoin. The residency would focus on applying web3 public goods funding infrastructure to real-world public goods funding: engaging the citizens of Split, Croatia to directly participate in allocating a portion of Split’s municipal budget. There is already significant sponsor interest in supporting this residency, as it gives the opportunity for blockchain protocols to prototype _real-world non-speculative use cases_ with potential 6-figure user base growth. The second option is Chiangmai, Thailand. ## Main Project Funding Sources Protocol Labs, Gitcoin, Octant, Celo, Drips, Brave, Near, Optimism retroPGF Optimism retroPGF application: [Agora - Optimism's RetroPGF Round 3 Summary](https://vote.optimism.io/retropgf/3/application/0x258d37e997650d7c83eba44f7210224fdb2afbf331e6e6dedb8bf6e83c75645c) Gitcoin GG19 application: [https://explorer.gitcoin.co/#/round/424/0x98720dd1925d34a2453ebc1f91c9d48e7e89ec29/0x98720dd1925d34a2453ebc1f91c9d48e7e89ec29-157](https://explorer.gitcoin.co/#/round/424/0x98720dd1925d34a2453ebc1f91c9d48e7e89ec29/0x98720dd1925d34a2453ebc1f91c9d48e7e89ec29-157) ## Seeking project-specific funding or funding for general operations Project-specific funding for: Next Funding the Commons Residency Funding the Commons conferences Builder basic income (BBI) A defragmented funding and impact evaluation stack ## Project Roadmap and Milestones (only for project-specific funding): ### **Next Funding the Commons Residency** Identify, resource, and amplify early stage projects. Creates an intimate space to create relationships between organizations, builders, and thought leaders. Finish analysis, evaluation, and research of this residency. Create a framework for measuring impact and metrics of future residencies, and implement a PoC. Potential direct benefits to Octant from residency outcomes: Octant integrated with other aspects of PGF stack Reputation by association Pipeline of public goods builders applying for funding on Octant What is a Funding the Commons Residency (explainer video) - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ToX5EbFLE8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ToX5EbFLE8) Funding the Commons Berlin Residency Recap (summary video) - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXrqTm9UBZI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXrqTm9UBZI) ### **Funding the Commons Conferences in 2024** FtC Taipei 2023 recap video: [https://youtu.be/bsEEwIANBWE](https://youtu.be/bsEEwIANBWE) Funding the Commons conferences are the premier ecosystem bringing together the web3 public goods funding community, and bridging the gap with web2, academia, institutional philanthropy, non-profits, and the public sector. Funding the Commons has hosted 8 editions around the world, including Lisbon, New York, Bogota, Paris, Berlin, and Taipei. 300+ speakers have presented their work, with over 3000+ combined participants. For the benefit of the general public unable to attend, all presentations are recorded and posted on our YouTube channel. Academics present new research in public goods funding mechanism design, protocols present their experiments and public goods funding programs, representatives from the public sector and institutional philanthropy share decades of experience in funding real-world public goods, and representatives from web2 share the wisdom gleaned from funding open source for the past 25 years since the advent of the internet. At Funding the Commons, these communities overlap, share information, learn from each other, and form new cross-industry and cross-sector partnerships and projects. Builders meet funders, for new projects, and integrate new research. Major protocols discuss learnings and methodologies with each other, and collaborate on funding public goods together. In this way, new public goods initiatives are catalyzed, and existing initiatives are turbocharged. - April 2024: Funding the Commons SF Bay Area. Funding the Commons comes to the Bay Area in April 2024, iterating on our signature format bringing together builders, funders and academics leading innovation in the public goods space. We’re focused this time on two areas of rapid innovation underpinning fundamental infrastructure for navigating the digital-physical commons: AI and Open Web. sThe FtC experience design team is joined by partners to curate programming for each track, which will each take place over a full day. - July 2024: Funding the Commons Tokyo, in partnership with DAO Tokyo, Fracton Ventures, and DeSci Tokyo. - Q4 2024: Funding the Commons “Road to DevCon” will take place in Southeast Asia preceding DevCon. ### **Builder Basic Income (BBI) Program** Create Builder Basic Income Fund for our builders who wish to continue working on public goods projects, including those initiated during the Berlin Residency. The Builder Basic Income Fund is an interface for patrons to support a curated list (a Drips List) for builders. It will also be the first “mini-product” created directly by Funding the Commons which will kickstart the virtuous cycle of builders creating public goods funding infrastructure to fund more builders. Builders will have a [curated list of project concepts](https://www.notion.so/26b235a3d8bb4aae9d060e93182785c6?pvs=21) based on the public goods funding infrastructure stack to choose from. Hypercerts will be awarded to patrons, and a “Based Builder Hyperboard” will be created to display the dynamic contributions of patrons and builders. Builders will publish monthly progress for the Funding the Commons community. Blog post draft further elaborating the BBI: [https://medium.com/@jaredsmith/da8c6b85850f](https://medium.com/@jaredsmith/da8c6b85850f) ### **Applied Research: Funding and Impact Evaluation Stack** The funding and impact evaluation stack aims to create alignment and convergence on a consolidated defragmented public goods funding stack, which is compatible with Octant V2. + Two research and development initiatives are planned for 2024: Prototyping a Hypercerts-driven Public Goods Fund, and a new primitive to unify the fragmented public goods funding stack. By bringing together many projects building on the public goods funding stack, and bringing in representatives leading common infrastructure projects, thought leaders, and facilitating cross pollination and collaboration we have effectively facilitated and encouraged consolidation of public goods funding projects to meet at a schelling point of a public goods funding stack that makes sense at this point in time. The current public goods funding stack is fragmented and inefficient, with much duplication of data structures, incompatibility of data, duplicate functionality, and incompatibility. Our new initiative to develop a primitive, Ground Zero, will remove fragmentation in the public goods pipeline and create an interoperable Impact funding system which will provide the basis for building impact investment, and markets for public good impact. GZ will also make it easy to onboard high quality projects, and monitor and evaluate their success in a more efficient, transparent manner while creating transparency. This will help enable Funding the Commons to attract and fund high quality projects and create incentive alignment between the different participants enabling them to co-ordinate in exponential value creation with in built value signalling, increasing the probability that capital funds productive impact creation. ### **Product Overview** The primary function of Ground Zero is to: 1. Create alignment and convergence for a consolidated public goods funding stack. By bringing together many projects building on the public goods funding stack, and bringing in representatives leading common infrastructure projects, thought leaders, and facilitating cross pollination and collaboration we have effectively facilitated and encouraged consolidation of public goods funding projects to meet at a schelling point of a public goods funding stack that that aligns 2. Create a POC that shows what was achieved during the FtC residency which is aligned with a longer term vision of what we believe a public goods funding stack should look like. 3. Create a standardised way for projects to collaborate, and be funded. This provides a system to reward and acknowledge the high uncertainty, high upside projects that may or may not be captured by other mechanisms (e.g. prospective grants). - Seeks to reduce fragmentation in the public goods pipeline and create Interoperable Impact Funding systems This will enable: - Defragmentation - Data portability - Reduce the cold start problem - Enable [impact evaluation](https://www.notion.so/62eb179ca8084e74bb9c52de8dcb93ec?pvs=21) using standard metrics and apis **Team Information, including backgrounds and roles:** **David Casey** - Director at Funding the Commons. 2x Founder @ ReSource Protocol, NuMundo, Scout @ [Celo](https://celo.org/), Advisor @ [Gane](https://www.gane.com/), [Values Co](https://www.values.co/), [Hyphen.Earth](http://hyphen.earth/). LinkedIn: [David Casey - Funding the Commons | LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidacasey/) **Beth McCarthy** - Experience Design/Events & Marketing at Funding the Commons. Formerly @ Centrifuge, Toucan, Gnosis, Ocean Protocol. LinkedIn: [Beth McCarthy - Web3privacy now | LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ontologymachine/) **Anna Medina Perez** - HR, Admin, Operations at Funding the Commons. Formerly @ReSource Protocol, HSBC **Joaquin Moreno** - Financial Administration at Funding the Commons. Professor of Finance at Universidad ORT Uruguy. Formerly Oikocredit, Quantum Capital, Unilever, ReSource Protocol. LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaquinmorenoa/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaquinmorenoa/) **James Farrell** - Funding Stack and Impact Evaluation at Funding the Commons. Co-founder @ Toucan Protocol. Github: [positonic (J△MΞS) · GitHub](https://github.com/positonic) LinkedIn: [James Farrell - Funding the Commons | LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespfarrell/) **Advisors and Collaborators** Juan Benet - Founder & CEO @ Protocol Labs Eleftherios Diakomichalis - Co-founder @ Radicle, Drips Rene Reinsberg - Co-founder @ Celo Holke Brammer - Director @ Hypercerts Foundation ## Social Credibility (development progress, awards, notable GitHub commits, referrals): Our FtC Residency in Berlin attracted over 200 applicant projects, of which only 40 were selected. Workshops and mentor sessions from the following partners. - **Molly Mackinlay** , **Will Scott** (Protocol Labs) - **Daniel Burnett** (Ethereum Enterprise Alliance) - **Nate Gosselin** Product Lead of Allo (Gitcoin) - **Technical Lead of Octant (Golem Foundation)** - **Steve Ellis** (Chainlink co-founder) - **Mark Tyneway** (OP Labs co-founder) - **Rene Reinsberg** (Celo co-founder) - **Jonas** (retroPGF lead at Optimism) - **Jeff Pulver** (creator of the public good VoIP) - **Eleftherios Diakomichalis** (Radicle & Drips co-founder) - **Holke Brammer** (Director, Hypercerts) - **Anirudha Bose** (Brave) - **Arthaud Mesnard** (Geometry.xyz) - **Janine Leger** (Zuzalu) **40+** peer to peer workshops and coworking sessions including smart contract development, zero knowledge cryptography, AI integrations, public funding systems, impact evaluation, and economics in developing countries. **250k+** USD estimate of follow up funding to projects as a result of relationships developed during the residency. **Projects worked on during Berlin residency** - [Arbiter](https://github.com/primitivefinance/arbiter) - Arbiter is a framework for stateful Ethereum smart-contract simulation. - AtMoos: A Free House - The Freehouse is an intelligent and self regulating living object/entity with two demonstrators (Moos and [TDF](http://traditionaldreamfactory.com/)). - Common Ground Database - A shared database containing behavior information and due diligence about projects on different grants programs. - NineTails - UI Configurator for flashbot bundles. - ZK Proof of Exploits - Tool for proving exploits found without revealing them. - Privatized Gitcoin Donations - Sean from Aztec working on this. - Decentralized Credit Scores in Nigeria/Ghana - [Impact Market](https://github.com/impactMarket/app) - UBI and Microloans in some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. - Project JubJub - Experiments with ZK proofs and NFC chips. - Split QF - Quadratic Funding system for local municipalities in Split, Croatia. - Anonymous Proof of Humanity - via ZK obfuscated government issued IDs. - [ZK Email Wallet](https://github.com/zkemail) - Provide framework for anyone to send transactions via email, also lets you bring inboxes “on-chain” for all manner of fascinating new use cases. - HackerDrop - System for deploying hypercerts. - GitCoin Project Scanner - automatically enriches information on GitCoin projects to help identify fraud. - FreeHaus Project - Experiment in tokenized ownership of a beautiful communal space in the heart of Berlin. - [GainForest](https://github.com/GainForest) - Research project and top 6 contender for the 10 million dollar X prize for scalable biodiversity measurement protocol. - ChainExplorer - AI chatbot that leverages on and off chain data, allowing for deep dives into reputation and impact. - Quadratic Attention - System for signaling user engagement with advertisements. - Circuit breakers - Circuit breakers will help projects overcome their security challenges by allowing anyone to easily create robust, production-ready smart contracts with just a few lines of code. - Impact evaluation framework - Building an impact evaluation framework for web3 - FtC: Impact evaluation stack - A POC stack for evaluating the impact of FtC - On-chain Representation of Hyperboards - with an associated wallet using ERC6551 - Unalienating Systems - A study into how to prevent a sense of disconnection or estrangement within communities and individuals - [RETH contributions](https://github.com/paradigmxyz/reth/) - Help reth to become production ready. ## Discord contact Display name: David C Username: david.nu Secondary Contact: Beth Username: ontologymachine ## Project Summary Funding the Commons (FtC) is growing a Public Goods community through conferences, residencies, and hackathons. We help builders explore and develop on existing infrastructure through real-world contexts. Our residency program and conferences help to connect enterprises, governments, and protocols with builders and projects in the web3 space. In 2024, we will continue to grow the credibility of our brand in the public eye as a center for thought leadership in the public goods funding space. This includes bridging web3, web2, AI, government, institutional philanthropy, and academia. ## Eligibility criteria - Do you have a commitment to open-source (i.e. every open-source license accepted by the [Open-Source Initiative](https://opensource.org/licenses/)) technology and sharing results publicly? Yes - Have you provided transparency about how exactly funding will be used? In 2024, our planned budget is: - $300k for three conferences (San Francisco, Tokyo, Southeast Asia) - $300k for staff / operational costs (3 full-time team members, 3 part-time) - $100k for a residency - $100k research & development grants for public goods funding infrastructure - Are you advancing values of freedom and privacy (no surveillance and handling of personal data)? Yes - Are you supporting decentralization in various fields (for example building [Web3 projects](https://ethereum.org/en/web3/))? Yes - Have you provided social media channels to the extent that we can confirm social proof of your project? [http://fundingthecommons.io/](http://fundingthecommons.io/) [http://twitter.com/@fundingcommons/](http://twitter.com/@fundingcommons/) ---
**Author:** ![smith.a](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/smith.a/32/46_2.png) [@smith.a](https://discuss.octant.app/u/smith.a)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/2 "2023-12-19T20:50:47Z")
Funding the Commons events have been excellent ways for the Tor Project to meet people who are not part of our ‘traditional ecosystem’ but have clear values alignment and are working towards similar things. Some strong relationships have been forged because of these events. Thanks for doing what you do! ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/3 "2024-03-08T20:59:33Z")
## Achievements since the last Octant Epoch: ### FtC Taipei - **Link to video & photo media** - Launched [Funding the Commons Builder Basic Income Drips List](https://www.drips.network/app/drip-lists/36167722434539895740687283110259945938004377627588501179309095983175) ## Upcoming milestones on your project roadmap: - **Funding the Commons Berkeley 13-14 April (conference),** in partnership with [UC Berkeley Center for Responsible Decentralized Intelligence](https://rdi.berkeley.edu/) - **[Edge City](https://www.edgecity.live/) California June (residency)** - **FtC Tokyo 24-25 July (conference)** - **Decentralized Web Camp 7-11 August (unconference)** - FtC Bangkok ~8-9 November (unconference) - Launch of the International Refugee Solidarity Fund with 2-3 pilots in 2024 - FtC Residency in Thailand in October - FtC public goods hackathon in Q4 2024 - How funds from the previous Epoch were utilized and plans for any funds raised from Epoch Two: - Grant funding received since the last Epoch (e.g., RetroPGF, Gitcoin, etc.), including funding amounts: - Other non-grant funding sources (like user payments, donations, staking or LP contributions to treasury, VC investments, etc.): ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/4 "2024-05-31T19:48:59Z")
# Octant Epoch IV Update June 2024 ## **Update on Organization Priorities** With 9 international conferences since its inauguration in 2021, Funding the Commons is a referential event series across strategic markets for PGF innovation. FtC has also been organizing successful builder residencies, numerous public goods funding hackathons, as well select impact pilot projects leveraging the tools platformed across its ecosystem. Within the web3 ecosystem, FtC has established itself as the premier conference for PFG advancements, specifically targeting thought-leading builders, innovators and funders. By providing a platform for these individuals to showcase their work and connect with public goods funders, FtC has been instrumental in fostering collaborations and bringing to light the contributions of the Public Goods community to a broader audience. This initiative has bridged the gap between Octant and the wider public goods funding ecosystem, encompassing both web3 and web2 spaces, thereby facilitating an environment where ideas and methodologies for sustaining open-source projects can flourish and evolve. **Launch of The Commons Fund (June)** - At FtC, we develop, spotlight, incubate, and fund blockchain-based PGF infrastructure and tooling. We also deploy this infrastructure through pilot experiments that serve as positive use-cases, leveraging blockchain technology to drive real-world impact and sustainable open-source software innovation. This approach supports rapid iteration and innovation cycles on PGF tooling. This will include running the first Funding the Commons retroPGF in 2024 to support open source PGF builders, with the support of Protocol Labs. - Starting this year, we are launching 2-3 real-world pilots leveraging new public goods funding infrastructure to serve vulnerable communities with blockchain innovation in partnership with established philanthropic foundations, blockchain foundations & protocols, international institutions, NGOs and humanitarian actors invested in Public Goods Funding innovation. - Use cases being prototyped include financial inclusion & security, crypto literacy & education, digital identity/sybil resistance, and decentralized storage. - Pilots currently being considered in Ukraine, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Argentina, and Thailand (Rohingya). - Pilots are being assessed for their case study value and their potential to demonstrate real world impact of blockchain technology, for the benefit of the web3 community & industry. - The Thailand residency and hackathon mentioned in the below sections are woven into the launch roadmap for the Thailand pilot currently in development. - Another significant experiment currently in progress showcasing Funding the Commons’ dedication to supporting public goods builders is the creation of the [Builder Basic Income Fund on Drips](https://www.drips.network/app/drip-lists/36167722434539895740687283110259945938004377627588501179309095983175). - This initiative serves as a concrete mechanism to offer continuous financial support to PGF developers. It allows them to concentrate on adding value within open-source ecosystems without the burden of financial uncertainty. - By ensuring a steady income for builders, Funding the Commons not only aids individual creators but also sets a new standard for public goods funding, encouraging other entities to adopt similar supportive measures. **Launch of Earth Commons (March)** Last quarter, Funding the Commons inherited [Sustainable Blockchain Summit](https://sbs.tech/) (SBS), now known as Earth Commons, a new conference series focused on exploring new models & mechanisms to better steward planetary commons. This broadens our ecosystem and allows us and our partners to reach beyond our current public goods community. ## Achievements since the last Octant epoch: Octant was a central sponsor within the context of our last event, Funding the Commons Berkeley (April 13-14) gathering builders, researchers and funders in the Bay Area in partnership with [UC Berkeley Center for Responsible Decentralized Intelligence](https://rdi.berkeley.edu/). Funding the Commons focused on two areas of rapid innovation underpinning fundamental infrastructure for navigating the digital-physical commons: AI and the Open Web. The inaugural conference for Earth Commons focused on building bridges between climate entrepreneurs, academics, technologists, funders, NGOs, and international public institutions to explore the funding and governance of nature’s commons. - **Total Impact of SF Berkeley:** - 793 registrations across both events - Both events were part of the [Protocol Labs Lab Week on PG](https://24.labweek.io/24-pg) and combined, these 2 events accounted for the majority of attendees gathered for 22 total events that week. - Total online audience leveraged for promotional content on the conference, including posts featuring Octant: 9.9K - Media Reach & Production: impact for longevity of conversations post-conference - 72 PG presentations recorded on Open Source, AI and Climate Tech - 37 FtC + 35 EC - to be posted on YouTube in June - 45 social films, “Open Conversations” series \*\*\*\*highlighting leaders in PG ecosystem - 9 video podcasts interviews _by [Ma Earth Media](https://maearth.com/)_ - 13 profile films by [_Spaceport_](https://directory.plnetwork.io/teams/cldvnwsgr017vu21k0466ac4a) in the context of [Protocol Labs Lab Week on PG](https://24.labweek.io/24-pg) - **Impact of FtC track sponsored by Octant:** - Event description: [Website link](https://fundingthecommons.io/san-francisco-bay-area-2024) - Artem B, Technical lead at Golem Foundation spoke on a panel about "_Bridging the gap: Web2 and Web3 OSS Funding Infrastructure_”. This allowed Octant to gain exposure to other thought-leaders and innovators in the PG ecosystem. - 427 registered attendees - 39 speakers - 6 sponsors aside from Octant: [Protocol Labs,](https://protocol.ai/) [NEAR](https://near.org/), [Climate Collective](https://climatecollective.org/), [Filecoin Foundation](https://fil.org/), [Optimism](https://www.optimism.io/), [Drips](https://www.drips.network/app), [Astrofitters](https://astrofitters.space/) - 6 strategic partnerships: [\*\*Berkeley Center for Responsible Decentralized Intelligence,](https://rdi.berkeley.edu/) [Open Source Observer](https://www.opensource.observer/), [Blockchain at Berkeley,](https://blockchain.berkeley.edu/) [Gray Area,](https://grayarea.org/) [Edge Network,](https://edge.network/en/) [Artizen Fund](https://www.artizen.fund/)\*\* - 1 media partnership: [Hyphen](https://www.hyphen.earth/) - 4.8/5 [Lu.ma](http://Lu.ma) Rating - Octant was included in our communication plan across all social channels as we praised our sponsors for their work in the Public Goods ecosystem. [https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1783277277247410530](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1783277277247410530) - **Impact of Earth Commons track:** - We launched a new conference series stretching our ecosystem by focusing on the nexus of new technologies for climate impact. \*\*\*\*Event was held in the same location as FtC, exposing attendees \*\*\*\*to the Octant sponsorship of FtC and allowing both crowds to cross-pollinate. - Since March, the FtC team inherited the [Sustainable Blockchain Summit](https://sbs.tech/) conference series. Originally born from Filecoin Green, SBS focused on platforming web3 sustainability initiatives and is growing it in a new form: [Earth Commons](https://fundingthecommons.io/earth-commons-san-francisco-bay-area-2024). - Our team is focused on building out a new ecosystem to transform the funding and governance of nature’s commons, such as forests, fisheries, oceans, biodiversity, freshwater reservoirs, and other ecosystem services, by uniting the forces of Web2, Web3, research, philanthropy, and industry. - The inaugural conference held in Berkeley last April in partnership with the [Berkeley Climate Change Network](https://bccn.berkeley.edu/) was a great success, gathering : - 125 registered attendees - 45 speakers - 8 sponsors: [Protocol Labs,](https://protocol.ai/) [NEAR](https://near.org/), [Climate Collective](https://climatecollective.org/), [Filecoin Foundation](https://fil.org/), [Optimism](https://www.optimism.io/), [Drips](https://www.drips.network/app), [Astrofitters](https://astrofitters.space/) - 3 strategic partnerships: [Berkeley Climate Change Network,](https://bccn.berkeley.edu/) [Mothertree Labs](https://www.mothertreelabs.com/) - 2 media partnerships: [Ma Earth Media](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiGbQorGoKxDAfJ4wwbVKcdZqpmN5SiN3), [Hyphen](https://www.hyphen.earth/) - 4.7/5 [Lu.ma](http://Lu.ma) Rating ## Upcoming milestones on your project roadmap: **Overview of 2H24 Live-Events Calendar** - 3 International Conferences (EU + APAC) - FtC Tokyo, July 24-25 - [Sponsor deck link](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kwrpeH35a3MAytulOWb2kFlnTvgnPoOX2M9q8DMii18/edit) - Octant is listed as a sponsor, and will be invited to speak and participate in workshops, as well as table. - Earth Commons, Zurich Sept 13-14 - Earth Commons will gather for its second live event in Zurich September 13-14th to bridge the world of climate tech with local financial institutions, NGOs and institutional philanthropic organizations focused on solving systemic problems. - Day 1 will be a broad audience conference setting allowing us to expose new PG funding mechanisms such as Octant’s funding ecosystem to significant EU and Swiss actors. - Day 2 will be a private closed-door workshopping session with highly curated attendee profiles (\<50 people) to host focused facilitated discussions on topics like the evolution of impact reporting, alongside new funding mechanisms, grant-making, running funding distributions, and new models for adoption in these sectors including Octant’s funding ecosystem. - FtC Bangkok, November 8-9 - FtC Bangkok will be the first of its kind, Design Sprint by FtC, produced in partnership with [UNICEF](https://www.unicef.org/) and [APAC DAO](https://apacdao.net/) - [Sponsor deck link 1](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wSJk8yxiKtbKkemCWDfKYKogDqaRW1CgK0Xi2Osm3do/edit) - Octant will be listed as a sponsor - 1 FtC Builder Residency, Chiang Mai, Thailand, October - Links to previous residency videos: [What is a Funding the Commons Residency](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ToX5EbFLE8)– [Funding the Commons Berlin Residency Recap, September 2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXrqTm9UBZI) - Opportunities to collaborate with other L1 & L2 protocols, including Filecoin, Stellar, Ethereum and key local partners such as APAC DAO regional builder network - 1 FtC Online Public Goods Hackathon (Q4) - During the virtual ideation portion of the hackathon Octant will be listed as a sponsor - 1 judge position for hackathon submissions - Link to previous hackathon on Supermodular: [Fund Public Goods | buidlbox](https://app.buidlbox.io/ftc/fund-public-goods) - [FtC Berlin presentation announcing winners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcoAjLyLCVo&list=PL3C6eF-zu5AaVwDueK5b0F81zujCGY8uh&index=8) - 3 Pop Ups Events - [Edge City](https://www.edgecity.live/) Esmeralda, California, (June) - EthCC Brussels (July) - Edge City Crecimiento, Argentina (August) - FtC plans to support Edge City by producing a content track on public goods funding - [Edge City Wiki Link](https://wiki.edgecity.live/) - 7 Public Goods Town Halls by FtC (Monthly Community Calls) - Starting in June, we are kicking off these monthly Zoom call with our most loyal community members, allowing for a recurring, international gathering of thought-leaders in the Public Goods space in between conferences. - What to expect? Enriching discussions and exclusive benefits for the audience: networking in break-out rooms, promo codes, rewards, early announcement releases, collaboration/employment opportunities, highlights of ongoing projects enrolled in fundraising activities - cross-promotion and cross-donation incentives, project pitches or reviews in small groups. - Joining these calls allows Octant to participate in a continuous conversation with our community. We would love for one of these calls to be dedicated to Octant speakers to provide education, incentives and open conversations about joining the Octant community to further break-down barriers to potential conversions. **How funds from the previous Epoch were utilized and plans for any funds raised from Epoch III:** Though we did not receive funding from Epoch III, we will list activities that benefited from Epoch II funding: - Octant sponsorship for FtC Taipei (December 2023) - Octant sponsorship for FtC Berkeley (April 2023) - Total Event Cost for FtC: \*\*\*\*$66,329.77 (excluding operational salaries) - [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pdTwF3\_0OUN08Ajkorod\_lxH1lzulGXt-GbwEVf9Ub0/edit#gid=0](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pdTwF3_0OUN08Ajkorod_lxH1lzulGXt-GbwEVf9Ub0/edit#gid=0) - Octant sponsorship for upcoming FtC events in 2024 (FtC Tokyo, FtC Bangkok, and Southeast Asia developer residency and hackathon in the fall) - Forecasted events budget for 2H24: $350,000 - Operational costs for 2H24: $300,000 - We hired an additional marketing team member to further enable strategic community-building and recruitment efforts for our ecosystems. This allows FtC to give more dedicated support to Octant as one of our key partners in growing the public goods funding movement beyond the promotional period of our live events, sustaining our share of voice throughout the calendar year. - Grant funding received since the last Epoch (e.g., RetroPGF, Gitcoin, etc.), including funding amounts: - Gitcoin GG20: ~$5000 USD - Celo retroPGF: 2455 Celo Tokens (~$2k) - Filecoin retroPGF: 1903 FIL (~$11k) - Other non-grant funding sources (like user payments, donations, staking or LP contributions to treasury, VC investments, etc.): - Sponsorship & Ticket Sale Revenue from FtC Taipei - Sponsorship & Ticket Sale Revenue for FtC Berkeley - Sponsorship & Ticket Sale Revenue for FtC Tokyo ---
**Author:** ![cerv1](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/cerv1/32/129_2.png) [@cerv1](https://discuss.octant.app/u/cerv1)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/5 "2024-05-31T20:14:46Z")
Just want to +100 this and say that the FtC Berkeley has been a highlight of 2024 so far. We were proud to be a sponsor 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![james](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/james/32/486_2.png) [@james](https://discuss.octant.app/u/james)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/6 "2024-05-31T20:59:57Z")
> [@david-fundingcommons](#): > > **Total Impact of SF Berkeley:** > > - 793 registrations across both events > - Both events were part of the [Protocol Labs Lab Week on PG](https://24.labweek.io/24-pg) and combined, these 2 events accounted for the majority of attendees gathered for 22 total events that week. > - Total online audience leveraged for promotional content on the conference, including posts featuring Octant: 9.9K > - Media Reach & Production: impact for longevity of conversations post-conference > - 72 PG presentations recorded on Open Source, AI and Climate Tech > - 37 FtC + 35 EC - to be posted on YouTube in June > > - 45 social films, “Open Conversations” series \*\*\*\*highlighting leaders in PG ecosystem > - 9 video podcasts interviews _by [Ma Earth Media](https://maearth.com/)_ > - 13 profile films by [_Spaceport_](https://directory.plnetwork.io/teams/cldvnwsgr017vu21k0466ac4a) in the context of [Protocol Labs Lab Week on PG](https://24.labweek.io/24-pg) Thanks for sharing all of this @david-fundingcommons !! On this event specifically, it was quite interesting to hear about the narrative the AI crowd had about crypto. Was there anything you can share about why this is? Also if there were any changes in perception after the event? ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/7 "2024-06-06T18:23:14Z")
@james Thanks for the question. With respect to the open source AI community, this was a learning experience for us as it was our first direct touch point with this ecosystem, and we learned a lot. Perception from the AI community about web3, especially in the SF Bay Area, is that crypto as an industry has been tarnished with scandals and there is a significant amount of mistrust. I think that in-person events that enable genuine cross-industry dialogue are key towards building bridges, and we strongly believe that open source digital public goods are that bridge. ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/8 "2024-08-21T19:20:38Z")
Octant Epoch V Long-Form Update: - **Total Funds Received from Octant so far** : $ / ETH - **Funds Spent** : $ / ETH - **Detailed Utilization:** Provide a detailed account of how Octant funds have been used so far. You may copy & then build upon previous responses, adding new details as appropriate. ### **Milestones and Deliverables** - **Milestone 1:** **Description:** Produced [Funding the Commons San Francisco Bay Area](https://www.fundingthecommons.io/careers-2), a two-day flagship conference in Berkeley, California, on 13-14 April. FtC Bay Area was produced in partnership with NEAR, Open Source Observer, and the UC Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence (RDI), and featured inspirational talks, workshops, networking corners, and space for intimate conversations with thought-leaders. - **Funding Used** : $20k - **Milestone 2:** **Produced Funding the Commons Tokyo** **Description:** [Funding the Commons Tokyo](https://www.fundingthecommons.io/tokyo-2024) marked our tenth flagship conference and first event in Japan, hosted on 24-25 July at the prestigious United Nations University venue in the days leading up to Ethereum EDCON 2024. - **Funding Used:** $20k - **Milestone 3:** **Launched the Commons Fund** **Description:** Launched the Commons Fund: a non-profit incubator and grant fund accelerating the development and deployment of blockchain-based public goods funding infrastructure by identifying and supporting promising public goods builders. The mission of the Commons Fund is to catalyze the development and implementation of public funding infrastructure by fostering a global ecosystem that supports open-source and blockchain-based solutions. - **Funding Used:** $20k - **Karma GAP:** [If you haven’t already, make sure to set up your Karma GAP page, add relevant milestones, and link your project’s Karma GAP page: [Karma - Octant community grants](https://gap.karmahq.xyz/octant)] [Funding the Commons | Karma](https://gap.karmahq.xyz/project/funding-the-commons) ### **Challenges** - **Previous Challenges:** **Description:** [Did you outline any challenges in your previous submissions? If so, provide a brief reminder of those challenges.] - **Updates:** **What are the updates on these challenges? Have they been resolved, or are they ongoing?** - **Resolution:** **How did you resolve these challenges? Describe the steps and strategies used.** - **Lessons Learned:** **What lessons were learned from these experiences? Share any insights or best practices that can benefit the community.** ### **Outputs and Outcomes** **Outputs (Last Epoch):** - **Output 1:** [Specific, measurable results from activities, e.g., number of users onboarded, number of features shipped, training sessions conducted] - **Artizen Fund campaigns:** **Short-term Outcomes:** - **Outcome 1:** [Describe the short-term outcomes resulting from the outputs, e.g., increased user engagement, higher retention rates, immediate feedback from users, increase in transaction volume] - **Impact of FtC track sponsored by Octant:** - **Outcome 2:** [Describe the short-term effects resulting from the outputs] - **Long-term Outcomes:** ![Screen Shot 2024-08-16 at 2.59.14 PM](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/6eefd47e067a2a14d6e11be0c18dba2d517e634f.jpeg) ``` - **Original “Open Conversations” Content Series:** - Through FtC’s unique access to thought-leaders at live events, we have focused our efforts on creating high-quality content that elevates the narrative of our entire ecosystem: ``` ![Screen Shot 2024-08-16 at 2.47.59 PM](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/b9789ef6ffc4caffdf093a521ffa45df8508dfde.jpeg) ``` - **Examples of 14 partner interviews conducted so far in 2024:** - Al Smith, The Tor Project - *launched in July* (15.8K total views) ``` ![tor](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/04cd61c4b2ba00fb4dcf1b967f1c14b8dbc95867.jpeg) ``` - [The importance of spaces to discuss public goods with stakeholders (feat. Gitcoin, Octant, Drips)](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1813660112655155266) *(9.5K views)* - [Funding DPGs means paving the way for a freer, safer internet](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1808157535607681102) *(6.4K views)* - [Digital Privacy as a Human Right](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj835oyCABc) - *full video* - **New FtC Reels:** - 28.5k views across posts & reposts ``` ![Screen Shot 2024-08-16 at 2.24.03 PM](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/ae9643ed450d9624941fe086e7be6edeaf7cd743.jpeg) ``` - **Next interviews launching:** - Audrey Tang, Plurality.net - Navroop Sadev, The Digital Economist - Samantha Power, BioFi Project & Finance for Gaia - Atossa Soltani, Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance - Stuart Cowan, Buckminster Fuller Institute - Brian Behlendorf, Linux Foundation - Natalie Cadranel, Open Archive - Glen Weyl, Plurality Institution & RxC & Microsoft - Aya Miyaguchi, Ethereum Foundation - Chris Szymczak - UNICEF Office of Innovation - Scott Moore, Public Works - Ken Suzuki, University of Tokyo, SmartNews Inc. - Behind the Scenes Video - FtC x DeSci Tokyo ``` ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 7:21pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/9 "2024-08-21T19:21:11Z")
Posting second half of update due to Discuss character limitation per post. - **Outcome 2:** [Describe the long-term effects and impact] - **Funding the Commons impact reports:** ### **Plans for Potential Funds Raised in the Next Octant Allocation Window** - **Goal 1:** - **Goal 2:** - **Goal 3:** - **Goal 4:** - **Goal 5:** ### **Other Funding** - **Grant Funding Received Since the Last Epoch:** [Detail any grant funding received, including amounts] - **Other Non-Grant Funding Sources:** [Detail other sources of funding, such as user payments, donations, staking, LP contributions, VC investments, etc.] ### **Future Plans for Financial Sustainability** It’s now been 4+ months since your initial application. Have there been any changes to revenue sources and income generation plans? Share your story on how your project plans to achieve long-term financial sustainability and the progress since the previous epoch. You may include updates on any of the following aspects: - **Changes to your revenue sources and income generation plans since your initial application:** - **Since our initial application:** - **New or ongoing strategic partnerships or collaborations that support your project:** - **Plans for securing additional funding and ensuring diverse funding sources:** ---
**Author:** ![james](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/james/32/486_2.png) [@james](https://discuss.octant.app/u/james)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/10 "2024-08-21T21:49:45Z")
Haha @david-fundingcommons this is a f’ing update. Thanks for the depth here man. Few questions for you: - Can you provide more detail on how the $20k for the Commons Fund is being allocated across the various initiatives mentioned, and what specific outcomes you expect from these allocations? - Since impact is the hot topic these days, how do you plan to measure the long-term impact of the conferences, particularly in relation to the connections and collaborations formed during these events? - And lastly, I’m curious if you could you share more about the process and criteria for selecting local community partners and organizers for future Funding the Commons events? Appreciate you sir, thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/11 "2024-08-22T22:21:17Z")
> [@james](#): > > - Can you provide more detail on how the $20k for the Commons Fund is being allocated across the various initiatives mentioned, and what specific outcomes you expect from these allocations? > - Since impact is the hot topic these days, how do you plan to measure the long-term impact of the conferences, particularly in relation to the connections and collaborations formed during these events? > - And lastly, I’m curious if you could you share more about the process and criteria for selecting local community partners and organizers for future Funding the Commons events? - **Can you provide more detail on how the $20k for the Commons Fund is being allocated across the various initiatives mentioned, and what specific outcomes you expect from these allocations?** - **Since impact is the hot topic these days, how do you plan to measure the long-term impact of the conferences, particularly in relation to the connections and collaborations formed during these events?** - **And lastly, I’m curious if you could share more about the process and criteria for selecting local community partners and organizers for future Funding the Commons events?** ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/12 "2024-12-09T23:00:54Z")
Section One: Octant Epoch VI Update: ### **Total Funds Received from Octant so far** : - Octant 2: 12.15 ETH (~$31k) - Octant 3: 0.11 ETH - Octant 4: 9.53 ETH (~$31k) - Most Recent Round: $25k - **Total:** ~$87k - KarmaGap profile: [Funding the Commons | Karma](https://gap.karmahq.xyz/project/funding-the-commons) * * * ### **Funds Spent** : **$90k** * * * ### **Detailed Utilization of Funds Received from Octant** : **Conference Production:** - $20k deployed to fund **Funding the Commons San Francisco Bay Area**. - $20k deployed to fund **Funding the Commons Tokyo**. **Public Goods Funding Experiments & Real-World Pilots:** - $20k seeded the \*\*Commons Fund [\*\*PGF Distribution], allocated as follows: - $10k towards the Builder Basic Income Fund, matched 1:1 by Drips.Network. - $10k towards public goods builder grants, supporting innovation in the public goods funding ecosystem. ### // new expenses from Epoch V // - $7.5k towards the **Chiang Mai Builder Residency** : 40 builders hosted from 25 countries. Details below. - $7.5k towards the **Funding the Commons x Earth Commons Hackathon.** A total of 356 participants joined online, with a number attending the final 2-day sprint in Bangkok to benefit from our community’s support, including mentorship from dedicated experts. The event resulted in 116 projects and distributed $110,000 in prize funding. - $7.5k towards **Funding the Commons x Earth Commons Bangkok** Flagship Conference. - $7.5k towards Creation of high quality media content, including speaker videos like [Aya Miyaguchi,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxU_oxT5VA0) [Glen Weyl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llVQ9v9wzyA), and Artem Brazhnikov, Head of Engineering at Octant, to recruit actors beyond Web3 into the conversation. This professionally produced content is also inclusive of our livestream, which benefited 497 attendees who were able to join us remotely, making our conference content a public good accessible to all. All of these videos will be posted to YouTube in the coming weeks, making them freely available for everyone to enjoy indefinitely. * * * ### **Milestones and Deliverables** **Milestone 1** : **Chiang Mai Builder Residency** 40+ residents from 25 countries participated in the builder residency. Projects [here](https://www.notion.so/d35ea0cff78f4586b1aa5cea392ec9b8?pvs=21). **Description:** Hosted the Funding the Commons Chiang Mai Builder Residency, a month-long immersive program held in October 2024, designed to accelerate public goods innovation in Southeast Asia and beyond. The residency welcomed 40 talented builders from diverse backgrounds to a collaborative environment in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This initiative provided the space, resources, and mentorship necessary for participants to ideate, prototype, and refine impactful public goods projects. **Immediate Outcome:** The Chiang Mai Builder Residency served as a launchpad for several groundbreaking projects and fostered a vibrant community of public goods builders. Key outcomes included tangible advancements in tools, protocols, and platforms for public goods funding and deployment. The program featured contributions from Octant and other strategic partners, including UNICEF and GainForest, reinforcing connections between global organizations and local talent. The residency also emphasized skills development through workshops on decentralized finance, AI ethics, and sustainable tech solutions. Interactive sessions were led by Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum Foundation), David Dao (GainForest), and Artem Brazhnikov (Octant). Two Octant team members participated in the residency. Projects like [Akashic](https://akashic.webflow.io/), [Impact Evaluation Service](https://ies-interface.vercel.app/), Counterfactually, [Hyperstaker](https://www.hyperstaker.com/), [Doogly](https://doogly.org/), the [Commons Protocol](https://www.commonsprotocol.xyz/), [Fund Pop Up Cities](https://github.com/tnkshuuhei/fund-popup-city), and Refunite Digital ID system were prototyped and advanced during the residency. Berlin Residency alumni Climate project [GainForest](https://gainforest.earth/) shipped new features (and won the Rainforest X Prize!), and Ethereum Next Billion Fellow Devansh Mehta launched [VoiceDeck](https://app.voicedeck.org/reports), the first live marketplace for Hypercerts. Two Octant team members participated in the residency, making progress on Octant v2. Amongst other mentors, Vitalik Buterin visited the residency and took an hour of questions from residents on building public goods funding systems and mechanisms. **Engagement Metrics:** - **Participants:** 40 builders from 25 countries - **Projects Developed:** 22 innovative public goods prototypes - **Workshops Conducted:** 18 interactive learning sessions - **Follow-on Funding Secured:** $500k for projects being built by residents from the beginning of the residency through 1 December 2024 **Key Outcomes:** 1. **Talent Pipeline:** At least one residency participant was hired by a sponsoring organization. 2. **Innovation Incubation:** Several projects have moved into pilot stages, with prototypes showcased at the subsequent FtC Bangkok conference and hackathon. 3. **Community Building:** The residency fostered cross-cultural collaboration, bridging gaps between local builders in Southeast Asia and global public goods networks. An immediate key outcome is that five of our residents, all of whom are based in India, came together to organize an [FtC pop-up on 6-8 December](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1864071795856281954) at ETH India, the largest Ethereum hackathon in the world. 4. **Strategic Insights:** Focused exploration of decentralized governance, impact evaluation, zero-knowledge privacy cryptography and regional public goods challenges informed the development of new funding models and frameworks. 5. **Funding:** Projects and residency builders have received approximately $500k between the date the residency began (7 October) and 6 December 2024. The full list of projects worked on can be viewed [here](https://www.notion.so/d35ea0cff78f4586b1aa5cea392ec9b8?pvs=21). A film shot at the residency will be released in Q1 2025. [Photos (Drive link)](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1TUAe_TKH3WmhHS8cVOe5kopoxxGl31om): ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/3c08953276a8576a23e615b264cc9b1b2b5f8fe0.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/a4b44ff81beeabc2ebe99488899a33ed4dfa0e6d.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/ee6c4394fcde87b60c039a3be633c4af0992edaf.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/b4921f131781f1f5f940f358b34a63e48b112e48.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/cb81dbd5e1ec7dca6f75eb577c442ff16145c57a.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/ddfa1092140f8bc0b6124c2878d8960e58f15a4b.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/11ee365b75f7c134a517484039aff4f0d78d5934.jpeg) - **Funding Used** : $10k **Milestone 2** : Funding the Commons x Earth Commons Hackathon The FtC x EC Public Goods Hackathon brought together 356 participants globally, with 41 in-person hackers engaging in an intense 2-day sprint in Bangkok. This collaboration produced 116 innovative projects, supported by a total prize pool of $110,000. ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/d8b94c1b2c1c1a315ccec30b9f4aeaa6b16a5291.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/521f305daa39b413dd6a79c261d3804c83fe1f15.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/b7e773e3f73f30f6406239b35565fc412cfd4ddf.jpeg) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/6fa18619119c96f02a1b0ab79542d460a1b2cc0e.jpeg) ### Key Metrics: - **356 online participants** - **41 in-person hackers** at the final sprint in Bangkok. - Key countries from analytics: Turkey, India, Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, United States, Thailand, Philippines - Key demographics: 20-40 y.o, male - **116 projects submitted** , showcasing a diverse range of solutions across public goods funding infrastructure, privacy and decentralized identity, decentralized AI, and governance. - **50K page views** garnered during the hackathon. - **20+ mentors** supported participants with expert guidance throughout the event. - **8 virtual workshops and sessions** that engaged over 300 participants. - _Sponsor workshops have been recorded and uploaded on [our YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XEY3jW7mRg&list=PL3C6eF-zu5AY_COPs5AYITPynXBg1-xN9)._ - **9 bounty tracks** , fostering innovation in areas such as public goods, identity, environmental impact, and decentralized storage. - **25 unique winning projects** across multiple tracks, receiving recognition for their groundbreaking solutions. - [\ ***Full list of winners and projects here**](https://dorahacks.io/hackathon/ftc-2024/winner).\*[FtC & EC Hackathon Winners 2024](https://www.notion.so/FtC-EC-Hackathon-Winners-2024-157490db0c3581a8bf6ed0d9f73b1107?pvs=21) - **13 honorable mentions** for projects showcasing promising ideas and impact. - Prize distribution happened directly, as well as through platforms such as OnlyDust (NEAR, Stellar, DaoStar, etc.) and Drips (FtC, Filecoin), intended to drive more engagement towards open-source software funding and distribution mechanisms. - Quotes: _“FtC is definitely one of the most exciting hackathons happening in that period.” - Claire, DoraHacks Team_ Examples of social media traction: > > > > **Milestone 3: Funding the Commons x Earth Commons Bangkok [Flagship Conference]** **Description:** Produced Funding the Commons Bangkok, a two-day flagship conference held on November 8-9, 2024. The event was co-hosted in partnership with APAC DAO and Earth Commons, emphasizing environmental stewardship, public goods funding, decentralized science, and digital innovation. FtC Bangkok was part of the broader LabWeek Web3, a decentralized conference by Protocol Labs. **Immediate Outcome:** FtC Bangkok solidified the Funding the Commons brand in Southeast Asia, further bridging the global public goods ecosystem with regional actors. The conference provided a unique platform for public goods builders, policy advocates, and funders to engage directly, explore collaborations, and incubate impactful projects. Key partnerships and collaborations were established with entities like UNICEF, NEAR Foundation, Stellar Development Foundation, and CoalaPay. Notable speakers included Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Illia Polosukhin (NEAR), Michel Bauwens (P2P Foundation), Kevin Owocki (Gitcoin), David Dao (GainForest), Max Song (Carbonbase), Alan Ransil (Filecoin Green), and Artem Brazhnikov (Octant). The program included thematic focuses on: - **Public Goods Funding Mechanisms** : Exploring innovative funding tools and the challenges of impact evaluation. - **Southeast Asian Civic Initiatives** : Highlighting regional approaches to digital identity, privacy, and cooperative governance. - **Decentralized Science and Biodiversity** : Bridging technology with indigenous stewardship and environmental preservation. - **Outcome Showcases** : Featuring results from the Chiang Mai Builder Residency and Hackathon. **Event Metrics:** - Total viewership: 875 people touched by this event programming: - A balanced mix of in-person (299) and livestream (497) attendees across both days, showcasing strong hybrid engagement - also includes (93 speakers + 20 staff / volunteers). - Conference Sessions and Panels over 2 days - 40 mainstage sessions - 37 workshops - Speaker Highlights included: Kolatat Phaiboonnukulkij (RIFFAI), Illia Polosukhin (NEAR), Risdianto Irawan (UNICEF), Artem Brazhnikov (Octant), Kevin Owocki (Gitcoin), Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Melyn McKay (Coala Pay), Rashmi Abbigeri (DAOstar), Max Song (Carbonbase), Adam Advisson (University of Naples Federico II), Christopher Goes (Anoma), Shady El-Damaty (Holonym), Chi Ling (Equitech), Megan Klimen (Filecoin) - Demographic present: success in reaching beyond Web3 (42%), with representation from non-profits (12%), non-web3 tech industry professionals (8%), academia (7%), and other fields such as media (3%), finance (3%), and government (2%), while still engaging a majority of attendees (58%) from tehe Web3 sector. - Attendees joined in-person from 76 countries: - South East Asia (including Thailand): 28% - East Asia: 15% - India: 10% - Oceania: 5% - North America: 14% - Europe: 21% - LATAM (Latin America): 7% - Africa: 3% - Middle East: 2% - Other: 5% - **Community Growth** - **67% were first-time attendees** , reflecting successful outreach and expansion of the FtC community. - **33% were repeat attendees** , indicating sustained interest and loyalty among prior participants. - **Accessibility & Scholarships** - **74% of participants received complimentary tickets** , ensuring accessibility and inclusivity as a true public good, while 16% utilized coupon promotions, reflecting effective outreach strategies. - **9 scholarships and 2 travel stipends** were awarded, highlighting efforts to support underrepresented and financially constrained participants. - **Hackathon Demo Hour:** Showcased the winning projects selected from 100+ innovative builds and 340 hackers, with $110,000 in prize funding distributed. DoraHacks platform representatives joined us for the winners’ ceremony, and a number of the winning builders were present in person for the award ceremony. - Design Jam: - 23 Mentors, including - 5 Facilitators - 71 total participants - 3 selected projects to highlight, covering ecological and local SEA issues **In the Public Eye** : - [Reflections from DevCon | Ahmed Gatnash](https://gatnash.com/posts/reflections-from-devcon/) > > > **Key Outcomes:** 1. Together, our Thailand events—residency, design jam, in-person hackathon, and conference—brought over 1,070 participants into the public goods conversation. 2. Facilitated the development and showcase of real-world use cases designed to drive innovation and attract new participants to the public goods funding conversation, fostering long-term engagement and impact. 3. Deepened relationships with local NGOs and public goods initiatives, including ongoing collaborations with displaced Burmese communities. This milestone underscored Funding the Commons’ ability to foster innovation, connect global and regional actors, and drive tangible impact across diverse sectors. FtC Bangkok has positioned itself as a cornerstone for public goods discourse and action in the Asia-Pacific region. Summary video: [![](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/octant/original/1X/eb7ec96dcea0194be2ada76f1df76f70c5ce0a49.jpeg "From Thailand to the World: Coordinating for Public Goods | Funding the Commons") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOWmv3R_2Lg) **Milestone 4** : **Production of High Quality Media Content** In 2024, Funding the Commons began shifting from being solely events-focused to embracing its role as a media platform. Key efforts include: - **Expanding Communication Platforms** : Leveraging a highly engaged audience of 11k+ followers to amplify voices and ideas that advance Public Goods in Web3 and beyond. - **Prioritizing LinkedIn** : Diving deeper into engagement with governments, nonprofits, and NGOs to broaden our impact. - **Growing on Twitter** : Achieving 1M organic impressions over the past 12 months, continuing to drive awareness and engagement. - **Creating Lasting Public Goods** : Producing high-quality content, including reels, interviews, and a growing library of 100+ recorded talks, to make insights accessible and impactful long-term. - **Reshaping Narratives** : Amplifying thought leadership to expand conversations around Public Goods far beyond our events. This approach ensures we continue to grow our reach and deliver lasting value to the ecosystem. # Amplifying FtC Community Voices Beyond Events ### **4 New Reels: Diverse Community Perspectives** to Drive Attendance (_~50k organic views_) - **Bangkok** : [Watch the reel](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1863676183893905808/video/1) - **Tokyo** : [Watch the reel](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1850842192455065649/video/1) - **Funding the Commons, Berkeley** : [Watch the reel](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1806320654964113595/video/1) - **Earth Commons, Berkeley** : [Watch the reel](https://x.com/EarthCommons/status/1841207969444241571) ### 100+ Recorded Talks: A Growing Library of Knowledge - **100+ recordings** of talks from Funding the Commons events since December 2023, freely accessible to all as a public good. - **30+ talks from Bangkok** will be released before the end of 2024, continuing our commitment to making these valuable insights available to a global audience. - Explore the full library on our [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxkd3ik9DFb7DTV5MMRygQ). ## Interview Library: Thought-Leadership in Public Goods Across the Globe ### **27 unique interviews recorded in San Francisco, Tokyo, and Bangkok** - **Elevating the Narrative** : Leveraging FtC’s unique access to thought leaders at live events, we are dedicated to creating content that uplifts and reshapes the narrative for the entire ecosystem. - **Trusted Platform** : FtC combines exclusive access to visionary voices with a trusted content distribution platform within the Public Goods Funding (PGF) community, ensuring impactful storytelling that reaches beyond Web3 audiences. - **Emphasis on plain language:** Metaphors and basic framing for maximum reach to new audiences, or as Audrey Tang said, “We hope my grandma likes it” ### **1. Al Smith – The Tor Project _(only one on this list launched during previous epoch)_** - [The importance of spaces to discuss public goods with stakeholders](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1813660112655155266) (Gitcoin, Octant, Drips) - [Funding DPGs: Paving the way for a freer, safer internet](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1808157535607681102) - [Digital Privacy as a Human Right](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj835oyCABc) – _Full Video_ ### **2. Audrey Tang – [Plurality.net](http://Plurality.net) (Former Digital Minister of Taiwan)** - [On the Future of Governance](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1834257020666478889) – _X/Twitter_ - [Healing Democracy with Audrey Tang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrFPfIaIHO8&feature=youtu.be) – _Full Video_ ### **3. Samantha Power – BioFi Project & Finance for Gaia** - [Exploring Finance for Nature](https://x.com/EarthCommons/status/1834281517507342485/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ - [Organizing Along Nature’s Lines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GapTmjuLJaM&feature=youtu.be) – _Full Video_ ### **4. Navroop Sadev – The Digital Economist** - [Economics as the Interconnectedness of Things](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1833234408918430036/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ - [Full Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpLj5AHVn1g&feature=youtu.be) ### **5. Atossa Soltani – Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance** - [Reimagining Ancient Stewardship](https://x.com/EarthCommons/status/1841196565353963860/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ - [Full Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcLeFrOsOLs) ### **6. Stuart Cowan – Buckminster Fuller Institute** - [The Commons: Inspiration from Ancient Practices](https://x.com/EarthCommons/status/1838592481988170126/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ - [Reclaiming the Commons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfRsabySuI4) – _Full Video_ ### **7. Glen Weyl – Plurality Institution & RxC & Microsoft** - [On Plurality & Harnessing Energy for Social Growth](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1864610673050722527/video/1) - _X/Twitter_ ### **8. Aya Miyaguchi – Ethereum Foundation** - [Beyond the Trees: On Ethereum’s Path Forward](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1859276339104317673/video/1) - _X/Twitter_ ### **9. Chris Szymczak – UNICEF Office of Innovation** - [Public Goods to Expand Human Freedom](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1848948615638814992/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ - [Full Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTVObKwQy4) ### **10. Scott Moore – Public Works** - [Making a Difference: Scott Moore on Gitcoin, Digital Public Goods, and Plurality Tools](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1853672568890253338/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ ### **11. Ken Suzuki – University of Tokyo, SmartNews Inc.** - [Reconciling Public Goods with a Capitalistic Framework](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1861726672594038974/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ ### **12. NounsDAO** - [On NounsDAO: Making People, Places, and Things Come Together](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1860609305289822353/video/1) – _X/Twitter_ ### **15 New interviews have footage recorded, and currently in production** - **Anke Liu** – Stellar Development Foundation - **Anna Whitson-Diaz** – Former UN System, Stellar Development Foundation - **Artem Brazhnikov** – Head of Engineering, Octant & Golem Foundation - **Brian Behlendorf** – Linux Foundation - **David Dao** – Chief Scientist, GainForest (_XPrize 2024 Winner_) - **Funding the Commons & Tokyo DeSci Team** - **Grégoire Gambatto** – Co-Founder & CEO, OnlyDust - **Jarrod Barnes** – NEAR Foundation - **Kevin Owocki** – Gitcoin - **Melyn McKay** – Founder, CoalaPay - **Michel Bauwens** – P2P Foundation - **Natalie Cadranel** – Open Archive - **Shady El Damaty & Nana Nihal Khalsa** – Holonym Foundation - **Supachai Kid Parchariyanon** – CEO & Co-Founder, Rise ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/13 "2024-12-09T23:09:39Z")
Section 2: Epoch VI Update ### **Challenges** ```auto ### **Challenges** - **Previous Challenges** : - **Description** : [Did you outline any challenges in your previous submissions? If so, provide a brief reminder of those challenges.] - **Updates** : [What are the updates on these challenges? Have they been resolved or are they ongoing?] - **Resolution** : [How did you resolve these challenges? Describe the steps and strategies used.] - **Lessons Learned** : [What lessons were learned from these experiences? Share any insights or best practices that can benefit the community.] ``` - **Previous challenges** : **Description:** [Did you outline any challenges in your previous submissions? If so, provide a brief reminder of those challenges.] - Our continued support from web3 foundations is dependent on the volatile fluctuations of the public crypto markets. - Balancing our mission-driven urgency to act with the demands of a rapid global event calendar remains a challenge, as we strive to be in the right place at the right time while managing limited resources and addressing the needs of diverse stakeholders. - Our community organizers have expressed the desire to be more empowered and given more agency and autonomy in organizing FtC events around the world. - Often, funders claim to support public goods, but in reality, they support “network goods,” i.e., goods that are only widely useful for their specific L1 or L2 ecosystem. - Measuring the results from a conference can be challenging, given that much of the impact happens weeks and months afterward, and is difficult to track and measure. Our conferences are both about public goods and serve as a public good themselves – in addition to network effects resulting from education, rigorous discourse, and centering of opportunities for funding, Funding the Commons events are a springboard for initiating and deepening impactful connections throughout the ecosystem. Many community members state that they’ve identified co-founders, future hires, pathways to funding, evaluation frameworks, sponsors/investors, etc., either directly or indirectly through the platforms we provide. This inclusive expansion of opportunities and connections is very difficult to measure, especially since it often manifests over a timescale longer than quarterly or yearly reporting. - Crypto is often in an echo chamber, and breaking through to a more mainstream audience can be met with resistance based on preconceived assumptions around the technology and the community behind it. New challenges: - Sometimes, we are misunderstood as ‘funding the commons’ vs. being a media & event production series facilitating discourse around commons and public goods funding mechanisms. - A key challenge has been identifying, nurturing, and acknowledging the contributions of dedicated local partners, particularly when laying the groundwork for conferences that often require over a year of preparation. However, this level of advance planning is difficult due to uncertainties beyond 12 months of operational budget commitments. **Updates** : [What are the updates on these challenges? Have they been resolved or are they ongoing?] - **Funding Dependency** : Volatile crypto markets remain a risk. However, the market outlook is significantly sunnier than pre-November 5 2024. We are building relationships with institutional philanthropists, as well as with other sectors of technology outside of the blockchain industry, namely AI and climate. Meanwhile, we continue to successfully diversify our web3 funding sources, securing both grants and sponsorships from entirely new funders in the past four months, including Holonym Foundation, Stellar Development Foundation, KlimaDAO, Kasikorn X VC, and Layer Labs. - **Working Relationships with Local Partners** : Remains an ongoing challenge for Funding the Commons. The team has had multiple feedback sessions with various local partners, and has been receiving and incorporating that feedback. Various measures currently being taken to elevate our process of community partner relationship management include: delivering precise detailed proposals and specs for venue and event requirements to avoid miscommunications, building a streamlined protocol for partner evaluation → onboarding → ongoing communication, actively seeking feedback at earlier stages in the relationship, and refined due diligence of partner capacity & presence in relevant local geographies. - **Impact metrics for events** : This challenge has largely been resolved with the support of our marketing team, onboarded this year, which has created surveys and templates to formalize and standardize impact measurement across all events, including community-led initiatives. These tools streamline data collection and analysis, ensuring consistent metrics harvesting well beyond our conferences. Additionally, the launch of our Public Goods Town Halls—monthly community calls—provides an ongoing platform for direct communication. These calls allow community members to update us on their projects and successes year-round, often uncovering impactful achievements that might otherwise go unnoticed. In qualitative terms, Funding the Commons is often described as ‘the first Web3 conference I’ve ever attended.’ This underscores the role public goods conferences play as a meaningful entry point into the industry—offering an impactful introduction to the ecosystem, distinct from its more speculative or transactional aspects. - **Being a small team with a large workload:** This year, our team faced significant capacity challenges, further compounded by the departure of two team members. As a result, the remaining team was stretched, navigating varying degrees of burnout. These constraints occasionally impacted our availability and responsiveness to local community partners, as team members managed multiple events simultaneously across various time zones. Looking ahead to 2025, we are implementing key improvements to enhance efficiency and sustainability: - **Expanding Beyond Crypto’s Echo Chamber** : In 2024, we successfully drew a diverse range of participants to our community, including academics, senior public sector officials, corporate leaders, representatives from multilateral institutions, Web2 open-source advocates, and humanitarian nonprofits. Notably, 42% of attendees at Funding the Commons Bangkok were from outside the Web3 space, demonstrating the effectiveness of our outreach strategies. **Resolution** : [How did you resolve these challenges? Describe the steps and strategies used.] - **Crypto as an Echo Chamber, and breaking into new audiences** : Active outreach to the public sector and academia, and thematic content development designed to attract a wide range of professionals outside of web3 are creating new touch points between crypto and academia, government, climate finance, and AI. Our first two events in 2025 will focus heavily on AI and climate, respectively. - Demonstrated success in diversifying participants in 2024, with 42% of attendees at Bangkok events coming from outside Web3. - **Impact Metrics for Events** : - Largely resolved with the implementation of standardized surveys, [Lu.ma](http://Lu.ma) event ratings, post-event impact reports, and templates created by the marketing team. - Public Goods Town Halls provide ongoing opportunities for feedback and uncovering impactful outcomes, ensuring consistent metrics collection and qualitative success stories. **Lessons Learned** : [What lessons were learned from these experiences? Share any insights or best practices that can benefit the community.] - **Provide Clear Specs and Local Support** : Ensure partners have precise specifications for event venues, catering, and logistics. Hire local production assistants (e.g., via Upwork) to manage local sourcing, logistics, and, where needed, vendor negotiations. - **Guidance for Remote Locations** : Provide local event production partners with detailed guidance for operating in remote areas with unreliable infrastructure (e.g., water, electricity, transportation). Include contingency plans to handle crisis moments effectively. - **Avoid Mid-Hackathon Technology Commitments** : Refrain from committing to use a partner’s technology during a hackathon unless there is sufficient time to evaluate the effort required to integrate it without disrupting the event. - **Refining Our Approach to Partnerships** : We’ve identified the importance of allowing sufficient time for onboarding and alignment when forming new partnerships. By conducting thorough due diligence and ensuring partners are a strong contextual and mission-driven fit, we can create more seamless collaborations that deliver greater impact. - **Learnings from Community Partnerships** : Through our work with remunerated community partners, we’ve learned the importance of recognizing their invaluable contributions—not just as service providers but as integral extensions of our team. These partners often bring years of relationships with local actors in public goods, government, and philanthropy, along with on-the-ground outreach that is critical to our success. Treating them as true community members fosters trust, deepens collaboration, and aligns our shared mission more closely with local ecosystems. Moving forward, we aim to nurture these relationships with the same care and integration as we do within our internal team. - 2024 Major Strategic Learning: **Funding the Commons** has become a key bridge between the crypto industry and various other sectors—including the public sector, academia, Web2 companies, the AI industry, and traditional industries. This unique role enhances our value proposition for partners and collaborators within the Web3 ecosystem. * * * ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/14 "2024-12-09T23:10:42Z")
Section 3: Epoch VI Update ### **Outputs and Outcomes** ```auto ### **Outputs and Outcomes** **Outputs (Last Epoch)**: - **Output 1** : [Specific, measurable results from activities, e.g., number of users onboarded, number of features shipped, training sessions conducted] - **Output 2** : [Specific, measurable results from activities] **Short-term Outcomes** : - **Outcome 1** : [Describe the short-term outcomes resulting from the outputs, e.g., increased user engagement, higher retention rates, immediate feedback from users, increase in transaction volume] - **Outcome 2** : [Describe the short-term effects resulting from the outputs] **Long-term Outcomes** : - **Outcome 1** : [Describe the long-term effects and impact, e.g., sustained community growth, improved user satisfaction and loyalty, enhanced ecosystem functionality, significant reduction in costs or inefficiencies] - **Outcome 2** : [Describe the long-term effects and impact] ``` ## **Outputs (Last Epoch)**: 1. **Earth Commons Zurich Philanthopy & Climate** 9/11 dinner - **Description** : Hosted a high-level institutional dinner featuring organizations like IMF, IBM, BIS, Filecoin Foundation, Octant, and others. 2. **Hackathon** : $110k prizes, 356 participants, 116 builds. 3. **FtC Chiang Mai Residency** : 40+ builders hosted, [22 projects prototyped](https://www.notion.so/d35ea0cff78f4586b1aa5cea392ec9b8?pvs=21). 4. **Funding the Commons x Earth Commons Bangkok _Conference & Design Jam_** 1. 1070+ participants, 110+ sessions, 80+ speakers across 4 days 2. Showcased Chiang Mai Builder Residency and Hackathon projects 3. Recordings that are being proofed and will be posted to YouTube within the next weeks: [https://drive.google.com/open?id=16SJiIPHJOwohGFlj46C0hnTy7kIfzwOO&usp=drive\_fs](https://drive.google.com/open?id=16SJiIPHJOwohGFlj46C0hnTy7kIfzwOO&usp=drive_fs) 5. **Commons Fund activities [Public Goods Funding Experiments, Grants to Builders of Open Source PGF Tech, & Real World Pilots]** 1. Support for Builders via [Builder Basic Income with Drips](https://www.drips.network/app/drip-lists/36167722434539895740687283110259945938004377627588501179309095983174): 2. **Refunite Uganda pilot:** 3. [Akashic](https://akashic.webflow.io/) - open source public goods funding infrastructure for the real world 4. Transition of Commons Fund to a DAO 6. **Media Assets created** - 11 media interviews videos published since the last epoch - 15 new interviews in post-production to be released within the next 4-6 weeks - Full details and links in our library: [https://www.notion.so/fundingthecommons/FtC-Media-Library-Content-Platform-157490db0c3580d2bfa4d953d8a66912?pvs=4](https://www.notion.so/FtC-Media-Library-Content-Platform-157490db0c3580d2bfa4d953d8a66912?pvs=21) - [Hundreds of Photos Captured](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1JjYazGTMiR-j-J0OPdqmFrBmV4CQa4D5) - [Recap Reel](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1863676183893905808) 7. **New Partnerships** - Holonym, NEAR Foundation, Stellar Development Foundation, OnlyDust, DoraHacks 8. **Monthly Public Goods Town Halls** - 5 Town Halls successfully hosted virtually as a community building experiment and safe space for support of public goods builders between conferences. # _ **Funding the Commons: Comprehensive Outputs and Outcomes** _ # **Earth Commons Zurich Dinner** ## **Event Details** - **Date** : September 11th, 2024 - **Location** : Zurich, Switzerland - **Type** : Private Dinner for Institutional Philanthropy, Financial Sector, and INGOs - **Number of Attendees** : 32 ## **Participating Organizations** The dinner brought together a diverse and high-profile group of organizations, including: 1. International Financial Institutions: IMF, BIS, BIS Innovation Hub 2. Academic Institutions: University of Zurich, ETH Zurich 3. Corporate Sector: IBM, Dow, MSCI 4. Web3 Foundations: Filecoin Foundation, Golem Foundation (Octant) 5. Sustainability and Climate Organizations: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, MyClimate, Nature Tech Collective, NatureFinance, Green Fintech Network, Green Digital Finance Alliance (GDFA), Crowther Lab, Decoland 6. Banking and Finance: LGT Private Banking, Liechtenstein Bankers Association 7. Government and International Organizations: UNDP FC4S, State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) 8. Venture Capital and Investment: Opportuna VC, Infinitas Capital, Swiss Fintech Innovations 9. Climate Finance Startups: SimplexDNA, Silvi, Open Forest Protocol, Gain Forest, Hyphen.Earth 10. Philanthropy: Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB), Open Society Foundations ## **Outputs and Outcomes** 1. **Cross-Sector Networking** : Connected leaders in finance, technology, sustainability, philanthropy, and academia to foster collaboration and research opportunities. 2. **Knowledge Sharing** : Advanced discussions on blockchain’s role in sustainable finance, environmental conservation, and financial inclusion. 3. **New Partnerships** : Sparked collaborations between traditional financial institutions, blockchain projects, and sustainability-focused startups. 4. **Building Awareness** : Highlighted blockchain’s potential to address environmental, financial, and regulatory challenges to traditional institutions and policymakers. 5. **Showcasing Innovation** : Provided a platform for startups to present ideas to established institutions, potential funders, and philanthropic organizations. 6. **Climate Finance and Policy Dialogues** : Explored innovative funding strategies and regulatory frameworks for climate action and sustainable technology adoption. The event demonstrated the ability of Funding the Commons to convene high-level stakeholders (including the Golem Foundation) and position itself at the intersection of technology, finance, and sustainability. The full outcome of this event is still yet to be told, having laid the groundwork for Earth Commons Zurich 2025 by establishing key relationships with public sector institutions, philanthropic foundations, universities, climate startups, and regional climate finance trade associations and event organizers. # **Funding the Commons x Earth Commons Hackathon 2024: Outputs and Outcomes** ## **Event Overview** - **Date** : October 7 - November 7, 2024 - **Location** : Online (Global) - **Theme** : Public Goods, Climate - **Total Prize Pool** : $110,000 ## **Participation Metrics** - **Total Participants** : 356 - **Projects Submitted** : 116 ## **Key Outputs** 1. **Tracks** : - Decentralized AI - Decentralized Storage - Financial Inclusion - Environmental Impact - Public Goods Funding Infrastructure - Identity and Reputation - Privacy - Governance - Trust & Authenticity 2. **Notable Projects** : - Winners viewable [here](https://dorahacks.io/hackathon/ftc-2024/winner). 3. **Prize Distribution** : - 8 tracks with prizes ranging from $1,000 to $15,000 4. **Community Engagement** : - Active participation from developers, designers, and domain experts - Mentorship sessions with industry leaders - Workshops and webinars by partners & sponsors ## **Outcomes and Impact** 1. **Technological Innovation** : - Development and prototyping of new tools and platforms for public goods funding - Integration of emerging technologies (AI) with blockchain, and ZK-based identity, with humanitarian aid use cases 2. **Community Impact** : - Formation of new collaborations between developers, NGOs, and funding organizations - Empowerment of displaced communities in Africa and Southeast Asia through technology-driven solutions delivered as working prototypes 3. **Ecosystem Growth** : - Expansion of the Funding the Commons network to new builder ecosystems, including NEAR, Stellar, Holonym, OnlyDust, and DoraHacks - Attraction of new talent and resources to the public goods funding space - Strengthening of the global blockchain for social impact community 4. **Project Continuity** : - Several winning projects have secured additional funding and/or partnerships - Ongoing mentorship and support for promising teams is happening - Integration of successful projects into larger initiatives within the Funding the Commons ecosystem, including Doogly, Hyperstaker, Fund Pop Up Cities 5. **Knowledge Sharing** : - Documentation and open-sourcing of all project code on Github - Creation of educational resources (recorded workshops on FtC YouTube) 6. **Media Coverage and Visibility** : - Record-breaking impressions among FtC events, driven by partner networks and outreach. ## **Long-term Potential** - The hackathon has incubated and seeded several promising projects, and web3 ecosystems were able to identify new builder talent. Web3 startups and venture capital funds have already been coming to us for talent referrals from the builder funnel generated by the hackathon (and residency). # **Residency Projects Summary and Impact** The Chiang Mai Builder Residency served as a launchpad for several groundbreaking projects and fostered a vibrant community of public goods builders. Key outcomes included tangible advancements in tools, protocols, and platforms for public goods funding and deployment. The program featured contributions from Octant and other strategic partners, including UNICEF and GainForest, reinforcing connections between global organizations and local talent. The residency also emphasized skills development through workshops on decentralized finance, AI ethics, and sustainable tech solutions. Interactive sessions were led by Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum Foundation), David Dao (GainForest), and Artem Brazhnikov (Octant). Two Octant team members participated in the residency. Projects like [Akashic](https://akashic.webflow.io/), [Impact Evaluation Service](https://ies-interface.vercel.app/), Counterfactually, [Hyperstaker](https://www.hyperstaker.com/), [Doogly](https://doogly.org/), the [Commons Protocol](https://www.commonsprotocol.xyz/), [Fund Pop Up Cities](https://github.com/tnkshuuhei/fund-popup-city), and Refunite Digital ID system were prototyped and advanced during the residency. Berlin Residency alumni Climate project [GainForest](https://gainforest.earth/) shipped new features (and won the Rainforest X Prize!), and Ethereum Next Billion Fellow Devansh Mehta launched [VoiceDeck](https://app.voicedeck.org/reports), the first live marketplace for Hypercerts. Two Octant team members participated in the residency, making progress on Octant v2. Amongst other mentors, Vitalik Buterin visited the residency and took an hour of questions from residents on building public goods funding systems and mechanisms. **Engagement Metrics:** - **Participants:** 40 builders from 25 countries - **Projects Developed:** 22 innovative public goods prototypes - **Workshops Conducted:** 18 interactive learning sessions **Key Outcomes:** 1. **Talent Pipeline:** At least one residency participant was hired by a sponsoring organization 2. **Innovation Incubation:** Several projects have moved into pilot stages, with prototypes showcased at the subsequent FtC Bangkok conference and hackathon. 3. **Community Building:** The residency fostered cross-cultural collaboration, bridging gaps between local builders in Southeast Asia and global public goods networks. This included 5 of our builders coming together to produce the FtC Community Day at ETH India 6-8 December. 4. **Funding:** Projects and residency builders have received approximately $500k between the date the residency began (7 October, 2024) and 6 December 2024. 5. **Bridging Ecosystem** : Diverse ecosystems were brought together, including Celo, Gitcoin, Hypercerts, Bitcoin, Filecoin, Stellar, NEAR, Holonym (ZK/privacy), hardware and networking infrastructure entrepreneurs, machine learning specialists, climate scientists, social activists & human rights defenders, filmmakers & journalists, and humanitarian NGO’s working across Africa and Southeast Asia. 6. **Prototypes for Pilots** : Technological integrations that were initiated at the residency will soon be deployed in real-world last mile settings in sub-Saharan Africa # **Funding the Commons x Earth Commons Conference Outcomes** ## **Event Overview** - **Date** : November 8-9, 2024 - **Location** : Bangkok, Thailand - **Venue** : Rise / SeaX Ventures (22nd floor of Gaysorn Tower) ## **Key Themes and Focus Areas** - Public goods funding in the context of Southeast Asia - Digital innovation for environmental stewardship - Regenerative agriculture and biodiversity - Decentralized science applications - Integration of blockchain technology with environmental initiatives - Local and regional commons approaches ## **Notable Speakers and Participants** 1. Kevin Owocki - Gitcoin 2. Juan Benet - Protocol Labs 3. Alan Ransil - Filecoin Green, Devonian, Cherty 4. Ilia Polosukhin - NEAR 5. David Dao - GainForest 6. Max Song - Carbonbase 7. Artem Brazhnikov - Octant 8. Holke Brammer - Hypercerts 9. Warin Ratchananusorn - Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) of Thailand 10. Dr. Prapaporn Tivayanod Mongkhonvanit - Thammasat University ## **Conference Structure** 1. Main stage presentations 2. 2 Interactive workshop spaces 3. Networking lounge & cafeteria 4. Speaker x Sponsor Dinner 5. Gitcoin Book Launch Party: On-Chain Capital Allocation Handbook ([Launch Party Photos](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1goY-XpLIvQ9pQTfQVtRFtSg8-mq32uF0)) ## **Key Outcomes and Highlights** 1. **Showcase of Chiang Mai Builder Residency and Hackathon Projects** 2. **Regional Initiatives Spotlight** : Focus on Southeast Asian academics, NGO’s, startups, and public sector officials 3. **Technology Integration Discussions** : Exploration of how AI, IoT, and blockchain can be leveraged for environmental protection and restoration. 4. **Financial Inclusion Innovations** : Presentations on last mile crypto and its potential impact on humanitarian aid and financial inclusion in the region. 5. **Indigenous Wisdom and Technology** : Sessions on integrating traditional land stewardship practices with modern technological solutions. ## **Media and Documentation** Assets created: - Live streaming of the event was available, and [recordings](https://drive.google.com/open?id=16SJiIPHJOwohGFlj46C0hnTy7kIfzwOO&usp=drive_fs) will be posted shortly - Full details and links in our library: [https://www.notion.so/fundingthecommons/FtC-Media-Library-Content-Platform-157490db0c3580d2bfa4d953d8a66912?pvs=4](https://www.notion.so/FtC-Media-Library-Content-Platform-157490db0c3580d2bfa4d953d8a66912?pvs=21) - 14 speakers were interviewed in candid conversations, and these interviews will be released in Q1-Q2 2025. - [Hundreds of Photos Captured](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1JjYazGTMiR-j-J0OPdqmFrBmV4CQa4D5) - [Recap Reel](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1863676183893905808) # **Refunite Uganda Pilot Program _([full report here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yKxq5TTdylUIuF5MEH83ySKdlplG2zXp/view))_** ## **1. Quantifiable Success Metrics** - **Direct Beneficiaries** : 173 individuals from Burundian and South Sudanese communities - **Indirect Beneficiaries** : 8,500 from refugee and host communities - **Music Training** : 47 participants trained in music production, songwriting, composition, and recording - **Music Production** : 2 collaborative music tracks produced (“Unity” and “One Blood”) - **Music Education** : 22 music lessons delivered to 15 students at Nest Music School ## **2. Immediate Impacts on Beneficiaries and Community** - **Blockchain Literacy** : 75% of pilot participants showed improved understanding of blockchain and cryptocurrency tools - **Financial Empowerment** : Increased financial autonomy through access to crypto - **Skill Development** : Enhanced skills in music production, enabling professional growth - **Community Cohesion** : Strengthened resilience and social cohesion among refugee and host communities - **Cultural Preservation** : Created a safe, inclusive space for creative expression and cultural preservation ## **3. Key Effects** 1. **Blockchain for Financial Inclusion** : Demonstrated the use case for blockchain technology in providing financial services to refugee populations 2. **Economic Empowerment** : Provided pathways for artistic growth and economic opportunities through music 3. **Cross-Cultural Bridging** : Fostered connections and unity between diverse ethnic communities through collaborative music projects. This includes communities and tribes that have previously experienced conflict with each other. 4. **Emotional Support** : Offered a platform for emotional healing and expression through creative arts 5. **Scalable Model** : Established a replicable model incorporating local networks of Refunite community leaders, smart phones, blockchain, the creative arts, and WhatsApp groups for addressing humanitarian challenges ## **4. Challenges Faced** - **Technology Access** : Logistical challenges due to shared smartphone usage and variable internet access - **Resource Limitations** : Initial limited access to musical instruments and performance spaces ## **5. Qualitative Impact** Participants shared that they felt empowered and inspired to pursue music as a viable career option. This suggests a significant boost in confidence and future outlook among the beneficiaries. ## **6. Strategic Importance** The Refunite Uganda Pilot Program demonstrates the powerful intersection of blockchain technology, creative arts, and humanitarian aid. By combining financial inclusion through crypto with music (and digital media) education and production, the program addresses multiple aspects of refugee empowerment: 1. **Financial** : Providing access to digital financial tools 2. **Educational** : Offering valuable skills in music production and technology 3. **Cultural** : Preserving and celebrating diverse cultural expressions 4. **Social** : Building bridges between refugee and host communities 5. **Economic** : Opening pathways to potential careers in music and creative industries The success of this pilot underscores the potential of innovative, multi-faceted approaches to public goods funding and community development. It serves as a model for future initiatives that seek to leverage blockchain technology and creative expression for social impact in challenging environments. The scalability and replicability of this model suggest that similar programs could be implemented in other refugee settings or underserved communities, potentially creating a network of blockchain-enabled, arts-focused empowerment initiatives worldwide. # **Created Media Assets** In 2024, Funding the Commons began shifting from being solely events-focused to embracing its role as a media platform. Key efforts include: - **Expanding Communication Platforms** : Leveraging a highly engaged audience of 11k+ followers to amplify voices and ideas that advance Public Goods in Web3 and beyond. - **Prioritizing LinkedIn** : Diving deeper into engagement with governments, nonprofits, and NGOs to broaden our impact. - **Growing on Twitter** : Achieving 1M organic impressions over the past 12 months, continuing to drive awareness and engagement. - **Creating Lasting Public Goods** : Producing high-quality content, including reels, interviews, and a growing library of 100+ recorded talks, to make insights accessible and impactful long-term. - **Reshaping Narratives** : Amplifying thought leadership to expand conversations around Public Goods far beyond our events. This approach ensures we continue to grow our reach and deliver lasting value to the ecosystem. Summary of Assets Created: - 11 media interviews videos published since the last epoch - 15 new interviews in post-production to be released within the next 4-6 weeks - Full details and links in our library: [https://www.notion.so/fundingthecommons/FtC-Media-Library-Content-Platform-157490db0c3580d2bfa4d953d8a66912?pvs=4](https://www.notion.so/FtC-Media-Library-Content-Platform-157490db0c3580d2bfa4d953d8a66912?pvs=21) - [Hundreds of Photos Captured](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1JjYazGTMiR-j-J0OPdqmFrBmV4CQa4D5) - [Recap Reel](https://x.com/FundingCommons/status/1863676183893905808) # **Partnerships and Collaborations** Recent valuable partnerships formed (expanded upon in other sections): 1. Holonym 2. NEAR Foundation 3. Stellar Foundation # Monthly Public Goods Town Halls - 5 events held virtually - Impact metrics: [https://www.notion.so/fundingthecommons/PG-Town-Hall-Metrics-d5cdfe636b914d01a231a2b1c36f1c6b?pvs=4](https://www.notion.so/PG-Town-Hall-Metrics-d5cdfe636b914d01a231a2b1c36f1c6b?pvs=21) * * * ---
**Author:** ![david-fundingcommons](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/discuss.octant.app/david-fundingcommons/32/130_2.png) [@david-fundingcommons](https://discuss.octant.app/u/david-fundingcommons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2024, 11:11pm UTC](https://discuss.octant.app/t/funding-the-commons-accelerating-the-public-goods-funding-ecosystem/148/15 "2024-12-09T23:11:03Z")
Section 4: Octant Epoch VI Update ### **Plans for Potential Funds Raised in the Next Octant Allocation Window** - **Goal 1** : Produce Funding the Commons San Francisco - **Goal 2** : Produce Earth Commons Zurich - **Goal 3: Create high quality media pieces featuring web3 public goods funding and climate leaders for mainstream distribution** * * * ### **Other Funding** - **Grant Funding Received Since the Last Epoch:** - **Other Non-Grant Funding Sources:** ### **Future Plans for Financial Sustainability** _It’s now been 4+ months since your initial application. Have there been any changes to revenue sources and income generation plans? Share your story on how your project plans to achieve long-term financial sustainability and the progress since the previous epoch. You may include updates on any of the following aspects:_ - **Changes to your revenue sources and income generation plans since your initial application:** - **Since our initial application:** - **New or ongoing strategic partnerships or collaborations that support your project:** - **Plans for securing additional funding and ensuring diverse funding sources:** [Funding the Commons on KarmaGap](https://gap.karmahq.xyz/project/funding-the-commons/grants/0x3c9f70cce9120e04e03f8643c7e0c5094f6c5e89f9bf0877b62ebd7b715bb6e0/milestones-and-updates)