Please describe your proposed solution.

Problem Perception and Solution Approach

We recognize that currently, quantifying and comparing the sustainable impact generated by initiatives on Cardano is challenging. Our solution seeks to address this need for a quantifiable measurement of sustainable impact on the Cardano platform.

The proposed solution is an Impact Dashboard that leans on the framework provided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). GRI provides global best practices for sustainability reporting and has developed a suite of standards for a wide range of topics GRI's established framework will offer a robust foundation to measure and report on the Cardano community's impacts on the environment, economy, and people in a consistent and credible way.

Project Engagement and Demonstrating Impact

The impact dashboard will engage with all stakeholders within the Cardano community, from individual users to corporate partners and policy makers. It will serve as a central platform where all parties can understand the sustainable impact of their initiatives, fostering accountability and transparency. The success of our impact dashboard will be gauged by its use within the Cardano community and the increase in sustainable initiatives as a result.

Uniqueness of the Solution and Beneficiaries

The proposed solution is unique because it combines the principles of sustainability reporting as outlined by GRI with the inherent decentralization and democratization of the Cardano platform. While GRI has numerous corporate and government partnerships, this may be the first time its principles are applied to a decentralized blockchain ecosystem, marking a significant step towards sustainable blockchain technology.

The beneficiaries of this dashboard will be the entire Cardano community. Not only will this allow the measurement of impact of Cardano initiatives, but it will also encourage more sustainable practices within the ecosystem, benefiting all who participate in or interact with the Cardano network.

Significance to Cardano

The impact dashboard aligns with Cardano sustainability commitment. It empowers the community to make informed decisions based on measurable impacts, facilitating the creation of more sustainable and impactful initiatives. This, in turn, enhances Cardano's credibility and appeal to both current and potential stakeholders looking for a blockchain platform that aligns with their sustainability goals.

Moreover, this project will also increase the transparency and accountability of Cardano's sustainability practices, bridging the gap between blockchain technology and sustainable development, which is essential for the long-term success and growth of the ecosystem.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Our proposed impact dashboard is designed to directly address the challenge of quantifying and comparing the sustainable impact generated by initiatives within the Cardano community. By relying on the framework provided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the leading body for impact reporting, we aim to introduce a standardized, transparent, and widely-accepted method of measuring the impact of sustainability initiatives on the Cardano blockchain.

The adoption of this dashboard will provide several key benefits to the Cardano ecosystem:

1. Transparency & Accountability: By providing a clear view of the impact generated by different sustainability initiatives, the dashboard will enhance transparency, making it easier for community members and investors to understand the real impact of these projects. This in turn can foster greater trust and accountability in the Cardano ecosystem.

2. Impact-Driven Decision Making: The availability of quantified, comparative data on sustainability initiatives will enable the Cardano community to make more informed, impact-driven decisions. This could include determining which initiatives to support, or identifying best practices that can be replicated in other initiatives.

3. Creating the foundations for Sustainability Reporting. The dashboard will help align the reporting of sustainability initiatives on the Cardano blockchain with global best practices. This will enhance the credibility and comparability of these reports, addressing some of the issues raised in recent critiques of sustainability reporting.

4. Attracting Stakeholders: Having a clear and transparent impact reporting mechanism will not only attract more sustainability-oriented initiatives to the Cardano blockchain but will also attract investors and users who value transparency and sustainability in their investments.

As for the impact and value, this project will bring to the Cardano ecosystem, we anticipate the following:

1. User Acquisition: We conservatively estimate that the dashboard will attract at least 20 initiatives within the first six months of its launch. This includes project teams looking to measure their impact, investors seeking sustainable initiatives, and general users interested in understanding the sustainability landscape within Cardano.

2. Increased Transactions: With the adoption of this dashboard, we expect an increase in Cardano transactions related to sustainable initiatives, as the clear and transparent impact reporting will likely spur more investment and participation in these initiatives.

3. Community Building: By creating a space where the community can engage with sustainability initiatives in a more informed and impactful way, we believe the dashboard will contribute significantly to strengthening the Cardano ecosystem.

In conclusion, the proposed impact dashboard is more than just a tool; it's a pathway to a more sustainable and accountable Cardano ecosystem, attracting more users, fostering community growth, and solving a key challenge in the current blockchain space.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The success of the proposed Impact Dashboard for sustainability initiatives on Cardano can be measured using both quantitative and qualitative metrics.

Our evaluation criteria are aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and cover three key areas: environmental, social, and economic impacts.

1.Quantitative Measurements – the main success of the project is based precisely on what the platform was created for: the quantity of impact reported on the platform, as along the different measures provided by the framework.

Objective: engage with 30 companies around the Impact Dashboard and onboard 20 of them within 6 months from the launch of the platform, ideally different types of stakeholders (e.g. SPOs, education, DeFi applications)

2. Qualitative Measurements - In addition to the above quantitative data, we will also be measuring qualitative aspects such as stakeholder feedback, user testimonials, and case studies. We plan to survey the opinions of users, developers, and other stakeholders within the Cardano ecosystem to measure the perceived utility and effectiveness of our dashboard. These insights will provide a more holistic understanding of our dashboard's impacts and help us continuously improve the dashboard to better serve the Cardano community.

Objective: obtaining a Net Promoter Score of at least 4.5 out of 5 among the users of the platform

The project's benefits for the Cardano ecosystem can be summarized as follows:

1. Transparency and Accountability - By providing a standardized and easily-accessible means of reporting and evaluating the impact of sustainability initiatives, our dashboard will greatly enhance the transparency and accountability within the Cardano ecosystem

2. Data-Driven Decision Making - The data collected and presented by the dashboard will enable developers, investors, and stakeholders to make more informed decisions. This, in turn, is likely to stimulate the growth of more sustainable and impactful projects within the ecosystem.

3. Enhanced Reputation and Trust - The use of globally accepted standards like the GRI will bolster the credibility of sustainability initiatives on Cardano. This can enhance the reputation of Cardano as a sustainable blockchain platform, thereby attracting more developers and investors.

The innovative Impact Dashboard is likely to affect Cardano’s productivity and growth positively. In the short term, the dashboard will provide immediate visibility into the impact of various sustainability initiatives, thus encouraging accountability and promoting best practices. In the long term, as sustainability becomes an increasingly important factor for investors and users, the dashboard will likely drive growth by attracting more sustainable projects and investments to the Cardano platform.

Therefore, the combination of these measures, qualitative and quantitative, will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the success of the Impact Dashboard, ensuring it serves as a beneficial tool for promoting sustainable development in the Cardano ecosystem.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Our plans to share the outputs and results of the project can be segmented into three main categories: dissemination, collaboration, and future research and development.

Dissemination of Outputs and Results

We intend to make the Impact Dashboard available to the entire Cardano community. We will distribute our outputs and results through various online platforms, including the Cardano forums (e.g. Cardano 4 Climate, Sustainable ADA), social media channels. This will ensure that the maximum number of community members will have access to our findings and can utilize them to evaluate the sustainability impact of their initiatives. The dashboard itself will be continuously updated to reflect the latest data, thus providing real-time, accurate, and transparent information.

Collaboration with Relevant Stakeholders

Our intention is to collaborate with key stakeholders who can use our findings to further enhance the sustainability of the Cardano ecosystem. This will include developers, investment fund managers, researchers, policy-makers, and any organization or individual operating within the Cardano space. By sharing the Impact Dashboard with these stakeholders, we hope to stimulate dialogue, foster collaboration, and promote action towards sustainable development.

Future Research and Development

Our goal is for the Impact Dashboard to become a vital tool for assessing and enhancing sustainability within the Cardano community. We hope that the results generated from our project will prompt further research and development activities. This could include in-depth studies of specific sustainability initiatives, the development of new sustainability technologies, or even the establishment of sustainability-focused policies and regulations.

The Impact Dashboard will also provide a solid basis for benchmarking and improving sustainability performance. It will allow companies to understand their impacts on the environment, economy, and society more efficiently. This will lead to more informed decisions and better sustainability outcomes.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Our capabilities to deliver this project with high levels of trust and accountability are founded on a mix of track record, team empowerment, clarity of goals and expectations, and stringent project management practices. In the last year ImpactScope has designed and built complex impact metric reporting dashboards for Siemens, the World Bank, and plastic recycling social enterprises.

Along with Sustainable ADA deep knowledge of the Cardano impact ecosystem and network (which recently produced the Cardano Impact Report), ability to collaborate with others to receive guidance, access to tools, and community support while integrating solutions to challenges faced by the Cardano community.

• Cardano knowledge: Both ImpactScope and Sustainable ADA have long term knowledge and integration with the Cardano Ecosystem.

• Clear Expectations and Goals: For this project, we set clear goals as mentioned in the impact section.

• Robust Project Management Practices: We employ comprehensive project management techniques to ensure the seamless progress and completion of our projects.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goals for the ImpactScope dashboard project are as follows:

Quantifying Impact: Develop a method for quantifying the sustainable impact of various initiatives within the Cardano community. The aim is to give a numerical value to sustainability efforts, thus enabling a direct comparison and a more objective assessment of their effectiveness. Over the long term the vision of the project is that being included in the Impact Dashboard will be perceived positively by the Cardano community.

Promoting Transparency: The ImpactScope dashboard will promote transparency and accountability within the Cardano community. By presenting data on sustainability initiatives in a clear and accessible manner, community members can hold each other accountable for their sustainability commitments and actions.

Increasing Awareness and Encouraging Action: A key objective of the dashboard is to increase awareness around sustainability within the Cardano community and beyond, and to inspire further action towards achieving sustainability goals.

To validate the feasibility of our approach, we will adopt a three-phase process:

Concept Validation: We will first test the concept with a group of stakeholders from the Cardano community, including developers, project leads, and sustainability professionals. Feedback will be collected and used to refine the concept and address any potential challenges.

Technical Feasibility Testing: Once the concept is validated, we will develop a prototype of the dashboard and conduct technical feasibility testing. This will ensure that the dashboard can effectively collect, process, and present sustainability data as envisioned.

Pilot Implementation: Finally, the dashboard will be implemented on a pilot basis with a small number of initiatives. This will allow us to gather real-world data, test the dashboard in a live setting, and make any necessary adjustments before a full rollout.

Given the importance of data accuracy and reliability, a combination of automated data feeds and manual data inputs will be used to collect sustainability data.

The experience of ImpactScope at the intersection of blockchain and sustainability, coupled with the wide acceptance of the GRI framework, gives us confidence that this project will contribute positively to the sustainability objectives of the Cardano community

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

The project will be implemented following a structured approach to ensure all necessary milestones are met. Here is a breakdown of the project implementation:

Engagement with Stakeholders and Gathering of Requirements

Milestone: Finalize Stakeholder Input & Requirements

Key Activities:

• Identification and engagement of relevant stakeholders, these might include community members, Cardano Foundation representatives, and other sustainability initiatives on the Cardano network. Identification of relevant GRI standards
• Conduct surveys, interviews, and meetings to gather requirements for the Impact Dashboard.
• Analysis and documentation of gathered requirements.
• Timeline: 1 month
• Acceptance Criteria: Approved list of requirements and functionalities for the Impact Dashboard.
• Budget: 80 hours (4,160 USD, approx 12,200 ADA)

Platform Implementation

Milestone: Deploy and Test Impact Dashboard

Key Activities:

• Developing a roadmap based on the requirements gathered.
• Selection of suitable tools, technologies.
• Development of the Impact Dashboard according to the roadmap.
• Conducting alpha and beta testing to ensure the platform's functionality and reliability.
• Timeline: 3 months
• Acceptance Criteria: Fully functional and tested Impact Dashboard as per the defined requirements.
• Budget: 182 hours (9,464 USD, approx 28,400 ADA)

Lessons Learned and Dissemination

Milestone: Public Launch & Documentation of Lessons Learned

Key Activities:

• Documentation of lessons learned during the project implementation for future improvements.
• Finalizing the project report and making recommendations for future sustainability initiatives.
• Conducting a public launch event to introduce the platform to the Cardano community and get their feedback.
• Timeline: 1 month
• Acceptance Criteria: Well-documented project report, successful public launch, and acceptance by the Cardano community.
• Budget: 65 hours (3,380 USD, approx 10,400 ADA)

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Engagement with stakeholders to check feasibility and gather requirements

Deliverables: Leveraging the knowledge and network of sustainable ADA, we will hold interviews with key stakeholders, including SPO, relevant Cardano community members, and potential users of the dashboard. The output of this will be a detailed project report that outlines the findings and feasibility of the project.

Intended Outcomes: These sessions will help in understanding the specific needs and concerns of our stakeholders. It will also help confirm the viability of the dashboard and provide insights into what features and functions are required.

Measures of Progress: Progress will be measured based on the number of stakeholder consultations held, quantity of stakeholders onboarded and the generation of the project feasibility report. The quality of the information obtained and the level of stakeholder engagement will also serve as key indicators.

Objective: 40 stakeholders consultations

Platform Implementation

Deliverables: This stage involves the creation of the Impact Dashboard itself. The final product will be a fully functional dashboard that displays the sustainable impact of various initiatives in Cardano, following the framework provided by the Global Reporting Initiative.

Intended Outcomes: The dashboard will provide quantitative comparisons of the sustainable impact created by initiatives within the Cardano community. This will make it easier for stakeholders to understand and assess the performance of different projects.

Measures of Progress: We will measure progress through the successful completion of each development stage, functional tests, and user acceptance tests. The successful launch of the dashboard will be the final indicator of progress in this stage.

Objective: 10 stakeholders onboarded within 6 months from implementation

Lessons Learned and Dissemination

Deliverables: This phase will involve the creation and dissemination of a comprehensive report detailing the project's outcomes, the lessons learned, and the impact it has made on sustainability initiatives within the Cardano community. We will come up with a set of recommendations concerning the future development of the Impact Dashboard. We will also host a webinar to educate the community about the use of the dashboard.

Intended Outcomes: This will ensure that the key learnings from the project are shared widely, leading to better-informed decisions in future sustainability projects. The use of the Impact Dashboard will continue and become more widespread within the Cardano community.

Measures of Progress: The production and distribution of the final report, the number of outreach webinar conducted, and the level of engagement and feedback from the community will serve as measures of progress for this stage.

Objective: having at least 50 attendants to our webinar

Getting other 10 stakeholders willing to be onboarded and 20 willing to stay informed on the project

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Engagement with Stakeholders for Feasibility and Requirements Gathering

This process will involve consultation meetings with different stakeholders, preparing surveys and questionnaires, data analysis, and collating the gathered requirements.

• Preparation for meetings: 20 hours
• Stakeholder meetings: 30 hours
• Data analysis and requirements documentation: 30 hours

Platform Implementation

Platform implementation will involve activities such as system design, coding, testing, bug fixing, deployment, and documentation.

The platform implementation phase will require approximately 175 hours split with the following details

• System Design: 40 hours
• Coding: 72 hours
• Testing and bug fixing: 40 hours
• Deployment: 15 hours
• Documentation: 10 hours

Lessons Learned and Dissemination

This will involve collating lessons learned, preparing final reports, conducting workshops, and other dissemination activities.

• Collating lessons learned: 15 hours
• Preparing final reports: 20 hours
• Conducting webinar and other dissemination activities: 30 hours

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

The project would be mainly managed by various team member of ImpactScope.

The project manager would be Michele Soavi CSO of ImpactScope (15 years of international experience at the intersection of sustainability and financial reporting. Former PwC and EY. PhD in legal tech/smart contracts. MBA in Sustainable Business)

Quentin Botha (Token Economics Researcher Published researcher on blockchain and token economics. Junior researcher at the Cryptoeconomics Research Institute in Vienna) would be in charge of research and mapping blockchain metrics with GRI sustainability reporting framework.

Susana González (Head of Latam partnerships - Senior Coordinator at the United Nations University. Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative fellow. Innovation Director focusing on humanitarian work and sustainability) would be in charge of the marketing side of the project, to ensure quality of content provided and reach out with the different stakeholders involved in the project.

The role of Sustainable ADA would be central in making sure that the projects gets the internal buy-in within the Cardano community, reaches out to the most relevant companies and door-openers for onboarding on the platform. Sustainable ADA would collate the lessons learned and producing the final project report by leveraging its knowledge and network.

Cole Bartlett Co-Author of Recalibrating Value, Identity & Impact Through the Blockchain Cardano Impact Report 2023 | Founder | Blockchain & Sustainability | Social Entrepreneur | Positive Blockchain Contributor | Impact Measurement

Razali Samsudin Co-Author of Recalibrating Value, Identity and Impact Through the Blockchain Cardano Impact Report 2023 | Founder | Educator | Editor | Digital Economy, Blockchain and Sustainability Researcher | Social Entrepreneur |

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The proposed Impact Dashboard project, spearheaded by ImpactScope, aims to bring significant value to the Cardano ecosystem.

The goal is to create a centralized system for tracking and quantifying the sustainable impact generated by initiatives within the Cardano community, relying on the framework provided by the Global Reporting Initiative. By creating a standardized, transparent method for understanding the real-world benefits of these initiatives, the Impact Dashboard will significantly enhance Cardano's reputation as a sustainability-focused blockchain platform, thus attracting more investors, developers, and users who prioritize sustainability in their activities.

The decentralized, user-driven nature of Cardano’s Project Catalyst aligns with this budget allocation, as these funds are directed towards maximizing community engagement and impact. Moreover, in contrast to other projects, our request is modest. The potential for high ROI from improved sustainability reporting and attracting more sustainability-focused investors and initiatives provides solid value-for-money justification.

It’s also worth noting that our budget reflects an investment in the long-term growth and reputation of Cardano and its ability to understand and monitor the quantity of positive impact created in the community. The proposed Impact Dashboard, thus, is a forward-thinking initiative that addresses an impending need in the ecosystem.

In conclusion, this project and its associated costs represent significant value for money for the Cardano ecosystem by improving its sustainability transparency, attracting more sustainability-focused participants, and enhancing its reputation as a leading blockchain platform for sustainable initiatives.