Please describe your proposed solution

The main problem is the fragmentation within the Cardano ecosystem, especially on the social layer. Projects lack visibility into each other's efforts, resulting in limited collaboration and engagement. Education initiatives often operate in silos, reducing the overall effectiveness of the community and stifling shared progress. This disjointed environment limits the potential of decentralized governance and innovation.

I am approaching the issue by developing workshops and learning templates that focus on fostering collaboration, cooperation, and knowledge-sharing among various stakeholders in the Cardano ecosystem. By directly engaging the community through these interactive platforms, we provide a structured space where participants can learn, share, and build solutions together, bridging the gaps between projects and fostering more cohesive governance.

The project will engage a wide range of stakeholders within the Cardano ecosystem, but also other Web3 ecosystems to raise awereness, including:

• Developers: Encouraging them to collaborate on projects that impact the social layer.
• Educators: Providing them with tools to enhance cooperative learning and decentralized governance understanding.
• Community Leaders: Helping them foster greater engagement and alignment within the Cardano community.
• General Users: Offering them a better understanding of how various projects interact and how they can contribute.

The combination of interactive workshops and learning templates (built on slfdrvn.io) focused specifically on the social layer of Cardano is unique because it directly addresses the challenge of fragmented community engagement. By emphasizing governance and collaboration, we create a foundation for stronger, more connected decentralized efforts. This is crucial for Cardano’s future because it strengthens the community’s ability to govern and innovate collaboratively, which aligns with the platform’s decentralized ethos. Improved cooperation and governance understanding can lead to a more resilient and sustainable ecosystem.

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

Our project will positively impact the wider Cardano community by fostering collaboration, reducing fragmentation, and improving governance participation. Through workshops and learning templates, we will empower community members with knowledge about Cardano’s social layer, encouraging cross-project cooperation and decentralized governance. These workshops are offered at various conferences - within the Cardano community, but also at broader conferences and events that address Web3 topics in general. This promotes awareness of the work of Cardano projects across multiple contexts.

To measure the impact we use various quantitative and qualitative methods such as:

• Participation Metrics: Tracking the number of attendees in workshops and the usage/download rate of learning templates. These will be measured via event registration, workshop attendance, and template download statistics.

• Engagement Metrics: Monitoring the number of new collaborations, partnerships, and community initiatives that emerge from the workshops. This will include tracking follow-up communications, project proposals, and contributions to Cardano’s governance.

• Participant Feedback: We will gather insights through surveys and feedback forms post-workshop, asking participants about the usefulness of the materials, what they learned, and how they plan to apply it.

We will share our outputs with the Cardano community through Open-Source Platforms: All learning templates and workshop materials will be made available on open-source platforms like GitHub for free access and contribution.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

I bring over 15 years of experience as a sociologist and educator in digital and blockchain education, with a strong focus on the intersection of governance and decentralized ecosystems. My deep expertise is further demonstrated by my role as a conference speaker and lecturer on topics related to the "Social Layer in Web3." This background equips me to develop high-quality, tailored learning content that resonates with diverse audiences within the Cardano community and beyond. Furthermore, I am supported by Selfdriven.foundation, a platform known for project-based learning innovation, which will host the learning templates.

The foundation has an established infrastructure for educational projects, ensuring the technical feasibility and scalability of our approach. My experience and these capabilities form a strong foundation for successful project delivery. A special interest group (SIG) focused on expertise in decentralized communities can bring immense value to a workshop on the "Social Layer of Cardano." By pooling together specialized knowledge, such a group can offer deep insights into critical areas such as decentralized governance, community management, and social technology. This ensures that the workshop is not only informative but also grounded in real-world applications that address the specific needs and challenges of the Cardano ecosystem.

The expertise sharing from a SIG allows participants to access focused knowledge on issues like community alignment, engagement, and incentive mechanisms, which are essential to fostering a strong, collaborative social layer in Cardano. The group's input can also help clarify complex governance models, such as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), which are integral to decentralized decision-making processes. In addition to theoretical knowledge, the SIG can introduce real-world case studies of successful community-building and governance from other decentralized projects. These examples offer practical takeaways that can be directly applied to Cardano’s ecosystem, helping participants identify solutions to the platform’s fragmentation issues and low cooperation among projects.

Moreover, the SIG encourages innovative problem-solving, facilitating group discussions and brainstorming that lead to creative approaches for improving collaboration within the Cardano community. Finally, by participating in the workshop, the SIG also acts as a networking platform, connecting individuals passionate about the social layer, fostering post-workshop collaboration, and promoting continued learning. The SIG provides both expert-driven insights and practical guidance, making it a critical component for addressing the social and governance challenges in Cardano and helping participants develop solutions that strengthen decentralized collaboration.

What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Milestone 1: Research & Content Development (Month 1-2)

• Objective: Conduct in-depth research on the current challenges of fragmentation within the Cardano ecosystem’s social layer. Develop educational content and learning templates focused on governance, collaboration, and decentralized community engagement.
• Deliverables: Research report, detailed workshop agenda, and drafts of learning templates.

Milestone 2: Platform Integration & Template Creation (Month 3-4)

• Objective: Integrate the developed learning templates into the Selfdriven.foundation project-based learning platform. Finalize interactive materials for workshops, ensuring they align with the goals of fostering cooperation within the Cardano community.
• Deliverables: Fully integrated learning templates, interactive tools, and platform testing results.

Milestone 3: Marketing & Community Engagement (Month 5)

• Objective: Launch a marketing campaign to raise awareness of the workshops and templates. Engage developers, educators, community leaders, and general users from both Cardano and broader Web3 ecosystems to participate in the upcoming workshops.
• Deliverables: Marketing materials, community outreach reports, sign-up data, and promotional content.

Milestone 4: Workshop Delivery (Month 6-8)

• Objective: Host the series of interactive workshops, bringing together diverse stakeholders to explore the social layer, enhance governance understanding, and foster cross-project collaboration within Cardano.
• Deliverables: Completed workshops, participant feedback, workshop recordings, and engagement metrics.

conf3rence.com

web3summit.com

Community-led events at summit.cardano.org

Final Milestone: Post-Workshop Analysis & Documentation (Month 7-8)

• Objective: Analyze the outcomes of the workshops, including participant engagement, collaboration initiatives, and knowledge sharing. Publish documentation and case studies highlighting key learnings and best practices for improving the social layer in the Cardano ecosystem.
• Deliverables: Post-workshop impact report, case studies, and shared resources on public platforms like GitHub and Cardano community forums.

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

• Benjamin Heurich (Educational Research, Framework Design)

Over 15 years of experience as a researcher and lecturer in the departments of sociology and educational sciences with a focus on digital education, educational equity and internationalisation. Several years of experience in digital branding and international marketing consulting.

• Mark Byers (Tech Lead)

Co-founder of entityOS.cloud, an internet cloud services platform founded in 2000.

Co-founder of slfdrvn.io (this project)

30+ years experience in information technology.

Mechanical Engineer

• Damian Noonan (Tech Design)

Damian has over 20 years experience delivering technology projects as part of strategic transformation initiatives, with expertise particularly Salesforce, MuleSoft and its emerging technologies. As co-founder of recently acquired Tquila ANZ, Damian has experience in building teams and delivering enterprise solutions.

• Bence Lukacs (Design)

Many years of experience in e-Learning Instructional Design and Media Didactics. Driven by a passion for science (particularly Open Science and Decentralized Science), human learning, and digital worlds he's researching, conceptualizing and building decentralized education projects.

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Milestone 1: Research & Content Development – 20,000 ADA

Milestone 2: Platform Integration & Template Creation – 25,000 ADA

Milestone 3: Marketing & Community Engagement – 10,000 ADA

Milestone 4: Workshop Deliveries – 20,000 ADA

Milestone 5: Post-Workshop Analysis & Documentation – 10,000 ADA

No dependencies

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

The cost of this project represents strong value for money for the Cardano ecosystem due to its long-term benefits in addressing the fundamental issue of fragmentation within the social layer of Cardano. The project aims to create sustainable collaboration mechanisms through education, which enhances the ability of Cardano's decentralized governance to function effectively. This has lasting effects beyond the duration of the project, ultimately benefiting developers, community leaders, and general users by creating a more cohesive ecosystem. By creating learning templates that can be reused and repurposed, the project delivers more than a one-time solution. These templates will have a lasting impact, providing future value for educators, developers, and governance leaders who want to foster ongoing collaboration and learning.

The project’s outputs (e.g., workshops, templates, reports) will be shared openly on Cardano forums and platforms like GitHub and the INTERSECT MBO Decentralized Education SIG, ensuring that knowledge is accessible and can be used by the broader community to build future initiatives.