[IMPACT]
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Background
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Academic and philosophical activity gains recognition and legitimacy for Cardano in the wider world. For many people an academic or philosophical article is a significant entry point to deeper involvement. For ease of reference and as a useful tool for on-boarding it is important to collate together relevant mentions in the academic and philosophical literature in an accessible, open-source repository. This is also a useful resource for the Catalyst community itself, providing context for discussions and a reference tool for anyone interested in learning more about the thinking behind Cardano.
QA-DAO's [Ekphrasis GitBook](<https://quality-assurance-dao.gitbook.io/ekphrasis/ >) has been providing this useful service since June 2021 and received funding to sustain regular updates in a Fund 7 Ekphrasis Gitbook proposal. We now want to build on this resource to provide a broader range of governance training and research materials to the Cardano community.
Academic or philosophical articles, materials & themes come alive when they are explained, discussed and contested. To this end between December 2021 & February 2022 Stephen Whitenstall (QADAO) researched, prepared, presented and facilitated conversations around the Community Governance Oversight project. These included :
- An Analysis of Antifragile Success criteria - After Town Session, 15th December 2021
- How to nurture a listening culture in Catalyst ? - After Town Hall Presentation & Discussion. 12th January 2022
- Catalyst through the lens of the Cynefin Framework - After Town Hall, 26th January 2022
And as part of the Ekphrasis project :
- Blockchain Governance Principles - After Town Hall, 16th February 2022
These unfunded presentations & discussions proved to be of interest and utility to the Catalyst community. Providing context for governance processes and exposition of academic papers.
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Proposed Solution - An ABC of Governance
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This proposal intends to reach a broader audience by delivering a range of academic & philosophical materials from brief summaries & soundbites to full presentations & workshops. Whilst continuing to maintain the Ekphrasis GitBook reference materials.
In brief our ABC of Governance will cover :
A - Short summaries & soundbites of governance concepts
B - Full presentations & workshops at After Town Halls
C - Continued maintenance of Ekphrasis GitBook & updates to the Catalyst School website
In detail :
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A - Brief summaries & soundbites of governance concepts
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After researching, preparing, presenting and facilitating conversations in Catalyst it became apparent that many specific words and concepts regularly circulate with fuzzy or vague definitions.
Examples include : permissionless, decentralized, distributed, delegated voting, etc .
There are also key terms in academic papers that may remain obscure without further exposition.
Examples include : pseudonymity, coercion-resistant, pareto efficiency, suffrage, etc
To resolve these ambiguities this proposal intends to produce brief summaries & soundbites.
These will be used as :
- Standalone summaries & soundbites posted to social media (Twitter, YouTube)
- Single specific words and concepts presented as the basis for workshops & discussions.
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B - Full presentations & workshops at After Town Halls
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There remains a periodic demand for more extensively researched, prepared, presented and facilitated conversations. Typically these respond to a need for the interpretation or reception of an academic paper (such as Prof Aggelos Kiayias & Philip Lazos 'Blockchain Principles') or the exposition of an important theme (such as Nassim Nicholas Taleb's Antifragile).
To meet this need this proposal intends to extensively research, prepare, present and facilitate at least three in-depth conversations in the period of May 2022 to August 2022. Each conversation will comprise of :
- Research - the specific subject will be researched in-depth.
- Preparation - research materials will be summarized and prepared for presentation.
- Presentation - a presentation will be prepared, scripted, rehearsed & executed.
- Facilitation - a conversation subsequent to the presentation will be facilitated.
- Documentation - the research, presentation, conversation & community feedback will be documented (example : Blockchain Governance Principles)
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C - Continued maintenance of Ekphrasis GitBook & updates to the Catalyst School website
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QA-DAO's Ekphrasis GitBook will be maintained & updated as a continuation of it's Fund 7 Ekphrasis Gitbook proposal. In addition documentation produced from A - brief summaries & soundbites & B - full presentations & workshops will be adapted and migrated to the Catalyst School Website.
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There is no specific challenge that supports governance research, exposition, communication, training & education. Therefore the Miscellaneous Challenge is an appropriate location given that it creates a space for novel ideas and projects. This proposal addresses an existing demand and interest in governance discourse and aims to continue a lively community conversation.
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Risk of lack of engagement from Catalyst members on philosophical themes. This seems fairly unlikely; QA-DAO has had an excellent response to After Town Hall sessions we have run on philosophical themes, such as this one on Prof Aggelos Kiayias & Philip Lazo’s recent paper “SoK: Blockchain Governance” <https://quality-assurance-dao.gitbook.io/ekphrasis/february-2022/blockchain-governance-principles,> and anecdotally we have encountered many Catalyst members who have expressed interest in more philosophical discussion within Catalyst.
[FEASIBILITY]
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NB : See also Proposed Solution above for a detailed plan
<u>Timeline</u>
Prior to funding :
Ekphrasis Gitbook began in June 2021 and has been maintained since.
Fund 7 support - (Febuary - May 2022)
Over the course of its funded period, Ekphrasis Gitbook has
- Collated academic and philosophical material about Cardano
- Communicated its content via social media, to reach a wider audience
- Developed discussion and engagement on philosophy within Catalyst by using After Town Hall breakout rooms
- Raised awareness within the Catalyst community of philosophical and academic content about Cardano.
If voted in Fund 8 :
May 2022
- Ekphrasis Updates
- Production of Governance Training Materials
June 2022
- A - 1 X Short summaries & soundbites of governance concepts
- B - First presentation or workshop at After Town Hall
- C - Continued maintenance of Ekphrasis GitBook & updates to the Catalyst School website
July 2022
- A - 1 X Short summaries & soundbites of governance concepts
- B - Second presentation or workshop at After Town Hall
- C - Continued maintenance of Ekphrasis GitBook & updates to the Catalyst School website
August 2022
- A - 1 X Short summaries & soundbites of governance concepts
- B - Third presentation or workshop at After Town Hall
- C - Continued maintenance of Ekphrasis GitBook & updates to the Catalyst School website
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Ekphrasis GitBook Maintenance
- Regular updates over 3 months (21 hours/month) to add academic & philosophical content from the Cardano community.
- $55/hour for 63 hours (21 x 3)
Sub Total : $ 3,465
Social Media Engagement
- Promotion, engagement and communication on social media: Twitter, Telegram, Youtube, Discord, Reddit, JISCmail (academic mailing list network in the UK with several philosophy lists)
- 2 hours/week for 3 months = 24 hours = $55/hour for 24 hours
Sub Total: $ 1,320
Town Hall breakout rooms
Each Town Hall breakout room (presentations & workshops) :
- Preparation & research = 24 hours = $55/hour for 24 hours = $ 1,320
- Presentation, hosting, facilitation & recording = 4 hours at $55 per hour = $ 220. 3 X Town Hall breakout rooms during the course of the project = $ 660
Sub Total: $ 1,980
Production of Training Materials
Conversion & editing of Town Hall breakout room presentations, workshops & slides
Each Town Hall breakout room :
- Conversion & editing = 8 hours at $55 per hour = $ 440. 3 X Town Hall breakout rooms during the course of the project = $ 1,320
Sub Total: $ 1,320
Production of short summaries & soundbites of governance concepts
Preparation of short summary or soundbite, documentation and presentation= 8 hours at $55 per hour = $ 440
4 summaries or soundbites = $ 440 X 4 = 1,720
Sub Total: $ 1,720
Transfer & Migration of Training Materials to Catalyst School
Adaptation & migration of training materials
Each Town Hall breakout room :
- Adaptation & migration = 2 hours at $55 per hour = $ 110. 3 X Town Hall breakout rooms during the course of the project = $ 330
Sub Total: $ 330
Total: $ 10,135
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Stephen Whitenstall has 30 years' experience in organizing academic, community and business projects. Relevant experience for this proposal includes Program Test Management (IBM) and Quality Assurance Management (BNP-Paribas). He is the co-founder of QADAO (https://quality-assurance-dao.github.io/) which aims to provide Quality Assurance services to Cardano.
He currently develops, maintains documentation and provides technical project management support for Catalyst Swarm, Catalyst School, Catalyst Circle, Community Governance Oversight, Audit Circle & Eastern Town Hall.
Catalyst School - Catalyst School is a place to leverage the impact of Catalyst as a whole by introducing and improving the contribution of all its different players and roles. For more details check out the Catalyst School Website : <https://beta.thecatalyst.school>
[AUDITABILITY]
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QADAO will continue to measure the progress and development of this project in a similar manner to the preceding Fund 7 : Ekphrasis GitBook proposal. An overview is available here.
In brief this document will provide an overview with a project timeline, budget expenditure details & a copy of the monthly report to IOG.
Progress will be measured and tracked against the success criteria given below.
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Success criteria
Success criteria will include evidence of the following deliverables :
Quantitative
- Ekphrasis GitBook Maintenance - Regular updates over 3 months.
- Social Media Engagement - Promotion, engagement and communication on social media: Twitter, Telegram, Youtube, Discord, Reddit, JISCmail (academic mailing list network in the UK with several philosophy lists).
- Town Hall breakout rooms - 3 X Town Hall breakout rooms during the course of the project.
- Production of Training Materials - Conversion & editing of 3 X Town Hall breakout room presentations, workshops & slides
- Production of short summaries & soundbites of governance concepts - X 4
- Transfer & Migration of Training Materials to Catalyst School - Adaptation & migration of training materials from 3 X Town Hall breakout rooms during the course of the project.
Qualitative
- Increased engagement in academic & philosophical issues.
- Increased engagement in governance changes in Catalyst.
- Regular community discussions and initiatives on academic & philosophical subjects.
- Regular community discussions and initiatives on governance changes in Catalyst.
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This project continues and expands upon the F7 Ekphrasis Gitbook proposal - <https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/382334>. See timeline above for details of past progression.
