FtC x EC Hackathon | Workshop: Multidimesional impact dashboard with Decoland (Oct 2024)

hello everyone and welcome this is K and Jordan from deand and today we are here to present you the multi-dimensional impact measurement framework uh we are part of the funding the commons and Earth Commons hackathon and we are sponsoring the track there on impact evaluation and um building for the digital public goods infrastructure so check it out we workshop on a multi-dimensional impact measurement framework before and so we are recording this presentation just to give you a better overview of what it is also we had some connectivity issues so we think it's uh just going to give you a better idea of what it is that we are building why what is the need for the ecosystem and also how can you participate in the hackathon and contribute to building this tool um so before I start um with the overview I just want to give a couple of words about ourselves who we are um so we are co-founders of deand and deand works to democratize funding for social impact we really believe that technology can be the driving force to advance social justice equity and inclusion but we also believe that the principles of social justice equity and inclusion should be embedded in how we approach development of digital public goods and therefore we support um this the gap between social actors and U the technical community and with the principles on building uh the ecosystem and The Innovation the solutions that are focused around Community needs so Community focused impacts and sustainability metrics is at the core of what we do especially as it relates to funding for social impact and therefore everything that we be talking about today about the impact measurement tools really is an enabling infrastructure for impact Investments that are centered around Community needs um so the four areas of Works um that we do are centered around education uh centered around um building the research and evidence and insights that informs development of solutions but also supporting actually The Innovation itself therefore we are participating in this hackathon today um and also conven in the different stakeholders together for collaboration and impact so if you are interested in being part of this please reach out to us and so now let's talk about why are we actually developing this tool and what is it going to address so largely and this is a very quick overview we Face problems in funding for climate biodiversity and development we don't have enough money to achieve impact the money that we have does not go to the people who need it the most be it indigenous and local communities or most affected populations uh so funding allocation is very inequitable but also we have a lot of negative impact of development where uh development is leaving communities worse off and creates negative consequences so with that in mind we also need to understand that impact measurement should be at the core of driving the funding it should be at the core of identifying the initial needs where the community needs the funding the most but also to create some accountability measures as to why do we have this negative consequences why the funding does not reach uh the communities it needs to reach and how do we need to realign all the incentives with the community needs so impact measurements um Frameworks and the tool that we'll be presenting today is really like a GPS that is guiding decisions into financing so what are some of the problems that we look to address one is the question of who defines impact we talk about impact a lot it almost becomes like a buzzword right but um who defines impact is incredibly crucial and how we Define it and what do we measure as we talk about about impact so we need to shift away from um approaches that are focused on external priorities or project defined metrics driven by donors or by governments or some interested parties who are developing products or Solutions right they're specifically focused only on the outcomes that relate to this project like number of houses buil how many trees we have planted and really miss the complexity of the environments in which people leave and it should move more towards the community defined metrix where the focus on the outcome is as it is defined by local communities that advances the long-term sustainability which also means social cohesion and ecosystem health and which um reflect the real true needs and values of people so the second problem that we're also trying to um address in this is how do we think about incen and move away from the incentives that are purely attached to financial capital or what value sort of monetary value can we get um through financing a certain initiative to how do we put Community wealth as actually the incentives to funding so how do we go beyond Financial returns and how do we also understand that by investing into Community well-being we also set all other metrics better off um and how do we create an ecosystem that also respects the community the different forms of assets that Community holds and puts Community well-being um and kind of the concept of uh Community well-being at the core of Investments that's the second problem and the third one uh big problem is also how do we link all of that into the actual back investment models and Innovative financing models so how do we do this kind of multi Capital accounting and understands that communities have um different forms of assets that they hold so how do we recognize them in the impact Frameworks how do we also think about um the cost saved uh when we invest in certain forms like the social capital the cultural capital environmental Capital we also actually save the costs like reduce uh strains on the health systems for example um and build new ecosystem assets so how do we take this concept of um investing into the well-being and multi multi Capital asset also as a form of uh impact investment that focuses on well-being um so this kind of three big guiding principles latters also to explore okay how do we actually leverage what we have in the ecosystem today already and all the invest impact investment approaches but also approaches to uh how we think about ecological assets Forest conservation assets local economies and how do we build this sort of foundation and the framework that allows us to bridge the work of what is already happening today the data that we have today um with kind of the broader perspective of of connecting this to the uh Community well-being um so there are a lot of projects already happening what gains what gaps we think remain that um we think that multi-dimensional approach to uh impact assessments could address one is understanding the complexity of the ecosystem um for informed decision making um and moving out of the kind of onel approach more into the understanding of the uh community's well-being as the center of it and everything else that uh might affect it so also with that it also comes the question of uh how do we quantify non-financial forms of capital that are currently very difficult to represent uh from having discussed this with multiple partners in the ecosystem it becomes very very difficult to measure um social um and economic impact it's a long-term impact but given that we don't really have appropriate tools or Frameworks to measure it together with uh the impact like ecological impact um so we are also looking to find ways that would allow us to quantify those different forms of capital and Link them all together um and the last uh Gap that's we also think the multi-dimensional approach could help us address is address the continuity of Investments continuity of initiatives and scalability um through actually resource sharing collaboration and identifying areas um where certain uh cost savings can be achieved redirecting the funding as needed um but also contributing the funding of certain projects as needed so it's um basically an approach that we also um hope can give us a different framework to inform our decision making so to give you a little bit more um an idea of how that multi-dimensional data framework can account for non-financial Capital that's I spoke a little bit about uh like for example social or cultural that is incredibly important when we talk about the uh especially the local context right so first we need a very holistic data collection um we need to collect data on different forms of capital communities have we have a lot of already efforts that are going into understanding the environmental Capital together with that we need to build the understanding of the social capital and the cultural capital and bring them all together into a more comprehensive understanding of communities we also need to keep in mind that these are coming from very different data sources onchain and offchain uh collected by communities nonprofits governments that all need to be put together to understand that kind of big picture that Define community well-being and success the second one is find ways really for multi Capital accounting and how do we actually assigned value to that non-financial Capital um I already gave some examples uh that they can be manifested this Capital like investment in let's say social capital or human capital uh like health and education can result in cost savings um and that would provide datadriven insights that also can help stakeholders integrate these capitals into investment decisions for more comprehensive understanding of how to invest in um Community well-being the third one uh is developing custom impact metrics so by custom impact metrics I meet Community lead metrics so those that are relevant for those specific context so once we also have the difference data um accounted for so how do we measure um Health outcomes cultural preservation let's say or environmental sustainability uh from the perspective of communities so uh how can communities set metrics based on their priorities based on their values and vision of success uh beyond the financial metrics of what it is that matters to them and that can be different in obviously all different contexts and the fourth one is how do we continue um to collect this data and engage communities and encourage uh different stakeholders to contribute towards this data collection because we realize that we need to build the Baseline against which in this multidimensional data framework will be assessing program and making decisions but the value of this approach will be relevance will be only more relevant with the time because we're talking about long-term uh sustainability here and so therefore we need to think about reward mechanisms um for communities to continue to contribute uh to data collection efforts and um uh efforts to capture basically the different forms of capital um so this is kind of the overarching approach that needs to start on data collection on understanding how do we uh account for different forms of capital communities have and the impact that kind of the interaction that they have with each other and what it means for financing how do we integrate the community Le impact metrics into those decisions and how we build the reward mechanisms um so how could this unlock um funding um I will talk a little bit first about kind of the multi-dimensional impact dashboards that it would allow us to create this framework and how that would potentially leave to new um Innovative models that can unlock new funding streams so having this framework um multi-dimensional impact assessment framework in place would allow us to have an impact dashboard that would focus on uh several steps first identifying uh non-financial Capital so so this is very important the capital that is currently not captured in our decision making um that is driving the ecosystem Investments and um work with communities right so the social capital already mentioned like let's say community relations or what is the strength of the networks the cultural capital uh what are some of the Traditions that are important for the communities the human capital what is the access to health and education and how do we uh lead Investments of into these um major capitals so capturing identifying and capturing this second um this multi-dimensional impact dashboard would also allow us to bring together quantifiable and qualitative indicators from different sources that would reflect the impact on these dimensions of non-financial capital so let's say it's a mix of Access to Health Services and self-reported improvements in health or what is the amount of traditional knowledge that we have documented or preserved and what is the satisfaction with cultural preservation efforts um so this is that links the differ obviously sources of data and as I uh spoke before this this can um also mean having data that is linked from governmental sources to data that is linked um from nonprofit or Community L data into kind of one bigger picture uh the third step will be then to um using a multi Capital scoring system to create that kind of holistic view of um non-financial returns that we have from investment to different forms of capital so what does that mean in practice it means that we can assign with uh to different dimensions based on how communities relate to this right so because we need to build some sort of a um well-being index um that would be accounted for in Investments later so communities could assign the value to different forms of capital like let's say social capital 20% uh environmental Capital 40% so build some sort of a multi Capital scoring system um that could inform them the well-being index being led by communities themselves um the four step being Community then Define uh the metrics on how they can track Capital um so for example which is very important especially in the um regenerative Finance um ecosystem is that the environmental Success is Not only measured by how many trees we replant but also how do we preserve the biodivers iversity and the presence of for example species that are uh very important for cultural um historical Health um um reservation uh or understanding of the communities so Community defined set in specific Community defined metrics uh they're linked to their own value um then it is also about how do we leverage different data collection tools to continue to um collect different aspects to inform this uh multi-dimensional impacts dashboard so we already have a lot of mobile apps that are being used by communities on the ground so how do we combine data from those tools with GPS satellite data how do we use the um multimedia um access records like for example audio recordings or video recordings that communities have to also add to the data collection and understanding of the different forms of capital so we need in this kind of multi-dimensional impact dashboard also um ability to connect the different data collection tools that we currently have um and finally being able to then track and understand what the Baseline is and track uh progress against the Baseline and Link this metcs to investment decisions um so the final part is more of course about using this data to develop impact financing models um that focus on uh how social capital for example can drive sustainable local economies um or understanding um how certain impact agreements can focus on um uh calculating the saf costs by investing into the different assets and how we take this into consideration for impact investment so there can be different um Innovative models and this is another discussion and part for kind of another Workshop I think in this part we are specifically just focusing on building the Baseline for the multi-dimensional impact dashboards that could first start with this uh Foundation of making sure that we collect the uh different forms of assets and understanding of what is important for communities um from the perspective of well-being and accounting for these different assets and then the second part is linking it to um the impact financing strategies so uh with this kind of quick overview um I will pass it on to Jordan now to actually talk about um how do you enable this and what are some initial basic steps that we need to build um a multi-dimensional framework thank you Kaa um I hope you can hear me right so as Kata said um the data already exists we have different uh set of tools that already exist and projects amazing projects uh from gen Forest through carbon um to collectivo for example we have also a huge um amount of data that is available uh through open uh open data and traditional data sources um she mentioned also uh that we have people on the ground collecting data monitoring data uh around not not only ecological data and biodiversity but also Community focused data and this comes into uh several ways variety of ways it can be surveys it can be uh Records it can be images text um databases whatever but we need uh the main data already exist and we need um a way to connect the data collection tools and the different Wii projects in order to uh to be able to have the full vision this holistic Vision uh of um of um of the community wellbeing but also uh about biodiversity and uh ecosystem well-being so when when we start to uh ask ourself how we can connect all this we start to understand that it's not uh only the connection part that will be complicated but or duning but also the data harmonization part so in order to harmonize and to align all these different data sources on the same level well we need first a flexible data model in order to adapt and to adjust uh with the different variety of of of format but also of um of data uh type and but also we need a common shared unit uh in order to uh to on top of this to build the different dimensions ecological biodiversity but also centered around community so we think that uh as a core unit uh what makes sense uh is uh localization why because well a community is centered around uh um a specific location uh same uh in this specific location we have also natural assets but we have also biodiversity so our common unit our core unit to in this model um that we are that we are thinking about is uh ad what we call adaptive admin units adaptive in order to adapt to different um um administrative uh um local context uh each countries have has different way in order to um to to to to differentiate uh different administrative units so the idea is to leverage to have something flexible enough to adapt to different uh um different context um Geographic context but in the same in the same time to leverage the existing administrative uh units in order to integrate to to what currently uh and already exist in order to leverage also open data and government data that's the idea of uh of having this as a core unit and then um attached to this we have a community which is clearly identified uh by potion size primary language cultural identifiers and geob bondaries also because they are attached to this um adaptive ammun unit we have also in this location we have also natural assets it can be for different uh different type it can be Forest it can be Lake it can be a pot it can be any any kind of natural asset exist in in this um adaptive ad units um and also we biodiversity different species that Liv in this area so how all how all these three elements of interest that we want to monitor the health are interacting with each other so with this model we have a full vision on what what are the main element of interest that lives in my uh unit and um and we can clearly see um each element of Interest has some characteristics that will identify it um uniquely uh for example for natural asset it can be uh the name the geographic boundaries the legal statutes um or for biodiversity can be scientific name of the species taxonomy ecosystem role and um these are characteristic to identify them uniquely but there are they have also sorry metrics uh that are attached to them that will help us to kind of monitor the evolution and also the status of uh the element of Interest what is uh what interests Us in um in in the case of the community is uh not not only uh formal um metrics for example related to population gender ratio a rate uh but also Community defined metrics for example access to healthare facilities to school facilities um having access to qualitative nut qualitative and nutritive food these are the kind of of metrics that are of interest of the community but it's also good to be able to monitor them uh because they are Community defined so that's the idea on how we can kind of Link all together all these different data on the same scale here for example the scale is at the city level but the the idea is to have such a model that can scale through different uh level can be from neighborhood uh to Regional level for example this being said um let's go um let's go over the challenge of thison what we are asking you and what we are expecting from you so the idea um is to be able to build this multi-dimension record for specific chosen administrative unit so we we we will provide you with some data sources the idea is to be able to uh first find the uh the units so the adaptative admin units you want uh focus on uh because this is the core U of the model and then once you have defined your unit you want to focus on so it's a geographical unit then you will uh identify the different element of interest that are inside this unit so the idea is to be able to go to to and to Source yourself um across the different existing um Source data sources it can come from the different web chip and refi project that we have mentioned previously uh from G Forest to restore um Etc and to link it with um data sources from uh local population and gen communi that monitor and that monitor their their Community metrics that can come from for example in the IND the map that is uh that gives you more information about the repartition of different indigenous communities in Latin America for example and uh you will have also access to sources that will track um uh School fac access to school facilities water quality air quality uh and other community oriented data so the idea is to be able to connect all these different data sources and to build um tools to creas this data or to extract this data and to align them align them sorry align them around the same core unit administrative unit so if you click here uh you will find uh a Jon um that will give you more understanding and an example of what we are expecting as a as a as a as a multi-dimensional record all right um we are asking you also to submit um to enable to for any community members to submit uh a community defined metric uh what do we mean by this um if uh for what we previously said we have formal metrics but we want also for each different communities that live uh under different units geographical units to be able to say okay what is our metrics of Interest what how do we want to Define our well-being and uh so we need a process um of um submission form for them to be able to express this and so we will need a kind of submission mechanism it can be offchain or onchain it's up to you uh but we at some point uh any Community member will be able to submit a community metrics and uh some kind of Authority or role would be able to decide if we include them as a metric to monitor or not so uh how do we this leads us to uh this is the core core deliverable sorry and as a bonus uh we propose you to uh Focus also on how to implement uh leveraging protocols existing protocols a proof of location because um we want to give more weight to actual people living under a specific uh administrative uh units so we need to leverage on kind of proof of location so there are some protocols available we will see them also later on and also develop some smart contracts logic uh in order so to uh uh to verify membership based on this peration but also data encryption and uh data access control which are uh very crucial because uh what we are talking here is to um enable community to Define their well-being and Define matrics uh of interest for them but also to en uh to incentivize them and to enable them collect this data and but this data belong to them um and we are and they they should be able to control who has access to this data uh and also um monetize monetize it if it's possible so the data encryption comes for um comes here in order to protect this data and um give and only the people that will have the right to access to it or the cor role will be able to decate the data so that's how all these different uh um elements are linked and also enable data monetization for uh in order to incentivize the community okay so um how to get started um first we have gathered some uh data sources so we invite you to explore these different data sources that covers um um eological biodiversity but also um Community oriented and um data so we have ReStore in gap indigenous Navigator um we have also uh put some um documentation um if you want to uh learn more about how to handle GE special data so feel free to explore them and uh on the other side we have uh you can lever we have listed a set of to box the tool box uh that can leverage so uh it's composed of protocols you can leverage for example as protocol uh for um to to build local location based up um and understand how uh to to to link location and all different kind of data um this is crucial because as we discuss our core unit is based on geographical boundaries so you will at some point need to uh work with that um we have so uh add a lead protocol that will help you to encrypt and decrypt the data and uh also the graph that will help you to kind of be able to monitor uh the different events happening uh inside your smart contract uh um and put it into a into a more um a more formal database uh in order to be able to create them faster um we have also give provide you with some available tools scaffold uh which is a toolkit a very very convenient and useful toolkit if you don't want to um to spend too much time haros uh in for example fixing bug in how to connect to your wallet this will handle a main functionality of a d for you in order to kind of bootstrap and to fasten your uh the development of your dap uh we have also remix to quickly test and prototype smart your smart contracts and last but not least file coin uh for decentralized storage or you can also leverage other decentralized storage solution like RV and uh we have we have put there some concept also that you explore in order to P this solution you can explore eum attestations andart contract smart contract registry uh even token GED approach uh it's up to you uh so feel free to explore this concept uh and and reach out uh to to us if you have any questions regarding the text aspect or even understanding uh better uh this uh this framework okay and we have also put an anex just sorry we have two minutes left on the recording so I just want to make sure uh you can finish wrapping up that we can we can actually we can skip the anex uh you can just have a look and uh it will give more understanding about all this uh data process and how to Etc but um I think yeah feel free k to sounds good uh thank you so much this for this amazing overview so um we just want to say we will leave all the links to the documentation and where you can engage us uh during this hackathon in the presentation that will be also sharing um in this recording uh we are part of the telegram Channel and also on Discord uh at funding the commons uh hackathon so you can reach out to us there you can also reach out directly on uh social media through Linkedin um yeah and so we are very interested in uh hearing your proposals but also more broadly just joining the uh community of those who are thinking about impact in a way that is centered around communities and also inviting others to join in exploring this approach so thank you and um yes check out all the links in the presentation and uh we hope to being such thank you bye bye