Local Adoption Strategies & Approaches

Assigned to Drigo and adopted from the Draft Pilots Game Guide

Tyler (4/18): Drigo, thanks for all the work on the deck and translating it into here. This is awesome! I have a suggestion for a bit of a major reframe though, which I think would change this page significantly, yet still leave opportunity for all this content below to remain. 

I think we need to start with a very honest statement, that "we don't know how to successfully birth or support local SEEDS/DHO adoption pilots, yet." It's never been done. None of us have ever done it. Yes, we all bring relevant experience, wisdom, and current efforts to the table, but we have no idea whether the below approach is what's best, and furthermore, each local context will be different and require different approaches, so there's no way the below approach fits all contexts well. 

This currently reads as if there's a trusted approach we recommend, and it should just be followed right away. I'm all for the "go go go!" mentality and putting out content we think can be helpful, but I think we need to embrace and frame our position as an organization inquiring/documenting/synthesizing into what is best, rather than one that already knows. That can still hold an urgency and bias towards action, but I think it needs to be framed as urgency of discovery and a bias towards impactful actions and experiments that produce insights that inform further actions and experiments etc... Also, I think this could benefit from honoring the human element much more. It currently feels a bit mechanical and "if-then" logical, without any celebration of how all of this work is based on human relationships and trust building, in complex unpredictable environments.

I'd love for this page to talk more about What Samara is doing/wants to do to discover the best adoption strategies/approaches, and what some of our current thinking is for one particular context (e.g. the below content). There's no mention of Samara in this page (which totally makes sense given the title and what you were asked to provide here) but I think it could improve by bringing Samara into it more - discussing the relationship between Samara and ever-evolving local adoption strategies and approaches, and the many ways we'll be gathering insights (e.g. references to the other pages in this section) to inform and evolve the guidance we offer.  

If you hear me and are aligned, let me know if you'd like my help writing, but won't be online until about 12 AM UTC 4/19.

If you're not feeling the reframe at this point in time, let me know too!

Irina: Support Tyler's proposal! The description below could be one way of the multiple ways. I personally do not see "a strategy" but each place having its own strategy and learnings from experimenting with it. As I am seeing the goal of a pilot is activating a region (which currently in the Game Guide assumes having 144 citizens), how each ambassador does it it's a strategy that speaks for one particular context. We can run and test all sorts of strategies and learn from them, with metrics. Only after the region is active it makes sense for the Regional DHO to come into place, a bit later as I see it, as SEEDS tools evolve in this respect and Org in a box can provide support for Regional DHOs.

Page status (temporary)

As Samara takes root and begins to grow, as a collective we have been very weary of saying 'we know the answer.  We have cautioned ourselves and each other to be aware of the colonial mindset, and to be aware of our lenses, our approaches to life and the way things 'should be', and our individual biases and experiences that we bring to our work within Samara.  

Rather than answers, we come with questions.  How can we support existing, local solutions and regenerators?  How can we help more people adopt a regenerative and sustainable lifestyle? How can we support leaders of the movement, and help them prevent burnout.  How can we help leaders adopt and adapt / customize the existing tools and technologies that are available?  How can we help bridge the sustainability (now regenerative renaissance) movement - with the best of blockchain and associated cryptocurrencies?  How can we help SEEDS Ambassadors become better collaborative leaders of the regenaissance, locally and globally? 

The truth is that many wonderful and inspiring solutions exist to the problems that we face.  There are clear and practical ways to reverse man-made climate change.  There are fast and effective ways to restore the abundance and diversity of our most damaged ecosystems.  There are tried and tested ways of healing our illnesses via natural methods.  Many ways to regenerate our planet and our way of life here exist.  Our task in Samara is to identify those solutions and make them available to our local communities, wherever we may be.  Our task is to help invite these solutions and then women and men behind them to begin using cryptocurrency and Seeds and the blockchain and DHOs. 

Hypha, via SEEDS, is offering humanity a new financial system and inviting humanity to adopt blockchain as a tool for governance.  Samara, loving Seeds and SEEDS as a set of principles and a bold initiative to bring these important tools to the world, provides a welcoming, loving, and nurturing space where we support existing and future leaders of this regenerative renaissance with these tools.  And building a close relationship with these leaders, getting to know what additional tools and support is needed.  

Below is an approach that might work.  It is part of a hypothesis about how we can support the regenerative renaissance.  A large part of this solution is related to the marketplace.  

In some ways, our value proposition is emerging such that Samara grows into many 'chapter' DHOs at the local level who support the local regenerative renaissance via the marketplace in a box concept, which complements the SEEDS platform, and is grounded in supporting regenerators in a decentralized, mutually supportive, global community.  

Preparation: Foundations for a Regional DHO 

The vision is for SEEDS to sprout and grow in thousands of cities, towns, villages, and bioregions around the world towards supporting the Regenerative Renaissance. Getting a team together to collaborate with is an important first step.  

1. Align around identity, purpose, objectives, values 
2. Familiarize team with SEEDS and Seeds, and onboard team to the SEEDS passport
3. Familiarize team with Bioregional DHO Game Guide and start exploring roles / archetypes and getting clear on how to collaborate
4. Gain a clear understanding of compensation and rewards - one idea might be to get some initial sponsors from local regenerative organizations 
5. Study existing approaches and choose one that resonates and is appropriate for local culture and ecosystem

General Strategy & Approach for Activating a Regional Pilot

1. The objective in this approach is described most simply as creating a city guide and local platform for the regenerative renaissance. 
2. We can start by identifying several regenerative organizations we would want to buy goods and services from (social enterprises), as well as organizations focused directly on environmental and social impact (NGOs). 
3. It's very important to find highly attractive, highly regenerative products and services, and the most inspiring local organizations. Some examples: 
   1. Products like local organic fruits and vegetables, personal care products like biodegradable and ethically sourced soaps, sustainably crafted furniture, natural medicines, seeds, gardening tools, eco clothing, solar panels and associated clean energy home systems, composting tools, locally produced organic and biodynamic packaged foods and beverages 
   2. Services that help people adopt regenerative practices like solar energy, permaculture landscaping, human design readings, personal development coaches, detox retreats, natural health centers, ecological waste management, etc as well as services that help to incubate, grow, and scale regenerative organizations such as social enterprise incubators, marketing services, management consulting, finance services, etc
   3. Academies and educational offerings: both locally available in person classes as well as globally accessible online courses with a focus on permaculture, organic farming, waste management, conservation, climate change, carbon offsetting, clean energy and energy efficiency, water efficiency, and personal and professional development including finding your purpose, social entrepreneurship, natural healing and detox, leadership, mental wellbeing, conscious parenting, romantic relationships, etc
   4. City / Town Hubs: 'hubs' aligned with our values such as coworking spaces (like Impact Hub) vegan / vegetarian restaurants that like to host events, community centers, and other ‘hubs’ that demonstrate sustainability and regenerative practices
   5. Nearby ecovillages and eco resorts: Within 1-3 hours of your city / town, inspirational eco villages and eco resorts where comprehensive regenerative solutions are demonstrated where one can visit, take courses, meet like minded folks, and in some cases even choose to build a home
      
   6. Environmental & Social Regeneration - Carbon offsetting, planting trees, protecting natural reserves, tackling local poverty and homelessness, campaigning for human rights, and generally speaking teaming up with others to help heal & regenerate humanity and the environment. Every activated 'chapter' / bioregion should / could also help direct local residents towards amazing organizations doing inspiring and meaningful work. Ideally ones that will not only accept Seeds / BTC / ETH / Fiat, but also ones that will accept volunteers and visitors.
4. Engage 3-4 organizations to start with that are enthusiastic about the idea, and ideally at least 1 or 2 that are well known / recognized leaders in the community

Phase 1: Local ‘Regenaissance’ Alliance

1. Organizations get to know each other, trade with each other, give each other great deals, and help prepare each other to grow / scale 
2. Owners / managers / representatives of these organizations meet together periodically (2x per month) at City Hub(s) / online 
3. Apply for Alliance Share and Campaigns to kick things off → shared goal: help support local people and organizations to experience regenerative lifestyle
4. Buy Seeds & Hold Seeds for owners & team members as investment and way to build wealth 
5. Onboard all organizations on to a marketplace (LocalScale or other) that can accept Seeds

Phase 2: Soft Launch 

1. Ensure marketplace / platform has enough local organizations to make it attractive for visitors to come and wish to shop / learn / travel
2. Have campaigns in place to reward regenerative behaviors (clean up trash, plant food, transform home, plant trees) 
3. Identify, engage, and onboard local media organizations with good following, and talk to local magazines, radio show hosts, influencers.  Focus on the message of using blockchain and new financial and governance systems to support the regenerative renaissance
4. Each participating organization does a social media campaign to promote the alliance and the campaigns
5. Host monthly gatherings to introduce people to Seeds, to alliance members, and to brainstorm campaigns