Our Global Voyage: Contributing to the Evolution of the Cardano Blockchain Decentralized Governance

As we embark on the dawn of the Web3 decentralized future, our vibrant Latam Cardano community, found ourselves as an integral part of this pioneering journey — the establishment of the world’s first Decentralized Government on a Blockchain.

The road was long and arduous, filled with enlightening debates and endless learnings, but it led us to a single, critical point: the global CIP1694 workshop in the historic city of Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 11th and 12th. It was there where all our efforts found its peak.

July 12th 2023, Cardano CIP1694 Global Workshop at Edinburgh, Scotland

But let’s rewind a little. Our journey started last November, in 2022, when the Voltaire era was announced in Cardano, as the era where the blockchain's evolution will become 100% decentralized, by giving the Cardano community the technical and social mechanisms to be able to implement an on and off chain Government. Later in that year, that announcement took the form of a formal proposal, the CIP1694 (CIP stands for Cardano Improvement Proposal) which is a formal document that aims to define, openly and with the community contribution, the first steps into that decentralization journey.

This proposition inspired us, but we noticed an unnerving silence from Latin America into the formal discussion. Recognizing that the success of a decentralized government lies in diversity and inclusion, the LATAM Cardano Community created an ambitious initiative to produce the proper local spaces to drive active participation and involvement by the LATAM community into the global CIP 1694 conversation.

So we initiated a series of in-person workshops across the continent, with pioneers from twelve vibrant cities in our region: from BuenosAires' bustling avenues to Mexico City's ancient charm, Caracas' tropical fervor to Bogota's highland allure, La Cumbre's tranquility and Manizales' verdant beauty to Tlaxcala's cultural heritage, Puerto Madryn's coastal charm to Santiago's historic majesty to Rio Cuarto's scenic beauty, La Plata's eclectic appeal to Sao Paulo's metropolitan dynamism.

Our rallying call was answered with enthusiasm by more than 137 people that were part of those workshops, and by June 2023, we’d united representatives from each city in the serene surroundings of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Here, we distilled our shared knowledge, unique perspectives, and collective aspirations into a comprehensive document that we shared with the global community.

Fast-forward to July, our delegation of seven members found ourselves journeying to the historic city of Edinburgh in the unique landscapes of beautiful Scotland. We were invited by IOG, Cardano Foundation, and Emurgo to participate in a global workshop designed to bring the insights from all the workshops held across the globe, to common ground aiming to reach a compromise for the first Minimum Viable Government. The event was attended by around 70 individuals from all continents, making it a truly global gathering of minds with a multicultural background.

The grandeur of the setting was the perfect occasion for top executives from the entities driving Cardano today, to work hand in hand with the community. Between those execs that graced the event, we want to highlight Tamara Haasen, President and Charles Hoskinson, CEO both from IOG and Ken Kodama, CEO and Amarpreet Singh, COO both from Emurgo. But execs are not the only ones to highlight as there were many individuals putting an enormous passion and effort into making this workshop a success and making the atmosphere, one that's suits perfect for the challenge, the success of the gathering was mostly to the work of people, that unfortunately is impossible to mention all, but we would like to recognize some of them by their active interaction with the community Sheldon Hunt leading the community's efforts and insights, Joanna Rhoden, putting together and amazing event, Nigel Hemsley, leading the Governance initiative within IOG, Nicolas Cerny providing good insights from the different communities from Cardano Foundation and finally the two CIP main writers Matthias Benkort at CF and Jared Corduan ex IOG.

There were also many well known Cardano's community members from all over the world and we cannot highlight quite enough how important was to have their insights, their point of view, their arguments and well worked proposals representing amazing communities that have been around since day one, and have demonstrated humongous passion for Cardano and its future.

Over the course of two days, we found ourselves engaged in rich discussions, surrounded by fellow passionate and enthusiastic innovators and thought leaders in the Blockchain and Web3 spaces. The buzz of ideas and energy was palpable. Our task was to bring forth the voice of Latin America, delivering the collective insights we’d gathered from our regional workshops, what we did over three stage appearances from our very passionate representatives.

We were able to present our idea of a Minimum Viable Constitution, that needs to be developed in parallel to the technical efforts, as it is vital to set the purpose of what we are doing, also the CIP should recognize the supremacy of the constitution over any other document preceding or following its enactment.

Also got to explain our idea that taking a clear and safe position by guarding the Cardano treasury while we walk the first steps of the MVG it is of outmost importance, creating a limit on both the amount of funds per period of time as well per proposal that are allowed to be requested via a governance action. Limits that can be raised or loosen after some iterations and insights happens.

Many of the concepts presented by the LATAM team were latter mentioned and highlighted by many people in the room, leaving us with the sense that we have not only been listened, but rather allowed to contribute a lot, fruit of our structured, diverse and multi cultural hard work approach.

The discussion on the tables were very interesting, ranging from how to allow a voting mechanism that does not block the performance or the cost of the blockchain, towards how we can avoid bad behaviors, e.g. aimed at blocking the governance by flooding it with proposals. And how to do that without sacrificing inclusivity and diversity. There were some discussions that come to a consensus, and other that were better left for a further discussion and analysis.

The road to create a powerful, safe yet flexible and inclusive governance mechanism is not one of a single workshop or debate, and as it was said during the workshop our aim shall be to land the technical mechanisms for onchain governance during 2023, to let the social and off-chain mechanisms be guided and debated in parallel towards 2024, as it is a more complex debate.

The setting in Edinburgh served as a testament to the convergence of history and future, traditional and innovative, much like our mission. As we walked through the city’s cobbled streets and marveled at its ancient charm, we were reminded of the enormity of our task — to shape a decentralized future grounded in the wisdom of diverse cultures and the shared desire for inclusive progress to all the people in the world.

It was a humbling and invigorating experience, and as we prepare for the next steps into this journey, we cannot help but feel immense gratitude to our sponsors, 9 companies that share our purpose and are sensitive of the need for LATAM to be present, without them this journey would've had certainly a milder impact.

THANKS so much to Genius Yield and Genius X our main sponsors, Cardano Feed our media sponsor and all the amazing sponsors that supported us RootsID, Token Allies, TXPipe, Token Mithrandir, Mayz Protocol and Realtok. If you care about LATAM you should get to know these amazing projects as they offer a wide variety of incredible value to people in the region.

Our amazing Sponsors — THANKS SO MUCH

We are part of a pioneering endeavor, with the chance to influence a shift in the way humans collaborate, inspire, and evolve. The journey continues, and we invite you to join us as we take further steps towards a more inclusive, decentralized future.

To all the LATAM Community and specially to all the Workshops participants, we cannot express how relevant your daily commitment to this purpose is, how many fellow latinians will benefit from our efforts in the future, when the Cardano opportunity gets ready to reach many of them, generating the possibilities for a better future for all.

THANKS THANKS THANK! ❤️

Donovan Riaño (México Workshop)

Jean Carlo Aguilar (Carácas Workshop)

Wilmer Varón (Carácas Workshop)

Ezequiel Marclé Montenegro (Río Cuarto Workshop)

José Miguel De Gamboa (Bogotá Workshop)

Daniel Vanegas (Bogotá Workshop)

Ulises Barreiro (La Cumbre Workshop)

Daniel F. Rodriguez (La Cumbre Workshop)

Victor Hernández (Tlaxcala Workshop)

Diego Torres Borda (Puerto Madryn Workshop)

Rodrigo Oyarsun (Santiago de Chile Workshop)

Sebastián Aravena (Santiago de Chile Workshop)

Otávio Lima (São Paulo Workshop)

Lucas Macchiavelli (Latam Cardano Community)

Juanita Jaramillo (Latam Cardano Community)

Mauro Andreoli (Latam Cardano Community)

Jaime Andrés Posada (Latam Cardano Community)

Jaime Martinez (Latam Cardano Community)

Sebastián Pabón (Latam Cardano Community)

Rodolfo Miranda (Latam Cardano Community)

Alex Pestchanker (Latam Cardano Community)