In an era where human activities profoundly impact the planet, there is an increasing recognition of the need to include the more-than-human world—comprising animals, ecosystems, and natural entities—in governance processes. Integrating AI agents, blockchain technology, and deliberative practices offer in my view a promising pathway to amplify the voices of these non-human stakeholders and ensure that their interests are considered in decision-making. In the other way, it can allow Humans to have a solid set of tools to integrate their Non-Human counterparts in decisions to be made.

Web3 represents the next evolution of the internet, characterized by decentralization, and ownership. Unlike its predecessors, Web3 aims to empower users by eliminating intermediaries and giving individuals control over their data and assets. Most of the current discussion in the space – beyond the noise of scams and hacks – revolves around the competition between tech stacks and approaches: EVM vs BPF vs CosmWASM, L1 vs L2, monolithic vs parallel, etc. The competition between chains is about their transaction costs, speed, decentralization grade. These discussions mobilize the most energy and resources in the space. No question, they are highly relevant in the short term.

Humanity stands at a critical juncture, confronting global challenges of unprecedented complexity that necessitate a collective approach to decision-making, spanning from local communities to the global arena. The existing governance processes, however, show signs of strain under these demands. Many of these processes, steeped in historical legacies, now grapple with the need for evolution, while emergent methods still falter in achieving effective implementation at a broader scale. Some methodologies even amalgamate the drawbacks of both traditional and contemporary systems. This underscores an urgent need to reinvigorate the discourse on governance, moving beyond the conventional paradigms of international relations and political theory.

Web3 presents a unique opportunity to redefine value e.g. through mechanisms like airdrops. However, the challenge lies in crafting these mechanisms. Citizens' Assemblies can help.

I propose piloting a Citizens’ Assembly process to support badgeholders in the assessment and voting process of the 4th round of Retro public good funding. This assembly would allow us to overcome the most blatant shortcomings of the RPGF3 process. It would refocus the process from collected intelligence to collective intelligence.

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the first known “minipublics”. Since then, the discussion about the “right” process for selecting citizens through random selection for a political office (aka sortition) is ongoing. Major progress has been made in the theoretical and practical field. We have seen a strong community of practitioners gather; an incredible amount of research being made. In some cases, we have even seen a full circle: For example, in Germany door to door recruitment was used in the very first Planning cells and is again gaining traction as a preferred method after four decades of ignorance.