How to engage a community on the Web3 reviving the Culture and Science - rewarding both municipalities and citizens.

Geocaching has been around for a while. Was never an activity of my choice, but like many others it has my admiration, just not enough hours in the day for everything…

To start with, it promotes getting out of the sofa and move in the physical world, hopefully mainly walking or biking. It involves a challenge that can be done alone but also in group or with hints from the community. In the end you get a reward, you find the spot, learn about it and redeem a “token” (I think in cases it is signing a log book).

The achievement could be celebrated by a small community, become part of your memories, stories to tell on dinners and parties.. but as all memories, they fade away… and the "achievement tokens” will soon be lost, if they ever existed".

In fact the same happens to the society… as “people”, monuments and “places” change over time or become hidden gems (if not abandoned to erode as ruins).

Pokemon Go showed that people easily engage on augmented reality events either solo or group outdoor activities, provided the right incentive… sometimes just discovery or participation!

Pokemon Go used the public and private infrastructure as anchors to the augmented reality items and also allowed the community to contribute with suggestions. It has its innovative side but, as any centralized system, doesn’t give anything back to the infrastructure “used” nor the participants (apart for the joy of playing).

A Pilot Geocaching System could be used to attract citizens to certain locations, educate them about web3 and its practical applications while giving them the opportunity to participate in the “economy” involved - Tokenomics if you wish to investigate.

An MVP (minimum viable product) would need 2 items:     
Item 1 - A channel to announce and keep record of all locations;      
Item 2 - A reward system to be collected by the participants.

I would add a “Cultural Repository” as a Key Factor to create value beyond the outdoor activities and participation. - Let’s call it Item 3 and park it for now until we discuss the others.

But before we proceed let me clarify why I used “blank paper” in the title. I would love to be able to “white paper” a new solution/protocol. That would require a lot more detail and discussion on the bolts and nuts of the wanted solution. It would probably need its own smart contracts and web2 set up to be accomplished. Very feasible and still “low cost”.

The POC (Proof of Concept) presented here is just a draft making use of known “Of the Shelf” solutions available. There are limitations but the Time to Market for e POC would be very fast.

For item 1 - we have several platforms and web3 introduced decentralized gated content that can also be used to govern a curating body if needed - see below

Item 2 - could make use of POAPs as the rewarding system - Its use is based mainly in time-frames i.e. the POAP represents a “moment” and therefore can only be used for periods. In our case that could be the “place of the month”. The POAP is always limited in number (scarcity effect) but if that was the only limitation it could be “open” for an unlimited period of time until all the predefined number of rewards would be redeemed.
The limited amount of items creates scarcity thus value and FOMO.

With the above we have a reward system for visiting “places” that could be monuments, cafés, or any other public or private place/event of interest. The POAP system is already a web3 native item, it can contain some info (and external links) about the place in question, provide up to date info about the involved participants in a non intrusive way. That can create a network effect by having people “competing” to collect the most number of items - Something that can also be used by local commerce, exhibitions, etc. Add a random rarity factor to the rewards and we go up a few notches.

But item 3 (“Cultural Repository”) would be the most valuable part of this particular proposal. Let’s take on example: Oeiras has the “Parque dos Poetas” with its 3 phases, a lot or art about artist performed by other artists with the municipality involvement - 60 Installations according to the official information. Not counting other public places to visit and temporary events/exhibitions.

Using a decentralized system for blogging (the one where this article is written) as an official web3 CMO identity) Art NFTs and NFT articles could be issued with more confidence from the audience thus more initial value and participation.

An initial price could be set (even symbolic) an it would carry economic benefit for CMO and involved artist on its initial sales or only future ones if initially free. NFTs for the “arts” could also compose collections with the same purpose. A way for the citizens to “own” a piece of the Municipality History and also benefit from is skills to produce content. Not to mention the growing tourism and appetite for new experiences.

Further more and as hinted above, a curating body could open the possibility for the community to produce their own content, either on new items, additions to the existent, etc. Imagine the hidden images and stories lost everyday by not incentivizing the collection of our memories in a public and permanent way. The old character in the neighbourhood can now convey their memories and aspirations to the world. His memory will be preserved, the success will be decided collectively. The community gained valued forever as an whole and the author may get some profit depending on the “network effect” of his intentions.

A public web3 geocaching system is just an idea that tries to loop the Municipality as an institution and historical entity towards its community and visitors and vice/versa. It’s not meant to be “thy solution” but provides several benefits for any municipality and citizens, to name a few:

a) Increased Community Engagement: By implementing a public web3 geocaching system, the a municipality can incentivize community engagement and promote participation in local events and activities. Users will be encouraged to explore their city, learn about points of interest, and complete challenges in order to earn rewards. This will result in increased community participation and social interaction.

b) Boost in Tourism: A web3 geocaching system can also serve as a unique and exciting way to promote tourism in the municipality. Tourists will be encouraged to explore the city and learn about its history and culture while participating in the geocaching challenges. This will help to increase foot traffic to local businesses and attractions and generate positive publicity for the city.

c) Encourages Technology Adoption: A public web3 geocaching system would also encourage technology adoption in the municipality. By using blockchain technology, users can enjoy a more secure and transparent system for earning and redeeming rewards. This will also provide an opportunity to promote blockchain technology and educate the public about its potential uses and benefits.

d) Low Cost Implementation: The cost of implementing a web3 geocaching system is relatively low compared to other community engagement initiatives such as organizing events or installing new infrastructure. The system can be maintained and updated easily through software and will provide continuous engagement opportunities for years to come.

e) Improved Data Collection: A web3 geocaching system can help the municipality collect valuable anonymous data about user behavior and preferences. This data can be used to improve services and infrastructure for the community and provide insights into visitor trends and behaviors.

A lot more could be written about this “simple” solution but we need to start somewhere to get “lost” in the overwhelming opportunities to come… let’s try to grab them.

Alvin Toffler left us without telling his views on this new wave. In a world where centralization is presente even where decentralization should exist (e.g. Crypto Exchanges) leading to concertation of decision of power - not the power itself - it is urgent to give back to the people what is theirs. Identity, value and power.

In today's world, community engagement is crucial for the success of any municipality. A public web3 geocaching system can provide a fun and exciting way to promote community engagement, tourism, technology adoption, and improve anonymous data collection. By implementing such a system, the a municipality can serve as a role model for the use of emerging technologies in fostering civic engagement and public interactions.

Thank you for reading. H