Where are we headed now?
The EnDAOment Program supports implementation level partnerships to research mutualism, and community owned and governed treasuries in support of bioregional regenerative economies. In 2023, the Regen Foundation is developing the second strategic cohort of the EnDAOment program. This cohort would mark the next cycle of our larger protocol development, which we call the Regen Commons.
Here is a reflection piece authored by Austin Wade Smith capturing the Lessons from the first Community Staking DAO Cohort
Our approach stems from our founding belief that regenerative economic protocols and instruments must be owned by the communities they serve. To do this requires tremendous support, capacity building, relationship building, and scrutiny of tools in relation to cultural and ecological context. Through enDAOment we nurture a diverse set of groups that are committed to working together, growing together, and healing the planet collectively.
This model of community engagement has been founded on four pivotal pillars that serve as its core principles and values, which are essential in realizing its long-term vision. These pillars are:
- Governance: Bringing voice and capacity to a diverse set of stakeholders that can enable a collective decision-making process and promote pro-social ways of engagement on a both cultural and systemic level.
- Education: Empowering individuals, groups, and communities with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to make informed decisions, enabling them to be proactive and take ownership of their futures.
- Science: Emphasizing the importance of evidence-based decision making and the application of scientific research to inform policy and practice. By applying scientific research to real-world problems, communities can make decisions that are grounded in sound scientific principles.
- Regenerative economics: Creating an alternative economic system that values both ecological and community wellbeing, allowing communities to create a value proposition that goes beyond temporary monetary gains.
Regen Commons and its Composition
By encapsulating these four pillars into our mandate, we invite the following types of groups that feel aligned with our vision. By foregrounding the voices that can make use of the system and add value to the Regen Tech Stack, we aim to make the Network truly community owned and governed.

- Building communities and DAOs that originate credit and serve as frameworks for other regenerative communities is a top priority for this cohort. We believe that emerging collaborations between communities in the EnDAOment program could be a major way to add new Eco-Credits to our registry.
- We invite groups that can help us identify methodologies to originate high integrity and quality credits that can epitomize the kind of regeneration the larger ecosystem aims to achieve.
- We welcome project developers, scientists, researchers, conservation groups, farmer collectives, and other diverse sets of expert regenerators rooted in their soil and culture, who can help us originate high-integrity credit frameworks that go beyond carbon tunnel vision. We value local ownership and bioregionalism in moving this process forward.
- Groups that prioritize scientific rigor in their methodology creation and involve communities in the process.
- Engaging with decentralized ownership is complicated and existing Web3 governance models are unfamiliar to regenerators, making on-ground implementation level pilots essential to evolve applications and better serve these communities. These pilots cost money and require mentorship and a thriving community to support them. The Foundation will experiment with the model of the Regen Commons as a platform where such pilots can be given the space to exist and incubate.
- Underserved groups, particularly from the Global South, have unfortunately lacked the necessary resources and manpower to record and report their practices of environmental stewardship. This knowledge is often generationally passed down in the form of stories, cultural practices, songs, and more. Lack of this “soft” data has created a significant gap in our existing understanding of holistic regenerative practices. To address this issue, we invite storytellers, filmmakers, artists, reporting and verification organizations that can capture the story behind the big “hard” numbers that currently serve as the proof-of-regeneration.
- Lack of sufficient educational resources has proven to be a barrier for onboarding orgs into the web3 ecosystem. We welcome groups building crucial resources, that can act as trainers and mentors for low-tech literacy groups. We see the youth playing a pivotal role in this and encourage their enthusiasm to support communities transition into this new age technology that can eventually create additional income streams.
- One of the biggest success from our previous cohort was the cultural practice that emerged as a result of engaging with group that made each one of them feel supported and heard. Cohort 2 will be substantially bigger and will require experts in pro-social facilitation practices and community engagement that can aid in the growth of the Regen Commons.
The Role of $REGEN in the EnDAOment Program

The Regen Foundation’s enDAOment program is working to bring structural equity to regenerators by dispersing 30% of all token holding power to those who would otherwise not have a voice nor representation in the space. However, recent market fluctuations have affected the prices of many tokens, including $REGEN. As a result, the amount earned through staking rewards from the enDAOment allocation may not be the same as it was at the beginning of last year.
Despite this, the $REGEN token is more than just a speculative asset. It holds governance power that gives the holder the ability to have a voice in the larger REGEN ecosystem. Holders can vote on proposals and actively participate in ongoing discussions affecting the industry. Joining industry leaders, smaller regenerator groups gain credibility and traction that was inaccessible to them individually otherwise.
The ability to co-own and co-govern is not something to take for granted. It empowers local communities and incites civic action. Many enDAOment candidates come from countries where climate justice and activism is dangerous as it is often going against the government and their practices. By offering these groups/individuals a community with resources, support, and a platform, the Regen Foundation is in essence providing them a virtual safe space.
As the Regen Foundation moves forward with Cohort 2, we realize that in order to participate in this ongoing experiment, groups and its members need to allocate quite some resources from their end (in terms of time and personnel). Additionally, on-ground implementation and pilots require funding and resourcing. There is a gap that currently cannot be filled by the enDAOment allocation, and the foundation holds this dual tension as it moves forward. The foundation invites donors, philanthropists, and funders who would like to support this vision and directly fund initiatives and projects of their choice. As such we are experimenting with a fund matching schema where tokens are matched with fiat donations in order to maximize the potential for public benefit through each enDAOment.
Moving Forward
- We will soon be releasing our updated set of criteria that would help us select groups for the upcoming cohort.
- To submit nominations for our upcoming round, please use this form.
- If you are someone who is interested in funding the projects directly through a matching FIAT grant, please contact austin@regen.foundation
- Incase of questions regarding the upcoming round, please write to us on contact@regen.foundation
- Subscribe to our Mirror account where we actively publish our thought pieces.
- follow us for updates on Twitter
Thank you for reading this far and welcome your thoughts and reflections.