About us
Purpose
We are individuals and organizations building new models of sustainable public goods funding and value alignment in open source networks. Our goal with Funding the Commons is to bridge the public goods community across Web2, Web3, research, philanthropy and industry. We do this by convening builders and practitioners, researchers and academics, and funders and philanthropists, catalyzing innovation in public goods. In the future, we seek to expand our impact by facilitating the creation of a public goods fund tied to impact evaluators, seeding projects that are conceived and incubated by the Funding the Commons community.
Vision
We envision a world where the incentives that govern human coordination at scale push our species to develop an economy that prioritizes public goods above all else. This world has top global talent innovating on public goods, supported by well-developed impact evaluation systems tied to continuous streams of project capital.
Join us in Paris
The 6th edition of Funding the Commons will take place on 15-16 July with the beautiful backdrop of Paris, France. The event is hosted at the renowned Sorbonne Université, which has the distinction of being one of the two oldest universities in Europe, with origins dating back to the 12th century.
This installation of Funding the Commons is timed as the perfect complement to the Ethereum Community Conference, which takes place the following day and just a short walk from the university. Paris will be our key in-person event during 2023 and will be unique in its incorporation of open space technology and other unconference-style programming, in addition to keynote speakers and panel discussions. This format will enable even more connection amongst participants, and lead to the formation of new collaborations and projects.
Meet us in Berlin
The 7th edition of Funding the Commons will be held in Berlin on 8-9 September, set against the vibrant and innovative backdrop of Germany's capital city. This event will be held in partnership with DeSci Berlin, aligning itself with the bustling Berlin Blockchain Week.
The Berlin edition of Funding the Commons will feature a unique emphasis on builders and interactive programming. In contrast to the storied academia of our Paris event, Berlin will celebrate the hands-on spirit of creation and innovation.
Positioned as a pivotal event during Berlin Blockchain Week, Funding the Commons Berlin offers an ideal platform for participants to engage with the wider blockchain and decentralized science communities. The event is designed to catalyze the development of new partnerships and projects. Through this interactive format, Funding the Commons Berlin will champion the advancement of public goods funding in the heart of Europe's tech scene.
Build with us in Berlin
Discover the power of collaboration and innovation at the Funding the Commons Berlin Residency, a month-long, immersive experience designed for builders and hackers. This intensive in-person program will take place in the vibrant city of Berlin from 1-30 September 2023, and will focus on public goods funding infrastructure, impact evaluators, impact certification systems, and other elements of the public goods funding stack. Both Web2 and Web3 projects and builders are eligible and encouraged to participate in this transformative event.
The residency embodies our mission to foster the development of a sustainable decentralized funding ecosystem for public goods. Expect a bustling in-person hub for hackers, developers, and designers, engrossed in creating innovative solutions that advance the public goods funding ecosystem. The Berlin Residency is your chance to be part of an experiment in a purpose-driven community that drives change through applied technology and collaboration.
Whether you're an individual developer or part of a project team, if you are ready to contribute to and learn from this vibrant community we invite you to apply. We value open-source and expect the outputs of the residency to be accessible and usable by the wider community.
Previous Speakers
Previous speakers included public goods thought leaders such as Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Kevin Owocki (Gitcoin), Karl Floersch (Optimism), Jaan Tallinn (Future of Life Institute & CSER), Tom Kalil (Schmidt Ventures), and many more.
Funding public goods — algorithms and mechanisms | November 12, 2021
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum
Fireside Chat | March 3, 2022
Jaan Tallinn, Future of Life
Institute & CSER & Juan Benet, Protocol Labs
Decentralized investment structures for public goods and commons | June 24, 2022
Juan Benet, Protocol Labs
Recent Events
Lisbon 2022
Funding the Commons, Lisbon featured engaging keynote sessions, collaborative workshops and opportunities to network and build relationships with other members of the community who were driven to find solutions to public goods funding.
Bogota 2022
This event focused on driving group engagement and action towards the broader Funding the Commons mission of building new models of sustainable public goods funding and value alignment.
New York 2022
Funding the Commons moved to an in-person event in New York in June 2022! This 2-day summit on June 24th and 25th was for individuals and organizations building new models of sustainable public goods funding and value alignment in open source networks.
Previous Partners
Let's be friends
Join us for the future
We can't wait to connect with you at our next event, but we'd rather not wait. If you support our mission and would like to get involved, please let us know how you'd prefer to participate.
Sign up to receive our newsletter!
General inquiries
Please email us with any questions you have, and we look forward to speaking with you soon!
