BioFi Pathfinders Gitcoin Round: Bridging Bioregionalism and Web3 to Build Regenerative Economies
Learnings on utilizing Gitcoin’s on-chain participatory budgeting mechanism for bioregional regeneration
The BioFi Pathfinders grant round, led in partnership with The BioFi Project, OpenCivics, Design School for Regenerating Earth, and Regen Coordination, with support from Celo, Ma Earth, and Regen Foundation marked a significant first step in connecting the bioregional organizing world with Web3, regenerative finance (ReFi), and the Gitcoin community. This initiative aimed to support leading bioregional organizing teams from around the world in advancing their BioFi vision, strategy, and capabilities.
As a space for mutual learning between grantees, community members, and technical teams, the round offered insights into the unique challenges and opportunities of using web3 in a bioregional context.
The round served many complementary functions in the re-emerging bioregional movement: it highlighted exemplary bioregional organizing teams, equipping them with funds to continue exploring bioregional finance, while simultaneously inviting bioregional leaders to leverage decentralized tools and introducing the web3 community to the profound, place-based work of bioregionalism.
Our collective efforts raised $8,813 from 1,096 contributions, matched with an incredible $55,000 in funding from our generous sponsors, and onboarded 14 bioregional organizing teams to web3 and on-chain participatory budgeting.
Beyond the financial outcomes, the grant round’s success lay in fostering connections, generating reach and awareness for bioregional teams, and creating a foundation for future iterations that align with the ethos of collaboration, participation, regeneration, and learning.
Our Key Learnings
1. Bioregionalism Resonates Across Scales and Places
Bioregioning — the practice of organizing around ecological or cultural characteristics rather than political or economic boundaries — offered a unifying framework that resonated deeply across diverse contexts. Whether in the Amazon, the Mediterranean, Cascadia, or Uganda, each project brought forward a unique vision for ecological, cultural, and economic regeneration. Common themes emerged: the need for place-based stewardship, innovative economic models, and systems rooted in care for people and the planet.
As Re-Village Sonoma shared:
“Being here was sort of this falling in love process, and it led me into this awareness of what does it mean to think about myself and my work and my place in the context of a natural ecological zone rather than a political or capitalist zone of activity. Bioregionalism is sort of the term I was missing for what my heart was leading me towards.”
The round showcased bioregional teams not only as implementers of critical ecological work but also as systems designers, cultural innovators, and storytellers reimagining how we relate to place and community.
“Systems change is going to happen from the ground up. And so how do we flow capital to people on the ground that are doing real work, connected to the lands and waters and salmon of this place?” — Salmon Nation CoLabs
2. Mutual Learning, Access, and Equity in Global Participation
For many grantees, the grant round was their first encounter with Web3 tools, decentralized funding systems, participatory budgeting, and quadratic funding. The process revealed some inherent tensions and limitations within the current design of on-chain technology and communities like Gitcoin’s. While quadratic funding aims to guard against gamification by anonymous, self-interested actors, some of the competitive elements — such as reliance on social media popularity or existing networks — created dynamics that felt less than omni-win. Moving forward, we aim to design funding systems that not only guard against misuse but also amplify and shift the scales to better support the wisdom of diverse global networks.
In the Global South, technological and infrastructure barriers, such as unreliable internet access, lack of compatible devices, and intermittent electricity, required intermediaries or workarounds to engage effectively.
In contrast, one grantee in the Amazon already possessed significant pre-existing knowledge of blockchain technologies. Not only was he comfortable interacting with web3 tools, but he was also actively staking CELO tokens, demonstrating the global reach of decentralized protocols. This juxtaposition underscores the need for a continued focus on accessibility while celebrating the impact web3 can have even in remote regions around the world.
Language and social barriers further complicated participation for many grantees, especially those from non-English speaking teams, making it difficult to participate. Engaging on social media and experience or bandwidth for crowdfunding promotion was also an edge for many.
As we reflect, it’s clear this round was a learning experiment — a first step in exploring how to evolve tools like Gitcoin to be more supportive of nascent bioregional organizing hubs that lack marketing or social media resources. Ultimately, this experiment is part of a larger vision to continue iteration of future rounds and flow far greater resources to the land stewards at the heart of bioregional regeneration movement.
As one grantee reflected:
“This process gave me faith in the crypto world, which was new to me. I definitely want to continue exploring Web3, Gitcoin, and crowdfunding as tools for our work.”
3. Collaboration Is Our Greatest Asset
The organizing team and sponsors, made up of aligned partners across organizations mentioned earlier, demonstrated the power of collaboration in action. From operations and storytelling to grantee support and technical troubleshooting, the round operated as a joyful and seamless effort. This inter-organizational approach reflected the non-rivalrous culture of the regenerative movement and created a strong foundation for future rounds.
This round served as a critical weaving phase for both grantees and organizers. Bioregional organizing teams from various networks were connected with each other as grantees, some meeting for the first time as they collaborated to solve common challenges and learned about web3 together. Similarly, the web3 community deepened its understanding of bioregionalism through the media and storytelling generated by the round and in the Gitcoin, Let’s Grow DAO, and BioFi X spaces where grantees contributed their voices.
Grantees expressed their gratitude for the patterns of synergy that emerged through shared learning and collaboration:
“Support and shared knowledge from the coordinators and other participants, and the possibility to connect with people all over the world doing great regenerative work, was incredibly valuable.”
“Exposure to other great bioregional initiatives; public exposure and platforming; opportunity to cooperate in a coherent way with others in the field… Really though, seeing the bioregional movement come to life through the lens of Regenerative Finance was most valuable.”
4. The Power of Bioregional Storytelling and Co-Promotion Across Gitcoin Rounds
A significant outcome of the round was the creation of bioregional storytelling assets that amplified the work and impact of participating teams. Videos like the Grantee Spotlights produced by Benjamin Life highlighted both the commonalities and unique capacities of each bioregion, weaving together a collective story of place-based regeneration. These powerful personal journeys revealed how bioregionalism resonates as a framework for re-grounding ourselves in ecological and cultural contexts. You can view all the videos on the BioFi YouTube channel.
Additionally, one of the deepest cultural successes of the BioFi Pathfinders round, and GG22 more broadly, was the presence of, collaboration, and cross-promotion between so many regenerative-focused Community Rounds. As a deeply aligned network of networks, round operators from BioFi Pathfinders, Ma Earth’s Land Regenerators and CeloPG’s Regen Citizens Rounds came together to foster a collective dialogue and solidarity across the broader regenerative finance and web3 ecosystem, setting a precedent for future efforts to align and synergize across Gitcoin Community Rounds.
A Living Experiment in Bridging Bioregionalism, ReFi, and Web3
The BioFi Pathfinders round was a living experiment in how web3 and regenerative finance (ReFi) can support place-based bioregional organizing, with #BioFi even being touted by some as the next frontier for #ReFi. The combination of familiar tools (like PayPal) with decentralized mechanisms (like quadratic funding) expanded accessibility while staying aligned with the values of openness, participation, and innovation.
Looking ahead, these learnings open the door for even more localized applications of regenerative finance such as Bioregional Financing Facilities (BFFs) could take inspiration from models like Ma Earth’s grant round, hosting their own funding round to allocate resources within their region to portfolios of aligned projects. Additionally, we imagine community institutions or even local governments could benefit from leveraging tools like Gitcoin and Quadratic Funding (QF) to invite citizens to participate in public fund allocation. These mechanisms could bring transparency, inclusivity, and innovation to resource distribution at both regional and municipal scales.
As one bioregional organizing team noted:
“Seeing the bioregional movement come to life through the lens of regenerative finance, with a clear alignment of values toward care for the Earth and for the caretakers while creating real economic benefit on the ground using digital ledger technology and cryptocurrency at a global scale, is what was most valuable.”
What Comes Next?
The BioFi Pathfinders Grant Round highlighted the beauty, diversity, and potential of the bioregional movement on a global scale, setting the stage for deeper collaboration and refinement in future rounds.
While the financial results provided measurable success, the round’s deeper value emerged through the connections forged, the insights gained, and the collective story of bioregional finance as a framework for both local and global action. Moving forward, we see enormous potential in building on these relationships, advancing knowledge-sharing, addressing web3 onboarding challenges, and further amplifying the impact of our bioregional organizing teams’ work. This exchange lays the foundation for refining how we channel resources and amplify regeneration across thousands of interconnected bioregions, harmonizing landscapes and watersheds to catalyze a thriving, regenerative future.
As one grantee reflected:
“It was a living experiment in how web3 technology can advance bioregional finance and the promise of crowdfunding as a significant contributor to flowing capital to regenerative projects. This is just the start!”
The Pathfinders have shown the way forward, let’s keep exploring together!
