The consequences of the human footprint on nature do not just affect individuals or countries. All attitudes and approaches are now changing the global system as a whole, with lasting consequences for each and every one of us.
2021 was an important year in which we saw how web3 technologies can be used for social impact. But in the first quarter of 2022, we have seen that there are many more possibilities. Crypto philanthropy, the growth of social and environmental impact-focused NFTs and startups like KlimaDAO, and the proliferation of the decentralised science (DeSci) movement have all transformed impact and benefit work.
What this has shown us is that emerging technologies like blockchain or NFTs can enable differentiated solutions to address social and environmental challenges in areas as diverse as youth, climate change and humanitarian aid. Investment in these technologies, and the startup ecosystem around them, has also been invigorated by Web3’s potential to solve our world’s problems. In line with this potential, the UNICEF Startup Fud, for example, has launched a non-equity cryptocurrency investment programme to provide early-stage seed funding and mentorship to non-profit tech startups. The ReFi movement, on the other hand, has shown us that web3 can be another way of solving global problems at the intersection of finance and social impact.
ReFi (Regenerative Finance) is a movement that embraces a new way of enabling both financial return and positive change.
So, here money is not an end, but a means (and a good one at that) to go beyond circularity and sustainability. With the goal of a new economy, ReFi has the possibility to bring about change with an integrative approach to repair the existing resources and system.
“Our economy has become an anti-economy, a financial system without a sound economic basis and without economic virtues.”
-Wendell Berry
Crises and conflicts all over the world necessitate a paradigm shift on a global scale. ReFi Turkey is looking for a response to this, and this is exactly where the theory of change comes in. So what does “theory of change” mean? We can see the theory of change as a basic tool for social impact measurement. As defined by Paul Brest, it can be described as “the empirical basis underlying any social intervention”. In simpler terms:
Theory of Change is the interrelated presentation of a project or process that produces impact, its objectives and how change is created in achieving these objectives.
What Do We Want?
Exploring the driving forces in systems thinking
Accelerate the journey to measurable impact in the application areas of repair
To make sense of collective production spaces by experiencing new technology fictions
What Do We Do?
ReFi Türkiye Podcast: Podcast conversations with pioneers who think and build on Web3
Newsletter with research, interviews and translations
Web3 Economy Training
ReFriday Meetings
Turkey ReFi Report for Making Sense of the Ecosystem
Areas such as hackathon, bootcamp where ideas will be generated
Wikimarathons
Content reflecting the global events
So How Do We Create Change?
We open a space for rethinking the foundations and virtues of today's economy, involving young people and organisations. In this way, we aim to develop a participatory and collective impact-oriented perspective.
We create mechanisms that enable those who have ideas on finance, technology and social impact to learn and produce together. In this way, we close the pioneer gap in the sector.
ReFi Türkiye Theory of Change
“If you begin to understand the foundations of the living planet and the vulnerable interdependence of the living world, what kind of economic system would serve this?” –Kate Raworth, Flourish Systems Change
“We made finance up. We can make it up again.” -Joy Anderson, Criterion Institute