Climate Action Contributor Portal

Team

Team Member	Role	Focus Area
Francis Wang	Lead Researcher	System architecture, knowledge curation, practitioner interviews
Amanda Wu	UX/UI Design	Intentional human-computer interaction for navigating the knowledge base
Alex Li	UX/UI Design	Intentional human-computer interaction for navigating the knowledge base
Maria Smirnova	Indigenous Knowledge Research	TEK sovereignty guidelines, curating public-domain Indigenous knowledge
Arwin Tio	Data Architecture	Graph DB, data ingestion pipeline, deployment
James Cheng	Platform & Content	Resource gathering, interview processing, platform engineering

Demo Components

Note: The knowledge graph navigation and interaction design is TBD pending input from Amanda and Alex. The following describes the functional scope; final UX decisions will be informed by their design research.

1. Knowledge Graph

• Interconnected nodes for regenerative techniques (swale, berm, check dam, terracing, guilds, food forest…)
• Functional relationships: dependencies, sequences, complements
• Multiple lenses: climate adaptation, biodiversity, food security, water management
• Customizable filters: geography, technique type, evidence level
• Scale target: hundreds of connected patterns minimum

2. Practitioner Navigation

• Input conditions (soil type, climate, slope) → prioritized technique recommendations
• Patterns from multiple traditions: permaculture, academic ecology, TEK
• Each pattern includes: problem, mechanism, evidence, implementation steps, outcomes
• AI-assisted recommendations based on condition matching

3. TEK Sovereignty Demonstration

Champion needed: Someone to gather publicly available Indigenous knowledge and demonstrate the sovereignty mechanism.

• Uses publicly available Indigenous ecological knowledge as demonstration data (NOT private/protected knowledge)
• Core feature: a community contributes knowledge → affiliates can access → community retains ability to withdraw contributions at any time
• Demonstrates data sovereignty + community-controlled access + graceful withdrawal
• CARE Principles (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics) guide all TEK inclusion

4. Contribution Workflow

• Interviews: Semi-structured practitioner interviews to gather information and context for the knowledge graph
• Instructional interviews: Learning from experts to build domain understanding
• Community contribution forms for proposing new patterns
• Confidence tiers: stub → seed → validated → canonical
• Community moderation per bioregion

Data Sources & Collection Strategy

Interviews (Primary Method)

• Francis conducts personal practitioner interviews
• Semi-structured format: gather stories, context, and technique knowledge
• Recorded → transcripts → AI-processed into knowledge atoms
• Team members can also conduct interviews and contribute

Book Processing

• Backlog of permaculture, ecology, and land management books
• Bulk AI processing into structured patterns
• Each pattern: problem, mechanism, evidence, implementation, outcomes

AI Research Agents

• Dispatched for large-scale information gathering from academic and practitioner sources
• Structured output feeding directly into graph

Existing Knowledge

• Permaculture atoms already curated: Swale, Berm, Check Dam, Terracing, Catchment, Runoff, Zone Planning, Guilds, Succession, Water Systems, Hugelkultur, and more

Indigenous Knowledge (Public Domain)

• Maria researches and curates publicly available Indigenous ecological knowledge
• Fire management, water harvesting, soil building, food forest systems
• Used as demonstration data for TEK sovereignty mechanism

Deployment

This is an openly accessible knowledge map:

• No login required to browse and learn
• Anyone interested can explore the knowledge base
• The bigger and more formed the map, the better
• A genuine public good for climate action practitioners worldwide
• TEK sections demonstrate the withdrawal mechanism

Milestones

Date	Milestone	Owner
Jun 12	Interview template/outline finalized	Francis
Jun 13–25	Ongoing interview sprint	Francis + team
Jun 15	Existing permaculture atoms exported as graph payload	James + Francis
Jun 15	Maria begins Indigenous knowledge research (public domain)	Maria
Jun 18	App scaffolded (standalone, open-access deployment)	Arwin
Jun 18	Amanda + Alex begin UX research and interaction design	Amanda + Alex
Jun 20	Book processing pipeline operational (bulk ingest)	Francis
Jun 22	TEK sovereignty demo: contribute → access → withdraw	Arwin + Francis
Jun 25	Full map navigable, open access, with TEK withdrawal demo	All
Jun 28	Pitch rehearsal + video	All
Jun 30	Deployed, open-access + video recorded	All
Jul 2	Planet Track pitch competition	All

Task Assignments

Amanda Wu & Alex Li (UX/UI)

• Conduct design research for knowledge map navigation patterns
• Define interaction model for exploring the graph (how users discover, filter, relate)
• Design the practitioner input flow (conditions → recommendations)
• Design TEK sovereignty UX (contribute, access, withdraw flows)
• Create visual design system for the app

Maria Smirnova (Indigenous Knowledge)

• Research publicly available Indigenous ecological knowledge
• Curate into structured patterns (problem, mechanism, evidence, implementation)
• Develop TEK sovereignty guidelines based on CARE Principles
• Identify demonstration dataset for withdrawal mechanism
• Ensure all material is genuinely public domain / open access

Arwin Tio (Data Architecture)

• Configure Neo4j schema for pattern atoms + relationships
• Build data ingestion pipeline (interview transcripts → atoms)
• Scaffold standalone app (open-access deployment)
• Implement TEK withdrawal mechanism (community → grant → revoke)
• Deploy to home cluster

James Cheng (Platform & Content)

• Export existing Sandbox permaculture atoms into graph format
• Process interview transcripts into structured patterns
• Gather additional resources (papers, practitioner guides, open data)
• Build contribution workflow UI

Francis Wang (Lead)

• Conduct personal practitioner interviews
• System architecture and pattern schema design
• Book processing pipeline (AI-assisted bulk ingest)
• AI research agent deployment for large-scale collection
• Pitch narrative and presentation delivery
• Coordination across team

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