Call for Theme Sponsors (CED) – Invitation

About Theme B — Recycled Crafts

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Why this theme

Much of what communities throw away — plastic, fabric, paper, glass, wood, cans — can become products people want to buy: bags, homeware, accessories, decor. A few skilled makers already do this well, but the know-how rarely travels: how to source and clean materials safely, which technique suits which material, how to make products consistent enough to sell, how to price them so the work pays, and how to tell the story that makes a buyer care.

This program passes that know-how on, one maker at a time, so waste becomes income and the skill spreads through the community. It also gives sponsors something few programs can: a circular outcome measured at the level of real people — products made, materials reused, makers earning.

A pilot, built to be compared

This is one of CED's first two themed programs, run side by side in DEP 3 with Theme A — Community Self-Governance Skills. The two themes are deliberately different — a coordination skill and a hands-on livelihood skill — so CED can learn what the themed-program model needs in each case, and the two DAO teams can learn from, and push, each other.

Theme B runs in DEP 3 if sponsor pledges reach at least $1,500 by 31 December 2026. If the pilot works, CED intends to run further programs in this theme, each with its own Theme Sponsors.

Program shape

About 200 one-to-one sessions for around 30 makers at full funding; at the $1,500 threshold, about 100 sessions for around 15 makers. The program is sized to the funding raised.
Six core sessions per maker, plus up to two electives chosen by relevance. When a maker doesn't need an elective, the slot goes to another maker.
Live, online, and hands-on. Each session is a one-to-one video conversation. Its length — 20, 30, 40, or 50 minutes — follows the Guide's verified expertise level, and a session counts as completed once both sides reach at least 80% of that length.
Two devices, hands in view. Practice sessions use CED's two-device setup: one device for the conversation, a second on a stand pointing at the maker's hands and work surface, so the Guide can see the technique and correct it live.
Language: English.

Who takes part

Who	Role
Makers	The learners. Artisans, community and women's groups, youth, and small makers who want to turn discarded materials into products, joining as Explorers — free of charge.
Guides	Upcycle designers, craft mentors, and circular-economy practitioners who run the sessions — sourced by CED, including people from Theme Sponsor organizations. Every Guide is verified.
CED — the Theme B DAO team	The operator. Its members secure the program's sponsors, build the curriculum and ready the Guides, recruit and match the makers, and run and report on the sessions.
Kambria	Organizes DEP 3 and, during this pilot, supports it and its partnerships alongside CED — taking part in outreach and sponsor calls, co-building the base curriculum, and qualifying Guides (for quality) and learners (for fit).
You, the Theme Sponsor	Make the program possible through funding (your people may also apply as Guides), and help shape its focus when the curriculum is finalized.

How the curriculum works

Learn by making, with your own materials. Each maker works with the materials actually available to them, at their own work surface — not a demo kit.
"Completed" means real work, not a test. Every core session ends with something real: a sourcing plan, a technique practiced and logged, a prototype, a price sheet, a live product listing.
Practice you can see. Two sessions are live practice on camera, so the Guide can watch the maker's hands and correct technique in the moment.
A required core, plus electives. The core takes a maker from materials to a sellable product; electives widen what they can take on.
Safety first. The program works only with clean, everyday post-consumer materials — plastic, fabric, paper and cardboard, glass, wood, cans. Electronic, chemical, medical, and other hazardous waste are out of scope, and safe handling is part of the core.

The learning outcome

A maker has completed the program when they can take a discarded material to a finished, priced product, end to end — source and prepare it safely, apply a technique consistently, design a product people want, price it so the work pays, and offer it for sale with its circular story — and has produced the core artifacts that show it.

Curriculum outline

The base curriculum is built by Kambria and CED, and finalized with the program's Theme Sponsor(s). ★ marks a two-device practice session.

Session	What the maker works on	Artifact
Core 1 — Materials & maker snapshot	What the maker makes today, what materials they can reliably get, and what they want from the program	Maker snapshot and goal
Core 2 — Sourcing & safe preparation	Where materials come from, which to avoid, and how to collect, clean, sort, and handle them safely	Sourcing and safety plan
Core 3 — A technique, practiced live ★	The Guide demonstrates a technique suited to the maker's material; the maker practices it on camera with live feedback	Technique log and a first practice piece
Core 4 — Product & design	Turning the technique into a product people want, and making it consistent enough to sell	Product concept and prototype photo
Core 5 — Costing & pricing	Material, time, and other costs; margins; a price that pays for the work	Cost and price sheet
Core 6 — Selling & the circular story ★	Choosing channels (local and online), photographing the product live, writing a listing that tells the recycled story honestly	A live product listing and story; completion recorded
Electives (up to two)	Chosen by relevance — see below	Depends on the elective

Electives (chosen by relevance)

online marketplaces and e-commerce
product photography and branding
a second technique, practiced live
working as a group or cooperative
partnering with waste collectors and local businesses for steady materials
honest circular claims — what you can and can't say
teaching your craft to others
getting paid online, including digital and stablecoin payments

Sample session — Core 3: A technique, practiced live ★

What it’s for

The maker leaves able to apply one upcycling technique suited to their material — for example, weaving strips of plastic bags, fusing plastic film into sheets, or turning fabric scraps into a patchwork panel — well enough to repeat it on their own.

Format

One 40–50 minute one-to-one session using two devices, with a short prompt beforehand: "Prepare a clean batch of the material you want to work with, and set up your second device so it shows your hands and work surface."

Part	Time	What happens
Check-in and setup	5 min	Confirm the second device shows hands and work surface clearly; quick look at the prepared material
Safety check	3 min	Tools, ventilation, and handling for this material and technique
Demonstration	10 min	The Guide demonstrates the technique step by step on their own camera
Practice with live feedback	20 min	The maker works on camera; the Guide watches and corrects in the moment
Review and log	5 min	What worked, what to repeat, common mistakes — written into the technique log
Commit	3 min	One practice piece to finish before the next session

What the maker leaves with

A technique log and a first practice piece — the base for designing a product in Core 4.

What makes it work

The Guide teaches on the maker's own material and work surface, not a perfect demo kit, so what the maker learns works with what they actually have.

→ Session slides: link · Artifact template: link

How impact is measured and reported

CED measures the program on DEP 3's three impact axes, from platform session records and short field notes, plus a few circular measures reported by the makers.

Axis	What it shows	Program targets (full program)
Reach	How many makers and sessions the program reaches	About 200 sessions; about 30 makers
Depth	Whether makers go deep enough to use the skills	At least 80% complete the core track; before/after self-assessment; session feedback
Self-propagation	Whether it carries on without the program	At least 10 makers list or sell a product during the program; at least 5 become Guides; at least 25% take an organic next step — keep selling, teach others, or form a group — within about 3 months of completing the core
Circular (reported)	What the making adds up to	Products made and materials reused, as reported by the makers

If the program runs below full funding, its targets scale with the number of makers.

What you receive

a mid-program progress note,
an end-of-program impact report with two or three participant stories (shared with consent), and a short comparison with Theme A,
and a follow-up on makers' next steps about three months after they complete the core track.

How we report

Session and completion figures are reported as measured from platform records.
Skill gains are reported as self-assessed; products made and materials reused are reported as the makers report them.
Targets are what we aim for, not guarantees — this is a pilot, and we report what actually happens, including what doesn't work.