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Author: Lakshmi Karan Original Submission: January 13, 2025 Revised based on Senate Feedback: January 21, 2025

Abstract#

We want to run a workshop where university students imagine how people might organize and make decisions in space. Instead of teaching them the rules that exist today, we give them tools to think creatively. Students from ecology, regenerative systems, climate justice, and law will explore ideas like: How do communities on Earth share forests or water fairly? How does nature reuse everything in circles? Then they ask: Could any of this help us work together better in space?

Problem#

Right now, most decisions about space governance are made by a small group of institutions and experts with no room for creative imagination of alternatives. Students are rarely invited to shape the design of what might be possible. As humanity expands beyond Earth, we need fresh thinking from diverse places and perspectives.

Solution#

MoonDAO funding will support a three-day, student-led design workshop at Universidad NUR in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Students will draw on their own fields of study to imagine new possibilities for governance and organizing in space. For example, a student studying how forests regenerate might ask: What can circular systems in nature teach us about resource flows in space? A student studying community land management might ask: What can collective stewardship teach us about coordinating around shared space resources?

Why Universidad NUR? The university has strong programs in regenerative systems, sustainable development, and ecology, with faculty who like to try experimental teaching approaches. Students come from diverse backgrounds across Bolivia, with the university having a strong commitment to serving rural and indigenous communities. The student body includes both traditional-age undergraduates and mature students with professional experience in sustainability and development fields. The university is also providing in-kind support including facility hosting, faculty facilitation time, and administrative coordination for student outreach and selection.

Student Outreach and Selection: Universidad NUR faculty will conduct outreach across multiple departments. Students will apply with a brief statement of interest. Universidad NUR faculty will review applications and select participants to ensure diversity across disciplines and genuine engagement with the workshop themes, as they know their students best.

How the workshop flows:

• Students begin by briefly learning about the space race and lunar plans. This grounds them in the current reality.
• Then they turn to their own disciplines. Guided by a faculty member, they work in small groups, exploring questions like: What does my field know about organizing around shared resources? What does it teach about long-term coordination? What patterns or principles might be useful when thinking about space?
• Faculty from Universidad NUR participate as guides, helping students deepen their thinking.

After the workshop ends, a small group of law students affiliated with Universidad NUR take what emerged and examine it through a legal lens. They ask: How do these ideas connect to existing space law? What tensions or opportunities do they reveal? What new thinking might they offer? This creates a bridge between imagination and existing legal frameworks. If the experiment works well, LunARC will explore adapting this to other fields of study.

Benefits#

1. Broadening Who Engages in Space: Most space governance conversations happen among technical experts and established institutions. This workshop engages students from ecology, law, climate justice, and regenerative systems, broadening engagement in Latin America with fresh perspectives from different disciplines.
2. Why MoonDAO is the Right Partner: MoonDAO is already experimenting with new ways to coordinate and make decisions, and has community members interested in governance innovation and with connections relevant to the project (including links to the Bolivian Space Agency). The experimental, open-ended approach of the workshop also aligns with MoonDAO's mission of creating accessible futures for space exploration.
3. Knowledge Commons: Workshop insights, curriculum, and facilitation guides will be open-sourced for anyone to learn from and use.
4. Growing the Community: 3-5 participating students join MoonDAO as Citizens.
5. Visibility and Integration: MoonDAO will be co-branded on workshop materials and outputs. LunARC will share the partnership through our social media channels, presentations, and publications. Students learn about MoonDAO's mission and governance model as part of the workshop orientation.

Risks#

1. Risk: Limited output quality from student-led format
   • This is explicitly an experiment. The goal is expanding  imagination space, not producing governance space policy ready to use. Documentation will capture what we learn about the process, regardless of how polished the outputs are.
2. Risk: Budget overruns
   • The budget includes a $400 buffer for unexpected costs. All major expenses (facilitators, reviews and documentation) will be locked in before the workshop.
3. Risk: Workshop facilitators become unavailable
   • By partnering with Universidad NUR, we have access to multiple qualified faculty and facilitators, reducing dependency on any single individual.
4. Risk: Workshop timing may need adjustment
   • If unforeseen scheduling conflicts arise, the workshop may shift to early August. We are confident the Q2 timeline will work. If delayed, we will maintain student engagement through online cohort activities.

Objectives#

To successfully deliver a student-led governance design workshop exploring space futures at Universidad NUR. Key results include:

• ~20 students from diverse disciplines (regenerative systems, ecology, climate justice, law) complete three-day workshop
• Video showcasing workshop process, student perspectives (for social media and community sharing)
• Final workshop report documenting methodology, frameworks generated and key insights
• Space Law Translation paper completed by law students, analyzing workshop ideas through existing legal frameworks
• 3-5 workshop participants become MoonDAO Citizens and engage in community channels

Members responsible: Lakshmi Karan (Project Lead), Topher Wilkins (Project Support).

Team (Table A)#

Project Lead: Lakshmi Karan @Lakshmi3347 will work with Universidad Nur and other partners to recruit students, finalize workshop materials, manage the lab and prepare the final report.   Initial Team Role 1: Topher Wilkins @tophee5056 will support Lakshmi.  Multisig Signers: To be recruited from MoonDAO community during ideation phase

1. @Lakshmi3347: 0xf85dbc31d0c7bd46eb9ec684a64d97e41ab04ce3
2. @tophee5056: 0x214a0c6ddd9bd4415a1d4db542d32340112155b7
3. @ryand2d: ryand2d.eth
4. @pmoncada: pmoncada.eth
5. @BenLifeShip: lifeship.eth

Team Bios#

Dr. Lakshmi Karan is the co-founder of LunARC, a citizen-space initiative dedicated to democratizing space and reimagining humanity’s cooperative future beyond Earth. Her career spans leadership roles at Genentech, The Skoll Foundation, and Riders for Health, where she advanced large-scale social impact at the intersection of science, technology, and systemic change. Trained as both a political scientist and a coder, with a Ph.D. in International Relations and a deep grounding in systems thinking, Lakshmi brings a unique multidisciplinary lens to some of the world’s most complex challenges. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lakshmikaran/

Topher Wilkins is the co-founder of LunARC and CEO of Opportunity Collaboration and Connective Impact. He is a recognized leader in the social impact sector, dedicated to convening and connecting changemakers to build sustainable solutions for poverty and injustice. For over 20 years, he has specialized in "meta-ecosystem building"—facilitating collaborative environments where nonprofit executives, social entrepreneurs, and impact investors can align their efforts for global change. https://www.linkedin.com/in/topherwilkins/

Multisig Member #1: Lakshmi Karan  Multisig Member #2: Topher Wilkins  Multisig Member #3: Ryan https://x.com/ryand2d  Multisig Member #4: Pablo Moncada-Larrotiz https://twitter.com/pablo_moncada Multisig Member #5: Ben Haldeman https://www.linkedin.com/in/benhaldeman/ Founder & CEO of LifeShip

Timeline (Table B)#

Deadline: Q2 2026

Transactions (Table C)#

In-kind/Pro-bono contributions (not included in budget):

• Storytelling advisory by partner: Museum of Ideas
• Legal translation advisory by partner: ICAAD
• Venue and administrative support by Universidad NUR