Rifai Sicilia is a community integrating traditional culture and new technology to create a regenerative economy. We frequently organize landscape restoration and mutual aid events to help kickstart the transition to a more resilient society.
What vision, opportunity, or community need inspired your action? Help readers who may not know your community understand what you're building toward and why it matters.
The Mediterranean basin faces converging crises: desertification, biodiversity collapse, and soil degradation. Traditional farmers lack resources and coordination to adopt regenerative practices. Environmental initiatives struggle with opacity and community engagement.
But what if every Mediterranean citizen could become an active regenerator—planting trees, restoring soil, supporting local farmers—while being transparently rewarded and connected to a bioregional movement?
This vision inspired MediTerra DAO: a decentralized platform transforming fragmented efforts into a coordinated, incentivized, transparent regeneration network spanning from Sicily to Andalusia, from Sardinia to North Africa.
The Caffeine.ai Hackathon at Pescara University (September 19, 2025) offered the perfect catalyst. Organized by Caffeine.ai and Internet Computer Protocol (ICP), the challenge invited participants to create technology or non-tech solutions for real-world problems. We saw an opportunity to prove that regenerative finance isn't just theory—it's ready to scale.
What took place during the action? (What activities, events, or processes happened?)
As the only non-technical entry among 20+ participants, Rifai Sicilia presented MediTerra DAO Platform—a comprehensive decentralized ecosystem designed to coordinate Mediterranean bioregional regeneration.
The platform architecture includes:
1. Decentralized Governance (DAO) Community-driven decision-making on project funding and priorities—no top-down NGO control
2. Solidarity Marketplace Direct sales of local products with complete blockchain traceability from farm to table
3. TERRA Credits System Tokenized rewards for regenerative actions: planting trees, attending permaculture workshops, beach cleanups, transitioning to agroforestry
4. Project Coordination Hub Infrastructure to organize and fund agroforestry, reforestation, and restoration initiatives across the Mediterranean
5. Real-Time Impact Tracking Scientific metrics on CO2 sequestration, trees planted, biodiversity restored—visible to all stakeholders
What truths or insights did this action reveal?
1. Regenerative Projects Must Lead Tech Innovation, Not Follow It By entering as "non-tech," we proved something crucial: the regenerative movement doesn't need to wait for developers to build solutions. We understand our needs better than any external tech team. When regenerators lead design, platforms actually serve communities.
2. Legitimacy Comes From Doing, Not Just Designing Our existing network—farmers transitioning to syntropic agroforestry, active Gitcoin campaigns, documented tree plantings via Silvi—gave MediTerra credibility. Judges could see this wasn't speculative; it was scaling what already works.
3. Blockchain Skepticism Dissolves With Tangible Use Cases Many still view Web3 as speculative. By framing blockchain as infrastructure for transparent impact tracking and farmer payments—not investment—we shifted perception. The technology became invisible; the regeneration became visible.
Gift to Community: What enduring tool, method, or story emerged that others can benefit from?
Any bioregion—Appalachia, Amazon Basin, Mekong Delta—can adapt the MediTerra model:
Core Components:
Next Steps / Call to Action: What comes next for this project? How can your community or Bloom network support you?
mmediate (Q4 2025):
Short-term (Q1 2026):
Medium-term (2026):
IMPACTS
