Ma Earth Learning Lab 14: Certified

This learning lab explored who owns and benefits from land stewardship data—and what changes when those closest to the land can define, measure, and communicate their own impact. Together with Holke Brammer and the teams behind Hypercerts Foundation and Certified, we examined how open protocols like AT Protocol can help environmental organizations protect and leverage one of the century’s most valuable assets—data.

The session unpacked why data ownership in land stewardship matters, who currently captures value from it, and how alternative approaches could rebalance power toward local stewards. We explored how AT Protocol enables user-controlled data and portable identities, and how communities can develop their own impact metrics grounded in lived realities rather than external standards. Building on this, we discussed how the work of the Hypercerts Foundation on retroactive impact reporting can support more transparent, credible, and flexible funding models—helping philanthropy and environmental stewardship evolve to better meet today’s complex challenges.