We are thrilled to announce that Gardens is an official part of Bread Cooperative.

Gardens is a familiar name for many in left-leaning and regenerative Web3 spaces. If you're hearing about them for the first time, the Gardens-Bread lore runs deep and you're in the right place to learn all about it!

But first, let's fill you in on the essential information.

Gardens is a governance platform that enables communities to exercise greater democratic control over shared resources. This idea isn't new, with so many governments, DAOs and groups of all kinds pursuing fairer representation that they hope will drive the best outcomes.

Crypto is many things to many people. Enrichment, community, livelihoods; we've heard plenty about the popular use cases. But for many in the crypto left, blockchain tech forms a vital puzzle piece towards building a fairer world. Gardens' contributions are key here, with their use of a mechanism called "Conviction Voting."

Anyone who's been part of an organization knows how hard collective decision-making can be. Traditional voting systems often force us into binary choices at arbitrary times, which don't necessarily reflect how people actually form and hold opinions.

Online communities face these same challenges, but amplified. DAO governance becomes a cycle of endless proposals, tight deadlines, and decisions you're expected to make without adequate context.

Conviction Voting offers a better way. It lets you signal ongoing support for what matters without arbitrary deadlines or forced choices. Gardens takes this further by breaking decisions into categories, so you can focus on areas where you have actual knowledge and interest.

The core of Conviction Voting is measuring how much the group truly cares about specific issues. Your support for an idea builds and sustains over time, not just at a single moment. You can back multiple projects simultaneously, with your conviction showing which ones matter most to you.

You can visit the Gardens Conviction Voting documentation to explore this mechanism in more detail. There are also plenty of existing funds already on their site. We'd recommend you have a look at the sort of ideas being supported, and hope that can get you thinking about how your organisations can benefit from this novel way of gauging community enthusiasm.

Gardens emerged from 1hive, one of the first projects building alternative governance on Gnosis Chain. Bread Cooperative also got our start on Gnosis, and our relationship with Gardens has spanned years. The value alignment has always been strong, with both of our organisations making it our mission to create better tools for working people.

As promised, here's a look at our organisations' shared lore.

• Bread already has a fund on the Gardens platform that you can check out here.

• Friends of Bread Cooperative participated in the Tesla Takedown protests, which we covered in our Zine at the Bread Popup with Funding the Commons earlier this year. Tesla is an especially litigious company, so we used Gardens to set up a legal defence fund to help aid protesters.

• For the true trench-inhabiting crypto natives in our midst, Bread maintains a liquidity pool with 1hive's HNY token that you can find here.

• Paul Glavin from the Gardens team had an in-depth chat with Bread co-founder Josh Dávila on The Blockchain Socialist podcast. This is a very accessible explanation of Gardens' approach to governance and we would recommend this for beginners and experienced heads alike.

• Paul will also make an appearance at the next Wednesday Temperature Check on the CryptoLeftists Discord so here's a chance to ask any questions in person!

We're building a coalition of value-aligned projects focused on a better world for working people. Gardens adding their exceptional expertise is a significant step forward, but we still have everything left to do. Many hands make the dream work, so we encourage you to do what you can.

Head over to Gardens and support some causes that speak to you. Visit the all-new Bread Solidarity Fund to bake some BREAD and generate yield that will support Gardens' communities around the world. Support takes many forms, and sharing this update within your network really does move the needle, bringing valuable insights to those who can benefit.

Our new era as Bread Cooperative continues, and the building doesn't stop. Thank you for being a part of our community, let's keep building the future we wish to see.

Solidarity forever 🍞