01
Name the frame
We start with the metaphor: is this dataset being treated like oil to extract, or like soil that needs care and clear limits?
About the playbook
This is the playbook we use in GainForest workshops with Indigenous and local communities, along with the field partners and builders who work on ecological data infrastructure.
It turns the Data is Soil idea into work people can do in a room: they name extraction patterns, draw boundaries before collection, write AI agent rules a community can hold, and connect those rules to Bumicerts, Taina, and AudioMoth deployments.

How we use it in workshops
01
We start with the metaphor: is this dataset being treated like oil to extract, or like soil that needs care and clear limits?
02
Before anyone introduces tools, participants map who decides about collection, review, modelling, correction, benefit, and withdrawal.
03
By the end, participants have things they can use: boundary statements, agent rules, refusal pathways, Bumicerts, Taina constitutions, and AudioMoth deployment protocols.
Workshop history
The course is a working draft because the practice is still alive. These GainForest field notes show the workshops, deployments, councils, prototypes, and community conversations behind the materials here.
Jan to Jul 2024 · Amazonas, Brazil
How the workshop practice grew alongside biodiversity fieldwork.
Read on Substack ↗Oct 2024 · Cagwait, Surigao del Sur, Philippines
Field notes on bioacoustic monitoring as community data work.
Read on Substack ↗Apr 2024 · Amazon Rainforest / Manaus, Brazil
A first look at AI assistance governed by communities.
Read on Substack ↗Jul 2024 · Amazon, Brazil & Philippines partner network
The governance layer behind consent, pricing, review, and withdrawal.
Read on Substack ↗Jul 2024 · Amazonas, Brazil
Reflections on conservation led by communities and data stewardship.
Read on Substack ↗Jun 2025 · Tsunza Peninsula & Ukunda, coastal Kenya
Turning field visits into portable proof of ecological impact.
Read on Substack ↗Feb 2026 · Semporna, Sabah, Malaysia
Rethinking conservation practice through local knowledge and protocols.
Read on Substack ↗14 Feb 2026 · Kampala, Uganda
How local conservation leaders explored new tools for coordination.
Read on Substack ↗Jun 2025 · Magadi / Olkiramatian, Kenya's South Rift
What conservation looks like when it begins from place and relationship.
Read on Substack ↗15 to 23 Jan 2025 · Surigao del Sur, Philippines
Lessons from conservation payments and practical infrastructure in the Philippines.
Read on Substack ↗Apr 2025 · Kilifi, Kenya
Lessons on technology that stays accountable to culture and community.
Read on Substack ↗Bring it into practice