Building a Blockchain-Based Decentralized Crowdfunding Platform for Social and Educational Causes in the Context of Sustainable Development

Abstract

Blockchain technology contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is UNESCO’s education sector response to the urgent and dramatic challenges the planet faces. The traditional way of donating money to charitable causes, such as education, has been through centralized methods and organizations that lack transparency, and donors often do not have a clear understanding of how their contributions are being utilized. Blockchain technology, particularly, platforms like Ethereum and Polygon, has the potential to address the issues associated with traditional donation systems. This paper proposes a decentralized web3 application that utilizes blockchain technology to enhance transparency and efficiency in educational donations in the context of sustainable development. The platform leverages decentralized protocols and smart contracts to ensure secure and transparent transactions, enabling donors to track the utilization of their contributions and ensuring their funds reach their intended beneficiaries. This paper discusses the design and implementation of the platform, highlighting its features and potential for transforming the landscape of charitable donations. This software application can be used in education, and a demo plus some scenarios/work cases are presented/analyzed. The main results and contributions open other future research directions for not only authors.