diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 
 Veiled Dominion's four-player rules authority remains [`Loptr-Lab/veiled-dominion-engine`](https://github.com/Loptr-Lab/veiled-dominion-engine). Duet remains a separate accessibility artifact and experimental mechanics lab. See [`RESEARCH_AND_CANON_BOUNDARY.md`](./RESEARCH_AND_CANON_BOUNDARY.md).
 
+This repository is also the contributor on-ramp within the wider Loptr Lab
+ecosystem. Read [`ROLE_IN_ECOSYSTEM.md`](./ROLE_IN_ECOSYSTEM.md) before describing
+how training work relates to narrative, research, or production evidence.
+
 ## 📍 State Workforce & Vocational Rehabilitation Intake
 
 State workforce agencies (VR offices, local Workforce Development Boards) operate under different application workflows and funding eligibility rules.
@@ -154,6 +158,8 @@ Finishing this exercise well is a real, gradable signal — see `REVIEWER_SCOREC
 **Program sponsor:** Loptr Lab
 **Questions:** questions@loptrlab.com
 
+Wider pathways: [ibloud.github.io/collaborate](https://ibloud.github.io/collaborate/)
+
 
 ---
 
diff --git a/ROLE_IN_ECOSYSTEM.md b/ROLE_IN_ECOSYSTEM.md
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+# Training — Role in the Ecosystem
+
+## Classification
+
+**Contributor on-ramp · workforce-training experiment · noncanonical technical artifact**
+
+This repository helps contributors demonstrate systems reasoning before working on scoped production tasks. It also provides evidence for Loptr Lab's practice research into onboarding, evaluation, accessibility, knowledge transfer, and founder-led production.
+
+It does not grant academic credit, employment, compensation, revenue share, game canon authority, or access to private project materials.
+
+## How training advances the practice
+
+| Training evidence | Possible next contribution |
+|---|---|
+| Passing engine contracts and clear design notes | Scoped Veiled Dominion engine issue |
+| Balance analysis and playtest documentation | Systems-design research task |
+| Accessible technical-art prototype | Accessibility review or rendering experiment |
+| Strong archive or documentation work | Provenance and continuity task |
+
+Movement into another repository requires a separate scoped issue, maintainer approval, and written terms appropriate to the work.
+
+## Boundaries
+
+- Training abstractions are not Veiled Dominion canon.
+- Candidate results are evidence, not promises of selection or work.
+- Personal disability, benefits, housing, medical, or financial records must not be committed.
+- Academic placements require prior institutional and project approval.
+- Paid or revenue-sharing work requires a separate signed agreement.
+
+## Start points
+
+- [Creative ecosystem](https://ibloud.github.io/ecosystem/)
+- [Collaboration pathways](https://ibloud.github.io/collaborate/)
+- [Canonical engine](https://github.com/Loptr-Lab/veiled-dominion-engine)