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New to the Commons? | David Bollier

If you’re coming to the commons for the first time, it can be difficult to grok the idea because there are so many different ways to understand the commons.  That’s because the commons is not so much a fixed, universal thing as a general concept describing durable, dynamic sets of social relationships for managing resources -- all sorts of resources:  digital, urban, natural, indigenous, rural, cultural, scientific, to use some crude categories.

Commons

The commons are the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons can also be understood as natural resources that groups of people manage for individual and collective benefit. Characteristically, this involves a variety of informal norms and values employed for a governance mechanism. Commons can also be defined as a social practice of governing a resource not by state or market but by a community of users that self-governs the resource through institutions that it creates.

A Revised “Ostrom’s Design Principles for Collective Governance of the Commons

A Revised “Ostrom’s Design Principles for Collective Governance of the Commons” The traditional economic definition of “the commons” are those resources...

Think Like a Commoner | A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons

In our age of predatory markets and make-believe democracy, our troubled political institutions have lost sight of real people and practical realities. But if you look to the edges, ordinary people are reinventing governance and provisioning on their own terms. The commons is arising as a serious, practical alternative to the corrupt Market/State.

The Commons, Short and Sweet | David Bollier

I am always trying to figure out how to explain the idea of the commons to newcomers who find it hard to grasp.  In preparation for a talk that I gave at the Caux Forum for Human Security, near Montreux, Switzerland, I came up with a fairly short overview, which I have copied below.  I think it gets to the nub of things.

Reinventing Commons Governance in Modern Times | David Bollier

I gave the following remarks about commons governance on September 27 as part of the U!REKA Lab Lecture Series. U!REKA -- which stands for Urban Research and Education Knowledge Alliance -- is a consortium of eight European universities that studies urban commons. The subtitle of my talk was "Find Answers by Living the Questions."

Funding the Commons | Public Goods Funding

We convene researchers, builders, and institutions to develop the funding mechanisms, governance systems, and coordination tools that public goods need in an age of AI.

CommonsCloud – Eines lliures tecnoètiques cooperatives

Eines lliures tecnoètiques cooperatives

The tragedy of the commons is a false and dangerous myth | Aeon Essays

Far from being profoundly destructive, we humans have deep capacities for sharing resources with generosity and foresight

Commoning as a Transformative Social Paradigm | David Bollier

Every so often I am invited to write a piece that in effect answers the question, “Why the commons?”  I invariably find new answers to that question each time that I re-engage with it.  My latest attempt is an essay, “Commoning as a Transformative Social Paradigm,” which I wrote for the Next System Project as part of its series of proposals for systemic alternatives.

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Solidarity Infrastructures is a class that brings together creative practitioners from respective communities to investigate, strategize, upskill, and dream toward alternative socio-technological systems.

Crowdmatching for Public Goods — Snowdrift.coop

We support works that everyone can use, adapt, and share freely. But as public goods, anyone can freeride. And that presents a dilemma in getting funded. Our innovative platform brings people together to address this problem.

Bluesky 101: How-to Guide for Progressives

The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.

Patterns of Commoning | The Commons Strategies Group

Patterns of Commoning: The Commons Strategies Group

Living Systems Network – Living Systems Network

Holding space to build and celebrate community to #coGrow and #coCook. coFood Vancouver catalyzes neighbours and projects doing good work in our food communities. Together we practice collaborative urban farming through a #permaculture lens, and convene dinners & dialogues on #foodwaste - #foodsupply - #foodjustice - #foodtech - #foodeducation