As the world situation continues to deteriorate, there is every hope that 2017 will see a critical new actor emerge on the international stage: a colossal movement of massed goodwill that demands an emergency response from governments to life-threatening poverty and hunger. For many years now, STWR has made the case for a massive mobilisation… Continue reading
Around the world, plant breeders are resisting what they see as corporate control of the food supply by making seeds available for other breeders to use. This article reports on a number of important new initiatives that have the potential to integrate the various projects and movements working against the enclosure of living material and… Continue reading
Whether in the natural or virtual world – the wildly diverging ways in which resources are conceived of and managed shows us that a commons-based approach, rather than one following market logics, can lead to dramatically different outcomes. An interview with Molly Scott Cato and Ugo Mattei. This post is part of our series of… Continue reading
This project in the city of Ghent, where Michel Bauwens and the P2P Foundation will undertake a ‘commons research’ project next spring, is based on the cooperation of design students, experts, and citizen participation: This call was originally published here. Photo by blavandmaster
How do you win an election? According to Ahora Madrid’s Miguel Arana and Victoria Anderica, the key is keeping it real – with real openness and participation. It won’t work to pay lip service to those ideals and abandon them later. There’s no faking it. This year we’ve been talking about the municipalist uprising in… Continue reading
”Citation 1, Executive coach and management consultant Julia Culen:” “I felt like being part of a code, operating [within] an algorithm that is optimized for machines, but not for humans. Instead of feeling more whole, self-organized and more powerful, I felt trapped. The circles I was being part of did not feel empowering at all… Continue reading
“Society runs, the economy follows. Let’s (re)design institutions and law together.” ’This is the credo of LabGov – the Laboratory for the governance of the commons in Italy, that was behind the pioneering “Bologna Regulation” – a guidebook on public-civic collaboration in the city. Kati Van de Velde spoke with LabGov’s founder, Professor Christian Iaione…. Continue reading
This year’s Brexit vote in Great Britain touted as effort to reclaim national sovereignty. In two years’ time, the British aim to reclaim freedom from the oppressive bureaucracy of the EU. Great Britain’s currency played a role in the decision. The Sterling’s status as a strong global currency allows the island nation to participate in… Continue reading
How has activism in Spain produced new political platforms that are victorious in municipal elections? Are there stories, lessons, methods or tools that can be shared or translated to other contexts? How might these support the growing movement in France? CommonsPolis — a civil society initiative to create dialogue between progressive municipalist movements and city… Continue reading
We recently published David Bollier’s excellent overview of Barcelona’s struggles to advance the commons. That article was written after David’s visit to the city last November and here is the video of his presentation during that trip. Enjoy. From the Notes to the Original Video: A new type of citizen economy is emerging – the… Continue reading
Both Trump and Brexit can be explained by the failure of mainstream political elites to address the pain inflicted on ordinary citizens in the neoliberal era, write Helena Norberg-Hodge & Rupert Read. In the US and the UK, working class voters rightly rejected the corporate globalisation that has created so much poverty and insecurity. But… Continue reading
Co-Mapping our Transition Towards Abundance for All The Social Network we Truly Need An Open Design Proposal by Julia Pichler This excellent proposal by Julia Pichler, who is an architect and designer with a background in permaculture lays out how a P2P based society could grow from the bottom up. The comprehensive strategy of the design proposes… Continue reading
As a partner in a business involving real estate and property managment, I often relied on the opinions of the two partners who were real estate agents. When AirBnB sponsored legislation in our state, the partners looked to me to keep them informed on the progress of the bill. Although none of us actually abdicated… Continue reading
Competition is cooperation: It just depends on how you look at it. This article seeks to respond to an important issue that arises a lot in the conversations and spaces in which I participate. Moreover, I think it is timely and important in relation to the divisiveness made apparent by the recent election of Donald… Continue reading
Holonic systems treat money as one type of fuel that can be used to facilitate the evolution of complex systems. Consequently, the vantage for any optimization regarding holonic systems theory is how fuel can be better distributed to organizations that will lead to further evolution. This might be a significant contrast to rational actor theory… Continue reading
The commons are back! And their popularity does not go unnoticed. Progressive thinkers and Green political strategists worldwide like to see them as a sustainable alternative in our competition-driven society. But what exactly are the commons? Where do they come from and what can they teach us about the economy today? A look back over… Continue reading