Overview of Thematic Working Groups

Participatory Tools for Democracy

Commons and democracy are intimately linked. This workshop addresses civic participation and ways to foster citizens’ involvement in the production of their cities through engagement with public bodies and direct forms of political action.

Lately, technology and digital tools are integral to these initiatives to enhance democratic processes. This workshop will consider this dynamic and look at the co-production of public policies and projects through digital platforms.

Participants are interested in analyzing changes produced by these new collaborative processes. They have experience in the production of tools and resources such as online maps, collective storytelling, repositories of experiences, and initiatives designed to support political decentralization and co-production, with and without support from political institutions. This work also includes the development of charters, contracts and structures between different urban actors involved in urban commons.around civic causes in this domain, and participate in telecommunications technological projects.

Currencies and financing of commons

This theme promotes currency and finance as fundamental to the commons and solidarity economy. How are alternative currencies and digital tools and platforms at work, and what are the infrastructures and material environments that support communing and collective responsibility in this sphere? The workshop will examine how we can multiply or upscale some of the initiatives, methods, frameworks, and formats that have already been explored locally.

Participants have expressed interest in strengthening networks and collaborative projects, developing tools to develop an economy based on the commons, as well as strategies and methodologies on P2P mechanisms of value assessment and exchange. They have experience in time-banking and various cooperatives, have developed crypto-currencies and mobilized economic resources and human partnerships; contribute to community building, disseminate and create awareness and commitment around civic causes in this domain, and participate in telecommunications technological projects.

Data commons and the collaborative city

This workshop brings together the topics of control of (civic) data and the collaborative economic models that depend on online platforms. There is increasing interest in exploring alternatives that respect data and promote its civic control, taking into account possibilities for different modes of production & collection of this data. In what way can we facilitate data management and control in line with the social common good?

The workshop will take into account how regulations and policies on open source and open data, on the one hand, and those on technology and decentralized infrastructure, on the other, can play a role in facilitating data sovereignty and new forms of local cooperativism.

Moving away from large corporation and capital-led city development, we have to rethink the Smart City model and imagine data commons that socialise the value of data. How do initiatives like guifinet and Fairbnb fit in?  The starting point for the workshop will be recent experiences in Barcelona and Amsterdam.

Embodied productions of commoning: Food, Health, and Leisure

This workshop takes a holistic view of health creation to include also food production and distribution as well as sport and leisure activities. It will address the different determinants of our physical and mental condition, based on social justice, solidarity economy, and respect to biophysical limits of ecosystems. The commons approach underlines the importance of self-organised, locally rooted, inclusive and resilient community networks and civic spaces in order to re-think the practices and the development of public policy-making in this domain.

Participants have experience and are interested in the interrelationship at all points of the journey from “Land to Fork”, including access to land, nutrition, food sovereignty, cultivation, etc.; new forms of distribution, including for recycling; access to medical knowledge and patient-guided health policies and services; democratization of healthcare and self-organization of citizen efforts to reduce bureaucratic hurdles; and reclaiming the field for grassroots sports while challenging norms to inspire new models of recreation.

Law for the Commons

In order to guarantee the protection and development of commoning practices, legal opportunities and tools need to be located and addressed. This workshop deals with the search for these opportunities in relation to pre-existing and potential urban commons projects. This can draw from existing knowledge and institutional analysis in management of traditional commons, as well as contemporary legal practices for local, national and European legislation. It can also investigate instances where these concepts have been applied at the local scale.

These include participants’ experiences in, for example, production of municipal regulations for shared administration, which protects urban commons (squares, gardens, schools, cultural commons, streets, etc.) and compels local governments to collaborate with citizens. Participants propose the generation of platforms to exchange existing knowledge and experiences in legal mechanisms, as well as the production of practical tools to be used at European and local levels in relation with legislation, norms and institutional interaction.

Right to the City (Public Space and Urbanism, Housing, Water & Energy)

This theme brings together different aspects of the configuration of the city: Public Spaces & Urbanism, Housing, Tourism, Water & Energy and Culture. Understanding the Right to the City as a collective and bottom-up creation of a new paradigm can help to provide an alternative framework to re-think cities and human settlements on the basis of social justice, equity, democracy and sustainability. The workshop will discuss processes of commercialization and privatization of public and common goods and resources; how commons can create forms of democratic urban management; and how re-municipalization processes of urban infrastructures can be linked to the commons discourse. It will also consider the policy frameworks for commons that can be implemented, how spaces can be collectively used for the common good and what kind of legal and economic frameworks are needed to stabilize communing practices.

There is a great diversity of experiences and interests within the group. Proposals include trans-local collaboration to develop perspectives on: urban rights, cultural ecosystems for integration within the city, commons-based housing plans, fighting gentrification and damaging tourism, among others. There is emphasis on sharing examples and tools and promoting the connection of practitioners, researches, professionals, and citizens with project initiators and grassroots actors. Participants draw from experiences including the redevelopment of brownfields and vacant properties, the creation of political platforms and public campaigning and engagement, and construction of community gardens and other spaces as learning environments for communing. Given the wide range of interests and backgrounds, for this theme we can also imagine a mix of general discussions and more specific working spaces, to be decided by the participants themselves, either in organizational process before the meeting or in situ.

Solidarity as a commons: Migrants and Refugees

In many countries, migrants and refugees are confronted by very repressive policies, and in some cases violence. In certain places, citizens are responding by getting involved in local activities to distribute food, clothes and other commodities, to provide information about asylum procedures or how to meet basic needs and human rights, to facilitate the inclusion of migrants or refugees in cities and cohabitation between people in neighborhoods, etc. At a time when policies about immigration and refugees in most European countries are inadequate and troubling, these mobilizations are extremely important and sharing experiences is key.

The purpose of this workshop is twofold. First, it aims to share experiences and knowledge about local citizen-developed initiatives to help migrants and refugees across Europe. In addition, the workshop will be an opportunity to discuss solidarity with migrants and refugees as a commons. Themes to discuss include: the effects on policies and policy makers of the production of solidarity by citizens, the modalities of governance among civil society organizations around their initiatives, and the forms of interactions with municipalities around the initiatives of civil society actors.

Participants have experience in local initiatives of solidarity and hospitality with migrants and refugees; are engaged in research and activism on urban commons focusing on migrant rights; or are involved in initiatives like ecovillage movements, commons support for artists at risk, or community social centers that work to develop new forms of participative work and cooperation to build solidarity.

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• Demetra

• Commons Josaphat

• Ministry of Space

• Groupe Chronos

• MediaLab-UGR

• Tenants Union Madrid

• Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own.

• Urban Nova

Demetra

Margarita Rodríguez Ibáñez: DEMETRA is a non-profit association supporting an ambitious but noble project: to emancipate civil society and advance personal thinking in the face of the media’s power in cultural, social, political and other areas.

In 2014, DEMETRA began to face these challenges with the creation of the digital tool VotAndo (www.Votando.es). Voting only at specific times (every four years) and for a single political party is a constraint which contributes to losing the nuances of cultural, social, economic, educational, and other movements and trends. VotAndo is a free app aimed to test democracy in Spain with ongoing processes.

In 2015, the Association became a member of the International Observatory of Participatory Democracies (OIDP) and participated on the jury in the 2015 and 2016 editions.

From 2017 to 2020, DEMETRA is participating in the “Sharing Society” Research Group led by Bilbao University, aiming to understand the societal impact resulting from the new collaborative culture.

How does this project connect to your dream for the Commons in Europe?

ECA is a way to collaborate in support of the citizens participatory process for European society and to find new procedures together. We imagine that this meeting will help improve Demetra’s path, and expect a big step forward for European Commons for the near future. We understand what this will mean to European society as well as for the globalized social process, and we certainly want to take an active part in it.

Commons Josaphat

Hanne Van Reusel: I will be joining the ECA under multiple ‘casquettes’. I am a member of Josaph’Aire, an umbrella for several citizen initiatives that are active on the Josaphat site in Brussels. This area ‘of regional interest’ will be soon developed into a new neighbourhood. Today, however, the site is a civic laboratory were we act and reflect on-site on the co-creation of our city.

Among the partners of Josaph’Aire there is the collective Commons Josaphat that developed a proposal for the future of Josaphat as a neighbourhood ‘en bien commun’. This civic platform is currently looking to expand its opportunities to propose urban commons in Brussels.

Personally, I am strongly engaged in both collectives, a civic and professional commitment. I work as architect-researcher at the Faculty of Architecture of the KUL in Brussels. Through action research I am exploring a feminine approach to making city.

Ministry of Space

Iva Cukic: Ministry of Space (Ministarstvo prostora) is a collective from Belgrade which was founded in 2011 with the aim of reflection on the future of cities. Their joint work was initially focused on the formal creation and defense of public and common space, using the DIY philosophy. This is a further incentive to the study of different approaches to urban development, cultural practices and interventions in cities, through a series of actions, exhibitions, workshops and public discussions. Ministry acts in the field of urban and cultural policies, sustainable city development, fair use of common resources, and the involvement of citizens in the urban development of their environment.

The main focuses of their work during last years were encouraging and foster citizens’ participation in defining public interest in urban and spatial planning and urban resource management, by:

1. Advocating for changing regulation on urban and spatial planning to be more transparent and participatory;
2. Advocating for changing regulation on management of public property to be more transparent and consider public benefit;
3. Developing and advocating for models of ensuring not-for-profit and common spaces in different cities;
4. Articulating positions and campaigns tackling non transparent city development that hinders public interest.

Some of activities held are:

• Ne da(vi)mo Beograd: from the beginning of the project “Belgrade Waterfront”, we started to organize broad civic initiative consisting of 35 individuals, professionals, organizations that oppose the project for the lack of transparency, legal and procedural standards, professional principles, public interest. More on: https://nedavimobeograd.wordpress.com/
  www.facebook.com/nedavimobeograd
• Citizens in City Development: The research on national and local policies, legal framework that defines the process of urban and spatial planning and experience of citizens in relation to the urban planning. issuu.com/ministarstvoprostora/docs/citizens_in_city_development_-_summ /
• Spacebook: web portal which aims to improve accessibility of information regarding abandoned and unused spaces and provide a online (and offline) space for debate among interested citizens. Web portal is currently being developed. http://spacebook.nonetech.com/
• Expedition Inex Film: do-it- yourself action of turning abandoned building in Belgrade suburb into a space for work and cultural production and presentation for numerous groups and individuals: https://www.facebook.com/InexFilm
• Cinema: “The Written Offs Return”: a campaign lasting three years with focus to turn public attention to dubious privatization of a large number of cinemas in Belgrade, which resulted in their closing. This campaign culminated in November 2014 with “liberation” of cinema “Zvezda” in center of Belgrade and making of “New cinema Zvezda”. “Liberation” of cinema Zvezda was declared as a cultural event of the year and attracted to huge media attention. www.facebook.com/novibioskopzvezda
• Street Gallery: a pioneer venture of reconstructing and reviving ruined public spaces in an open art gallery. Street Gallery for three years represents a meeting place and one of the few places where alternative cultural scene can be presented under the open sky. www.ulicnagalerija.rs www.facebook.com/UlicnaGalerija
• Studies of the Common seek to explore, apply and experiment with the concept of commons in the local/regional context, to promote and further the understanding of institutions/modes of organization that can be used in the management of resources that are or could be held or used collectively, with speacial focus on practices and approaches that can be applied in the local context.

Groupe Chronos

Bruno Carballa: Groupe Chronos is a social enterprise dedicated to consulting, prospective and research on four main topics: mobility, territories, digital technologies and everyday practices. In Chronos we believe the commons constitute an alternative development pattern though which territories can foster self-sufficient forms of value creation for and by their inhabitants around activities of general interest.

We aim at contributing to the cause of the commons by, on the one hand, producing and sharing knowledge on how to make them flourish and endure and, on the other hand, helping policy-makers to develop virtuous impact-assessment-based public-commons partnerships.

MediaLab-UGR

MediaLab-UGR team: MediaLab-UGR acts as a meeting point for research, analysis, and the dissemination of opportunities generated by digital technologies in the areas of culture and society.

MediaLab-UGR is part of the University of Granada’s Vice-Rectorate for Research and Knowledge Transfer. It strives to serve as an open laboratory for the generation of proposals at the University and in society, as a research hub, and as an experimental space for exploring creativity and new ways of generating knowledge in digital societies. The Lab places special emphasis on prototyping and open knowledge (a superset encompassing the concepts of open data, open content and open access).

MediaLab-UGR has been developed as a cross-sectional open space by, and for, the University and society. It operates both as a physical hub and via social networks, with a view to connecting and (re)combining knowledge generated at the University and in society, particularly emphasizing the value of digital cultures in this process. An important objective of the UGR MediaLab is to incorporate technology within the frameworks of knowledge generation, social interaction, and public engagement.

MediaLab-UGR offers a specially designed working environment which fosters collaborations and knowledge exchanges, placing value on pressing societal concerns and personal pursuits. Moreover, the Lab stresses the importance of informal learning contexts and close working relationships, in line with the proposals of other laboratories such as the Prado MediaLab in Madrid.

MediaLab-UGR, a key entity at the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Knowledge Transfer, is structured horizontally, thereby making the most of potential opportunities, resources and networks from diverse centres and bodies at the UGR. It also enables these different centres to forge lasting ties with each other, as well as with other academic bodies and organizations in society. The Lab encourages proposals and provides support during open calls for applications, promoting active and broader participation in collaborative project development. In order to achieve this goal, the Lab runs a broad array of training courses, workshops, conferences, debates, group work sessions and seminars throughout the year.

Moreover, the MediaLab-UGR is active both in the physical and digital spheres, employing a natural and holistic work ethic that prevents discontinuities. It goes beyond artificial distinctions between the developmental aspects that contribute to shaping the Lab’s identity and the people working in it.

As for the connection between MediaLab-UGR’s dream for the commons in Europe, we aim to work on the advantages of new digital technologies in order to enhance social participation and, thus, democracy and the strengthening of the commons: the ultimate source of communitarian knowledge from a European perspective.

Tenants Union Madrid

Tenants Union Madrid team: Rental prices have reached historic records in both the city of Madrid and its metropolitan area. In the last twelve months alone rental prices have gone up by 15% in the capital and by 18% in the region as a whole. This, together with the low average salaries (almost 50% of the population earns less than 1000€ per month), causes a true emergency situation for those of us who do not own a house. The strong demand, the scarce and expensive supply together with the stringent guarantees required for a contract make finding a rental apartment more difficult every day. It’s also very difficult to pay the rent every month: the prices keep going up as we spend more and more of our stagnant salaries on our flat. There are additional consequences: the expulsion of the traditional tenants to the periphery, a high number of evictions caused by unpaid rent (68% of all evictions in the past four years) and the exclusion from the rental market of the most disadvantaged, who are forced to seek informal housing.

The causes of this phenomenon are structural. The central government has deepened its commitment to liberalization in the recent changes to the law (“express eviction” in 2008, reform of the Urban Rentals Law in 2013). It has given priority to “free housing” and the sales market against rentals, ignoring the need for policies that improve the rental situation (social services, social housing). In summary, private property and the free market prevail against the rights of tenants.

On top of these structural causes, there are others, circumstantial, which have led to the creation of a second housing bubble. Given its recent profitability, the rental market has become the new bet of the wounded real estate sector. It aims to make it the new growth engine of the Spanish economy. On top of that the proliferation of tourist rentals through so-called “sharing” platforms like AirBnB implies further price hikes: the house owners prefer to rent them for shorter periods at higher prices. In this way the right to housing is subordinated to the profits of speculators and investment funds.

Faced with this situation we have said enough, and have decided to organize ourselves to give a collective answer to this problem. Heirs to the fertile tradition of tenant struggles in the early XX century and the current struggles of those affected by mortgages (PAH) and for the right to the city, we have decided to create a Tenants Union (Sindicato de Inquilinas e Inquilinos). Today, here, we begin the process of constructing a tool to fight for our rights: tenants’ rights. The past teaches us that only through struggle, organization and mutual support it is possible to revert the huge imbalance of power between tenants and owners. We are convinced that this Union is the counterweight of this imbalance.

For all this, we call and welcome everyone in Madrid to join us in this road to the creation of a Tenants Union: to be able to live in our neighborhoods with guarantees and rights, to show once again that unity makes strength.

Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own

Don’t Let Belgrade D(r)own. An introduction: Initiative Ne da(vi)mo Beograd (Don’t let Belgrade d(r)own) brings together individuals and organizations interested in urban and cultural policies, sustainable city development, fair use of common resources, and the involvement of citizens in the urban development of their environment. We are a group of people of various profiles, interests and beliefs, who have gathered around a common goal: to put an end to the degradation and plunder of Belgrade on behalf of megalomaniacal urban and architectural projects, primarily the “Belgrade Waterfront” project. The Belgrade Waterfront project became a symbol of a broader fight that the Initiative has been fighting for the last three years; a fight against the corruption, the violation of human rights, and the appropriation of parts of our city for the private interests of non-transparent actors, for whose expenditures, we, the citizens of this country, have to allocate vast amounts of money. We refuse the constant disregard and contempt for citizens’ voices and opinions in the face of the private interests of individuals and shady deals between investors and politicians, in which, ultimately, the public good and public funds end up as collateral damage. Our main message is that these are our cities, and we are responsible for each of their parts, processes, and problems, both for the present and for the future we will leave.

In these three years of struggle, the Initiative have sparked the citizens awakening and worked with many local communities in raising their voices, it has gathered and published many information on various project and acts in public space and of public interest, we have organized several mass protest in which we showed that the citizens will stand in defending their commons, we have filed complaints against illegal construction and worked hard on rising the citizens participation, we have published newspapers, as we were forbidden from asking questions as journalists, and we have, and still are, demanding justice on the city’s officials in anti-constitutional deprivation of freedom of citizens and failure of the police to act upon its duties in the election night in 2016. We have become a part of a much broader network of action rising all over Europe, realizing that we are not alone in our fight for more just society, where commons belongs to all, and not just to a small group of privileged.

The initiative is funded by the voluntary contributions of the participants, as well as the individuals and organizations that support our activities, ideas and goals.

Urban Nova

Urban Nova: Urban Nova  is registered as non governmental organization in July, 2013. In Herceg Novi, Montenego

We strongly believe that combination of creativity and peaceful activism is one of the most effective way to overcome the lethargy and the lack of progress in a small community.

NGO Urban Nova does not act solely as a women’s group, but our values are based on the principles of feminism, especially eco – feminism. Through our experience, we concluded that in the conditions of patriarchal environment, such as in Montenegro, empowering a broader target group and developing principles of equality can have real impact. Through our action we want to support women, children and young people, especially young women, mothers, women- activists; to further develop their potentials. We want to create a safe environment where all of our beneficiaries can develop relations of cooperation, non-violence, sharing. Creativity and art we see not only as a framework without barriers, but also as a tool through which we can achieve our goals. Women recognize our organization as a place where they can meet and share views, initiatives, problem- solving ideas, creativity and experience.

In addition, as a local organization we are also recognized as promoters of a rational and gender and age sensible attitude towards the usage of public spaces and also as initiators of the cooperation of all stakeholders in the community to jointly organize and implement creative activities in public spaces.

Project Why Waitin’?

Waiting for Godot was written in 1949. The author/representatives were always against female actors being played it. Their objections was never explained. In 2006, Italian Theater Company successfully took them to court. It was seen as a victory for civil liberties. Aim for staging all-female piece is to raise awareness among the general public of the challenges women grapple with in a society poised uneasily between a deeply patriarchal, macho mentality and the country’s modern tendencies. Main conviction in patriarchal societies is that a woman is incapable of being effective in politics or business; if she proves to be successful in those fields-there must be something wrong with her. On the other hand the adored figure of a Big Mother is revered mostly for her capacity to suffer quietly.

We intend to produce adaptation of theater performance “Waiting of Godot” as “Why waitin’?” with all female cast and to bring it before audiences not only in Montenegro (where audience will have possibility to attend live performance), but also in region countries. Gender stereotypes were examined in the production and also on workshops’ discussion using imaginative ways to engage the audience. The director who adapted the play is a professional (women who works in the UK and Montenegro).

Women not only in the Montenegro but also in other European countries face a challenge of patriarchal society believes. It is therefore necessary to work internationally. The work on project is based on common exchange of experiences and knowledge. International cooperation is needed to answer international challenges. Leitmotif of our cooperation can be expressed through sentence: “Together we get farther.”

We played “Why Waitin’?” at various alternative scenes which were located in a more or less ruined public areas in Boka Kotorska. We have invested effort, along with other local initiatives in order to draw attention to the decision-makers that attitude towards public spaces must be more responsible, but also to encourage other actors of the independent cultural scene to use these urban resources which are, at the end, public property.

Photo by Medialab Prado

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The crisis of the European Union begs for new, unifying and constructive narratives – alternatives to the right-wing populist and nationalist wave getting fiercer every day. A commons approach holds the potential for a unified vision towards an alternative economy, a Europe from the bottom up and an ecological economy and way of life. The idea of jointly stewarding shared resources, community and a generative economy, can find resonance with a diverse range of citizens.

Sophie Bloemen and Nicole Leonard: A relentless focus on markets and growth has blinded us for the loss of social cohesion, rampant inequality and the destruction of the environment. In the perceived need to quantify everything, gross domestic product is used as a measure of social wealth. The commodification of our common resources and even our online behavior can seem limitless. Yet major fault lines are starting to appear in this dominant worldview based on individualism, private ownership and an extractive relationship with nature. A novel outlook based on networks, access and sustainability is emerging, where citizens are actively co creating their environment.

The Commons perspective captures the change in perception regarding needs and priorities. ‘Commons’ refer to shared resources and frameworks for social relationships that are managed by a community. ‘Commons’ also stand for a worldview and ethical perspective favouring stewardship, reciprocity and social and ecological sustainability. This outlook defines well-being and social wealth not just with narrow economic criteria like gross domestic product or companies’ success. Instead it looks to a richer, more qualitative set of criteria that are not easily measured – including moral legitimacy, social consensus and participation, equity, resilience and social cohesion.

Commons are not primarily a political theory but first and foremost a practice emerging from the bottom up. Everywhere people are engaged in alternative practices as part of the struggle for ecological, social and cultural transition within their communities. All over Europe local initiatives are taking care of their direct environment, sharing and stewarding knowledge online, and claiming natural resources as our commons. These include, for instance, community wifi structures providing internet access in remote areas, co-housing initiatives ensuring affordable housing, community land trusts that explore collective forms of property, or urban commons initiatives regenerating the city for its citizens. The digital knowledge commons are a key element of an alternative economy, and online commons projects have been able to attain an impressive scale. Creative commons licenses for cultural works, for example, are now over one billion. In all these areas, the commons approach offers a new vocabulary for collective action and social justice, as well as processes for communities to govern resources themselves.

The Commons to Overcome Political Struggles in Europe

So if commoning communities abound and cultural change is underway, what is stopping the commons from creating an alternative society? Perhaps commoners’ strengths – their localised, bottom-up stewardship of resources and strong community-oriented relationships – are also obstacles. How do we move from a loose network of atomised, emancipatory commoning initiatives to a strong network that can challenge the dominant, bankrupt worldview of individualism and economic growth at any cost?

Until now, European civil society, the NGOs and social justice networks, have not been able to unite around a broad shared agenda. Hundreds of organisations did unite in the fight against TTIP. However, in order to make progress towards another, fairer and ecological economy and society, a movement cannot be solely reactionary – it has to set the agenda and provide positive alternatives.

The emerging radical democratic initiatives that propose alternatives have mostly engaged at a national or local level. Examples are 15M in Spain, Nuit Debout in France or the University occupation in Amsterdam. The Occupy movement was trans-local, but did not succeed in genuinely opening up the conversation in Europe. Municipalism, such as in Barcelona is creating real change on the ground, providing an inspiration for cities not only in Europe but worldwide. Local struggles, forward-looking and emancipatory projects have to be connected in order to truly change the current order. The fact is that a great deal of the laws and developments that shape our societies come from the European level and global markets. There has to be trans-local and transnational solidarity around a shared vision of an alternative society.

The European Commons Assembly arrives to Madrid

The European Commons Assembly is an effort in providing a platform for these connections and trans-local solidarity. The European Commons Assembly that took place in Brussels in November 2016 has been a case in point for the unifying potential of the commons, and a symbol of maturity of the commons movement. A myriad of over 150 commoners, activists and social innovators from different corners of Europe came to Brussels for three days to develop new synergies, express solidarity and to discuss European politics as well as policy proposals. In the European Parliament, Members of Parliament exchanged views with this “Commons Assembly” and the political energy generated by bringing all these people together in this context was exceptional.

The ECA continues today as a political process and diverse platform, open to anyone who shares its values and wants to contribute. ECA explores what strategies to engage in order to nourish, protect, and extend the commons. How to develop the outward channels to affect political change, while taking care to maintain and strengthen its communities? How to build broader coalitions on the ground not bound to the left or the right, how to prevent erecting barriers with academic language and theory?

Since Brussels, the ECA has published a series of videos on commons topics, articles and generally aimed to visibilise the unifying potential of the commons narrative. Members also examined the intersections of the commons and Social Solidarity Economy and municipalist movements, with smaller assemblies held in Athens and Barcelona. Commoners from all over Europe and beyond are joining the online community all the time, and sharing their experiences, and even in the Netherlands and Finland commoners were inspired to create local commons assemblies.

ECA Madrid and the collaboration with Transeuropa 2017 provides the energy to move the process further along. It is becoming clear that the ECA needs to offer an added value beyond ideational affiliation. Assembly members will have to co-create the resources and practices that will strengthen the movement. That is why the idea of “production” figures so prominently in the discourse around this Assembly. The focus of the assembly this time will be on urban commons, taking advantage of ECAs presence in Madrid and Spain to examine strategies, failed and successful, to promote the commons politically and in public policy, including citizens in this process.

In Madrid working groups will focus on specific themes of the commons in the city, to create shareable outputs that bring these local experiences to a broader audience. This creation will nourish the toolbox of the ECA, in turn helping other efforts to support and scale commoning. This opportunity will allow initiatives to learn from and share with each other, attaining a level of technical depth and understanding that is necessary for change, deepening the European political agenda for the commons. At the same time, what is at stake goes beyond the specific themes and issues that color the commons movement.

The ECA aims to engage in conversations with other allies around Europe, and considers the political context and the commons movement as a political force that relates to conventional political power. Rather than letting citizen resentment of the current order and political backlash lead to Europe’s disintegration, the European Commons Assembly builds on these on-the ground experiences to draw hope and energy to power the commons vision and a renewed political force in Europe.

The European Commons Assembly will be in Madrid from the 25th until the 28th of October. The program includes participative workshops on urban commons topics, joint sessions with European Alternatives on the commons in policy, and opportunities to learn about and visit local commoning initiatives in Madrid. There will also be time dedicated to the future of the ECA.

Read and sign the Call: europeancommonsassembly.eu/sign-call/. Join the community: Introduce yourself by email at [email protected] Don’t miss any update! Join our telegram channel: http://t.me/transeuropa2017

Sophie Bloemen is a political activist based in Berlin and co-founder of the Commons Network

Nicole Leonard is the coordinator of the European Commons Assembly (ECA)

Originally published in the TransEuropa 2017 Journal.

Photo by cuellar

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For more information about the program, click here.

In cooperation with the Transeuropa Festival and MediaLab Prado, the assembly features 4 days of workshops, visits to local commons initiatives, debates, talks, art and parties in the heart of Madrid. An eclectic mix of commons activists from all over Europe will get together to discuss the commons and the future of Europe.

The European Commons Assembly starts on Wednesday (the 25th of October) and ends with a closing assembly on Friday (the 27th of October). Saturday (October 28th) will be filled with trips to local commoning sites around Madrid and exciting sessions organized by Transeuropa Festival in the afternoon.

Workshop themes include ‘Participatory Tools for Democracy’, ‘Right to the City’, ‘Law for the Commons’, ‘Data Commons and the Collaborative Economy’, ‘Food’, ‘Health and Leisure’, and ‘Solidarity as a Commons: Migrants and Refugees’.

For more updates, follow us here on Twitter or join the event here on Facebook.

We hope to see you in Madrid!

Photo by Tom.Lechner

The post The next European Commons Assembly will be in Madrid on October 25-28 appeared first on P2P Foundation.

You can still be a part of it: Click here to join.

In cooperation with the Transeuropa Festival and MediaLab Prado, the assembly features 4 days of workshops, visits to local commons initiatives, debates, talks, art and parties in the heart of Madrid. An eclectic mix of commons activists from all over Europe will get together to discuss the commons and the future of Europe.

The European Commons Assembly starts on Wednesday (the 25th of October) and ends with a closing assembly on Friday (the 27th of October). Saturday (October 28th) will be filled with trips to local commoning sites around Madrid and exciting sessions organized by Transeuropa Festival in the afternoon.

Workshop themes include ‘Participatory Tools for Democracy’, ‘Right to the City’, ‘Law for the Commons’, ‘Data Commons and the Collaborative Economy’, ‘Food’, ‘Health and Leisure’, and ‘Solidarity as a Commons: Migrants and Refugees’.

Are you interested in the Commons?
Join us! Click here.

For more information about the program, click here.

For more updates, follow us here on Twitter or join the event here on Facebook.

We hope to see you in Madrid!

Reposted from the Commons Network newsletter.

Photo by Liisa Maria

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The call to participate in the Madrid workshops will be open until August 4th.

• Form

The European Commons Assembly was launched in November 2016 with public events that took place in several spaces in Brussels, Belgium, including the Zinneke social center and European Parliament. This meeting gathered from different parts of Europe more than 150 commoners to promote public policies for the commons at the European level and to develop mutual support networks that enable long-term sustainability..

The call to participate in the Madrid workshops will be open until August 4th. Proposed topics related to the urban commons include:

• Public space
• Migrations and refugees
• Citizen participation in urban politics
• Culture
• Food
• Housing
• Health
• Currency and financing for the commons
• Laws and legal mechanisms to protect the commons
• Technology for citizenship.

You may also propose a topic not already on this list; fill out the form to propose the organization of a specific workshop, and/or to participate in any of the workshops that you find interesting.

Each workshop will be co-organized by both a local and an international community project around the proposed topic. Workshops will be coordinated to offer valuable knowledge and strategies to apply to other, ongoing experiences. To this end, the ECA Madrid coordination team will hold several video conferences to connect the different initiatives and develop the workshop contents prior to the meeting. Workshops will employ facilitation methodology designed to guide the coordination team members in structuring and eventual documentation of the contents generated.

When completing the form, you may indicate if you need the organization to cover travel and / or accommodation if it will not be possible to cover these expenses another way. For more information, contact nicole.leonard [at] sciencespo.fr.

You can find more information on the European Commons Assembly website or fill out the form.

Photo by Ultra-lab

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(Video by ZEMOS98).

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“In a way we need to stop looking for definitions of the commons as a notion, as a concept. Because in fact it’s not about a thing. It’s not about a concept. It’s not about something separated from us. It’s another way of being in the world. It’s another way of thinking about the world, and thus another way of constantly reshaping and reconstructing the world.”

Silke Helfrich of Commons Institute and the Commons Strategies Group was interviewed by members of Zemos98 during last November’s European Commons Assembly in Brussels.

Video Transcript

My name is Silke Helfrich. I’m from Germany, and I am with the Commons Institute in Germany, which is a network of people who think about the commons, and think about how the idea of the commons transforms our way of being — of living together and working together. And I’m also with the Commons Strategies Group, which is a small group of three independent international activists, scholars and authors on the commons.

In a way we need to stop looking for definitions of the commons as a notion, as a concept. Because in fact it’s not about a thing. It’s not about a concept. It’s not about something separated from us. It’s another way of being in the world. It’s another way of thinking about the world, and thus another way of constantly reshaping and reconstructing the world.

We should better talk about “commoning” instead of commons. And having said this, commoning means being aware that plenty of the resources we need to make a living, don’t belong to individuals, need to be shared with other people. And that need to share resources requires skills: of sharing; of knowing how to do it; of managing shared resources. So commoning is about taking responsibility for common stewardship of resources, processes, spaces and the time we have available together.

It’s a practice: talking about the commons is talking about social practices that enable us to build (I would say) a free, fair and sustainable future. Because if we have one political challenge ahead, it is basically coming up with proposals, and concrete social practices, that help us merging three core ideas of political traditions. Which is: Freedom: the enhancement of ourselves, so to say, but freedom in relatedness to others, because we are not isolated human beings in this world; it is Equity — so we all need fair share in this world which at the same time a fair share is building a safer world; and is the notion of Sustainability, because, as the Greens used to say, we only borrowed this world from our grandchildren, right? So I think that the political project of the commons is to bring these three notions of (usually) different political traditions together: Fairness, which is kind of a very socialist idea; Freedom, which is a very liberal idea; and Sustainability, which is a very green idea.

The thing I enjoyed the most, in this starting process of Commons Assembly in Europe, is that all of us involved in this, got aware of how many we actually are. Because one tends to feel isolated as a commoner, right? Because obviously the way we think, the way we do, the way we work; the proposals we make; are not really on top of the political agenda. And if they are on top of the political agenda then as enclosures of the commons — that it separating people from the resources they need to make a living, or enclosing, privatizing what has been held in common etc. etc. So it has been empowering for us to see so many people all over Europe working, perhaps with different words, and in different realms of action, and certainly in different countries and locations, on a kind of common agenda. So it’s a moment of power, through, simply, coming together and sharing our experiences.

If you really want to challenge the political agenda, which today is an agenda of enclosing the commons, denying access to common resources to people, of market fundamentalism with a consequence of rising nationalism — right wing nationalism — I think that the dimension of the challenge we have had is that we need to flip the whole narrative. So it is not about doing an amendment of concrete laws here and there. It’s not about making another policy proposal which will have tough times to get channelled through the political institutions. It is about commonizing the way we do politics. It is about rethinking politics and rethinking democracy. Because if it is representative democracy, tied to, locked into, extremely structured, and so to say un-free, political processes (as we’ve heard yesterday as well, when we have been introduced to the processes in the European Parliament) then it is pretty clear that what the commons system needs the most which is: conversation; deliberation; time for people, and space for people to figure out how they can resolve their own problems in their very concrete contexts. So perhaps the most important thing decision-makers and policymakers can do for us, is provide support: recognize our right for self-organization; provide support, space, and financing for opening spaces, for a kind of deliberative democracy where people resolve their own problems, because they are the ones who know their situation best; and provide them with the tools to do so, and support them with finding their own solutions. And so it’s flipping the whole narrative, rethinking the very fundaments and the very categories policymaking is based upon today; and rethinking and challenging the dominant notion of democracy — of representative democracy.

I would like to make a call, because I think that in essence the whole idea of the commons is raising awareness that common people usually do uncommon things. And having said that, it’s also pretty clear that a sound message around the commons will be a simple message around the commons, in plain language that really speaks to people’s hearts. And sometimes it seems to me that we, as commoners, who try to theorize, conceptualize and make sense of the complexity out there, are not able to speak that plain and simple language. So I want to make a call to all those creative people out there, who know how to speak to people’s hearts — because it’s about all of us. Each of us out there has a stake in the commons. It’s about raising awareness about what we are already doing, already creating, to create a free, fair and sustainable society. So let’s build a huge coalition between all the commoners in Europe, and communication designers, and people who can help us getting the message across.

Transcript by Simon Grant. Thanks Simon!

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On the evening of November 15, during a 3-day meeting of the European Commons Assembly, a conversation took place between representatives of the commons movement and DIEM 25. The context was sweet and sour.

2015 began with the enthusiasm of the Athens Spring and the New Politics it heralded. Later that year, austerity politics trumped, and the rise of the extreme right in Europe made it into the news. 2016 brought new fences around Europe and ended with Trump’s victory in the USA. These are the developments real democratization is up against – in economic, political and cultural terms.

Deepening democracy is at the core of both DIEM 25 and the commons movement. This conversation allowed for a cognitive and political mapping of both DIEM 25 activists and commoners from all over Europe: Where are we at and in which context?  Lorenzo Marsili (XYZ) metaphorically: “we can certainly common our way out of a beautiful collectively-managed garden, but around us will be wasteland”.

The conversation was set up to explore common ground and devise concrete cooperation.

The challenge is huge. It is beyond than making democracy more bottom-up, more local or more participatory. It is about re-thinking democracy and enacting a truly democratic culture at all levels! One thing became crystal clear: both approaches are, to quote a Belgium participant: “extremely complementary.”

Quotes

Came into mind after thinking about the “make commons great again” phrase which echoed and provoked resistance:

• Make commons thrive again.
• Make commons thrive.
• Make commons!
• More commons for more democracy! Now!
• There won’t be more democracy without more thriving commons.
• Thriving commons mean/equal more democracy. Beyond nationalism and beyond the prevailing left vs. right polarisation.

What does it mean to be political for the commons movement?

Ana Margarida Esteves, social scientist, Portugal: “Actually the true politics is being built outside the so-called public institutions.”

response David Hammerstein: “… and that’s what the commons is about!”

Joren de Wachter, DIEM 25, Belgium: “The commons has been of enormous benefit in bringing a huge amount of good thinking, knowledge and experience to this process.” (of democratization)

DIEM25 and the Commons movement

Lorenzo Marsili, European Alternatives and DIEM25, Italy: “It’s years of working together on commoning.

“It is time to say that the neoliberal capitalist system, of financial capitalism that we have had after 30 years of appropriation and concentration of the wealth is now defeated. Unfortunately what might follow up from it might be even worse unless we capitalize on this moment and gain a transformation in historical proportion and go forward.”

Marsili: “DiEM  needs commoners, needs the movement for the commons. Not to decorate  its movement but to use its message when it comes to what a new economic  and a new investment policy means for the EU.”

What to do?

Agnieszka Wisniewska:  “This is politics! This is how we are doing politics. [ …] when we ask all these questions, when we don’t know, when we don’t agree, when we discuss about the things we have in our heads, [when we] imagine how to do something. This is the beginning.”

Lorenzo, Marsili: “A people, the demos, emerges through joint struggle and joint mobilisation. […] the only way it is possible to happen is by doing it.”

Joren de Wachter: “We need to develop a narrative that is better and more effective than the neoliberal narrative that is bankrupt.”

One way to do it?: “Change the frame and the words that are being used to discuss what is going on in the society around us. We don’t use competition, we use cooperation; we don’t think that when everybody is nasty it will mean everything will be good for everybody.”

David Hammerstein: “We have to have the feeling of home and identity without nationalism.” ->
whereas…

Joren the Wachter: “Nationalism, as part of how you look at your identity, is something that is very dear and close to people.”

Silke Helfrich: “This new narrative needs to be beyond market fundamentalism and nation states, beyond left and right and even beyond political parties.”

Laura Colini: (Our idea of…) “Commons has to be dealing with basic societal battles. They are not just goodwill, good intentions, right-based arguments. They […] have to deal with basic minimum income or living wage, or measures like child guarantees or basic health care.”

Next Steps:

Marsili: commoners should participate in drafting DIEM25 policy papers
+
” I think we need something like a commons group within DiEM that can directly make sure that the commons is not only a part of a wider policy but that there is a very clear policy on the commons.”

Featured image by European Commons Assembly. Separator images by Bart Cosijn and Zemos98

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The video is part of our series of video presentations on the different thematic work areas of the ECA. We are also sharing our proposal on the Urban Commons in the text below. Finally, you can also read and comment on the proposal on the Commons Transition Wiki.

Energy Commons

As a basis, EU energy policy should consider energy a common good in order to provide all citizens with access to clean and affordable energy. This encompasses electricity production, transportation and efficient use as well as mobility and heating systems.

Background and context

EU energy programmes such as the Energy Union must change their focus from constraining energy generation to respond to market demands towards a more citizen-based, decentralized and efficient energy system. Giant gas pipelines, international grid connections and the support of large centralized energy companies and infrastructures are contradictory with the construction of a democratic energy system. By treating energy as a commodity, the EU creates a production-driven system, unable to respond to the urgent need of saving it (one of the key pillars to reduce CO2 emissions).

Policy description “Energy commons”

We propose here that a “commons-based” energy EU law should guarantee and facilitate the right of citizens and communities to produce, consume and manage their own renewable energy without legal, administrative or technical barriers.

• One main demand is that citizens should be involved in all new projects (from small to big -i.e., also from small solar to offshore wind farms):
  • Participation should not be limited to a financial one but be possible on ground of being an inhabitant (or else?)
  • Involvement in decision making
  • Profits should remain within the communities/state hands
• Specific infrastructure like smart grids or storage should be implemented under civil control (i.e., data should belong to the communities).
• Financial schemes should be designed to enable community energy to blossom (e.g., feed-in-tariffs, sustainable energy utilities, re-municipalization) and the role of the state/the EU should be investigated.
• Eventually, we should push to treat energy as a commons in order to save and control it.

This new paradigm would help to share appropriate energy technologies with communities of the Global South with the opening up of patent protections of climate-friendly technologies, especially those developed with EU and public funding. Cooperation should replace energy colonialism.

Why is the energy commons relevant? 

1. What are the existing experiences of the commons movement in this field, and initiatives of commoning related to this issue?

• All over Europe, there are many energy co-ops organized into federations  (like the DGRV in Germany)
• There is a European federation, which is already gathering knowledge and building capacity for enabling community energy (REScoop)
• There are other models, which come close to re-municipalisation of energy utilities, for instance the Sustainable Energy Utilities (SEU), where energy is treated as a commons (in the US, e.g. the SEU Delaware).

2. Why is this proposal pertinent to be discussed at the European  scale, with the EU institution, in the EU Agenda? It could also be  because it is an urgent matter to introduce at this scale of policy.

• It falls in the EU agenda to implement the Paris Agreement (COP21). Reaching the INDC & climate goals need an ambitious plan, which cannot be reached without involving the public.
• There are ongoing discussions on the Energy Union (the European energy policy)
• Energy commons is a double win: 1) Advance the commons & 2) Advance the energy transition.

3. What are the main ideas the commoners are reclaiming or struggling for in this field ?

• Energy system is in the hands of conventional energy utilities (that exert a huge resistance to the energy transition) and the states (that try to spend the least).
• The dominant ideology is a classical neoliberal one: energy is a commodity that should be regulated by the market. It is referred as such in all official EU documents.
• This leads to a state of “energy obesity” (as stated by John Byrne) under the control of large market actors, and which is hardly accessible to small actors (like co-ops).
• We must lobby to have energy treated as a commons, which means try to save it as much as possible and what we need should be produced by renewable sources, in hands of citizens.

4. What are the already experimented measures in this field and where (in a particular country? part of Europe? Elsewhere?

• See previously (point 1)
• Interesting experiment in Barcelona, where the municipality looks at the energy system in its globality and with a focus on fighting energy poverty.

5. Who are the actors involved in these struggles ?

• inhabitants, citizen-initiatives, municipalities, regions, countries & EU
• companies (solar & wind project developers)

6. How could these commons or commoning action be reinforced, scaled up, or replicated?

• Design new funding schemes (involving public -and perhaps- private funding) to support community energy
• Citizen involvement should become mandatory in all new energy projects
• Perhaps incite all municipalities to work on an energy plan
• It is a model that has the power to be “infectious” if people see the benefits in co-ops that already exist. Plus energy is a universal need, and a practical one and therefore an entry point to commoning.

7. What are the resources needed?

• Money (state, ethical banks, investment banks, angel investors…)
• Laws
• specific tools to help communities to make an energy plan and succeed to implementing it (stakeholder dialogue, risk management…)

8. Who could do what to move forward?

• A combination of citizen action (to convince) and political action (to accelerate)
• Large advertising campaigns, Lobbying actions

9. What is needed from the EU institutions?

• See point 7.
• Perhaps a referendum, or survey?

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