The P2P Foundation infrastructure of production and governance currently consists of three different aspects:

• A formal foundation registered in the Netherlands with 3 operational hubs dedicated to organizing, advocacy, research and the facilitation of a knowledge commons.

• An expanding network of activists and researchers working at different levels of engagement, a small core team handling strategy and sustainability, and countless members engaging with and contributing to our information commons, including our blog, public Wiki and Loomio group.

• An ecosystem producing and sharing knowledge on the commons and P2P dynamics emerging throughout society. Our widely viewed and shared research wiki and blog are updated daily by our community.

Organizational Structure

As of 2016, the P2P Foundation’s structure has been reorganized around three interdependent operational hubs: the Foundation itself, Commons Transition and the P2P Lab.

The P2P Foundation is the umbrella organization for Commons Transition and the P2P Lab, and the wider network. As itself one of the hubs, the P2P Foundation commons observes, interconnects, stimulates and theorizes on knowledge production around the emergence of a commons economy and society. This work is led by Michel Bauwens through outreach, lecturing, writing, publishing and online documentation. The P2P Foundation also participates in group projects, including the P2Pvalue project focused on supporting commons-based peer production through research, policy recommendations and development of a platform. As support for the Foundation, the following individuals operate as stewards in key areas: James Burke as operations and finance steward, Vasilis Niaros as sustainability steward, Javier Arturo Rodríguez as tech support steward, Stacco Troncoso as strategic direction steward, and Ann Marie Utratel as communications steward.

Commons Transition is the main communication and advocacy hub of the P2P Foundation. Through the leadership of Stacco Troncoso and Ann Marie Utratel, Commons Transition produces accessible documentation to effectively spread our commons-based and -oriented ideas and experiences, appealing to civil society actors and policy makers. Commons Transition is also building a new transnational activist network identified with the Commons, in order to broaden these ideas into mainstream awareness.

The P2P Lab is the research hub of the P2P Foundation. The P2P Lab operates as a concrete lab in northern Greece and as a global research network. We also track academic peer-reviewed publications around P2P and the commons (including the works of our core collaborators), and obtain grants for research. Moreover, we coordinate and participate in research projects, such as P2Pvalue, which focus on free/open source technologies and commons-based practices. The work is led by Vasilis Kostakis and Vasilis Niaros with the collaboration of commons-oriented researchers, such as Penny Travlou and Rachel O’Dwyer.

Our network also includes the following noted contributors to this blog: David Bollier, Carmen Lozano Bright, Kevin Carson, Kevin Flanagan, Sepp Hasslberger, Øyvind Holmstad, Guy James, Vasilis Kostakis, Rajesh Makwana, Nathan Schneider, Penny Travlou, and the team from las Indias, among a great many others.

To know more about our recent achievements, read our 2016 review, consult our financial/legal page or click here for more.

Image by Irene Dávila. Public Domain.