From their site:

“The purpose of the association is to promote science and research, the arts and culture, and adult and vocational education in relation to Commons.

Commons are institutions in which people in a self-determined way organize reproduction and / or production based on common resources, jointly meeting their needs while also re-/producing the shared resources.

The commons and research on the commons have been widely recognized by the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Economics to the commons researcher Elinor Ostrom on 10 December 2009.

The purpose of the institute is realized by:

• Scientific work and research: theoretical, but also grounded in practice (e.g. in cooperation with concrete commons projects)
• Education: empowerment and encouragement of people to create and participate in commons projects, creation or provision of materials, organization of workshops, lectures, conferences, seminars, summer schools, etc.
• Publications: research results, press releases, educational materials, etc.
• Cooperation: national and international, with interested people, social movements, research institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations
• Creation of a knowledge archive: sharing “project knowledge” and project ideas, archives of commons literature
• Consulting and promotion: supporting the creation and implementation of commons projects

There is an open, international, English-language listserv for information and discussion about the Commons.”