The 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons
July 14-18, 2008
The emphasis of the conference is the exchange of knowledge on shared resources or ‘commons’: between developing and developed world, between practitioners and researchers, and between old and ‘new’ commons. The overarching theme of governing shared resources aims to encourage discussion on new ways of using, managing, protecting and creating what many understand as ‘commons’. The themes recognise the wide variety of understanding over the term ‘commons’ and the need to link practical experience at the local level with larger global commons issues.
In many parts of the world shared resources or commons remain under threat as a result of global economic forces, regional and national political developments, and inadequate legal recognition of common property rights. At the same time the global implications of poor resource management are increasingly recognised in terms of loss of biodiversity, destruction of valued resource systems both natural (fisheries, forests) and man-made (irrigation systems), and global warming impacts. Some of the world’s environmental systems are becoming recognised as ‘global commons’ that should be explored from a common-pool resource perspective. It is here that local experience may hold lessons or provide insights into problems of dealing with global issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss. How should we manage shared resources at the local, regional, national and global scales? What forms of governance are required and acceptable? These are the questions that the conference seeks to address.
In Europe some of the old traditional common pool resources are now being recognised for their high ecological value and the role they play in developing social and economic capital for local communities. Local communities, resource managers, and governments are starting to realise the multiple benefits that arise from communal approaches to the management of shared resources. In particular they may offer more effective pathways to achieving what is increasingly being called multi-functionality and there is renewed interest in preserving or continuing traditional management approaches.
The long history of commons management in some parts of Europe may hold lessons for problems occurring in other parts of the world and may inform the institutional and policy development of ‘new’ commons such as the global commons, knowledge commons and urban commons. On the other hand, the diversity of methods used in the developing world and innovative approaches to solving problems may benefit developed world countries facing new situations arising from changing agricultural policy, climate change, and the move towards sustainability.
We intend the conference to focus on the exchange of ideas between developing and developed world, between practitioners and researchers, and between old and new conceptions of commons. Policy improvements will only result through discussion and testing of new theories, approaches and new knowledge. The conference will provide a range of opportunities for those with the ‘hands-on’ experience of resource management to engage with researchers trying to understand, synthesize and develop new theories about the collective management of shared resources. We hope to explore these issues through a series of six themes that will link the different elements of the conference together.
Conference themes
1. Understanding the benefits of commons
Poor understanding of the ecological, social and economic benefits of commons affects the management of shared resources and commons everywhere, resulting in a failure to use rights, in creation of less-efficient or unsustainable management regimes, and ultimately in loss of the commons itself. There is a need to gain a greater understanding of the ‘efficiency’ of common pool resource management regimes in environmental, social, and political terms as well as the purely economic. This theme would explore, for example, alternative ways to measure the benefits of environmental services (such as clean air and water, or provision of open space), provided on a national as well as a global scale.
Illustrative questions to consider:
· What is the potential for measuring the social and economic benefits from managing property as commons?
· To what extent are frameworks such as the Ecosystem Approach able to provide a holistic link between the various services provided by commons resources?
· In what ways might different notions of community welfare, alternative measures of environmental values, and ideas of social and human capital influence common pool resources?
· What impact are, supply chains, aid and trade policies, having on commons management in different parts of the world?
2. Property rights: recognition, protection and creation
New commons require the creation and recognition of new forms of property right. In long-enduring commons, property rights need to be recognised and protected to avoid loss through lack of use or through forced removal. Different legal systems give varying amounts of protection to property rights yet this is often fundamental to the continuation, and to the development of, common property management regimes. Many areas of both developed and developing world have experienced land tenure reform, which can fundamentally alter the distribution and value of commons rights and the theme will provide space for exploration of this issue.
A crucial part of this theme will be development of knowledge that can be transferred from one part of the world to another. Historical lessons can be learned from common property functions and institutions in European countries which exhibit a range of long duration commons that have survived enormous cultural, social and economic changes. In the developing world some commons management regimes are surviving and adapting to massive changes in social, economic and political conditions. There is scope for improved understanding of commons management from the transfer of knowledge and understanding.
Illustrative questions to consider:
· What lessons can be learned from existing commons resource management regimes
· Is institutional change necessary? How can it be achieved?
· What policy inputs are required to create and/or protect property rights?
· What type of rights are important? How is ‘ownership’ established?
· Should rights be related to historical or current use?
· What is the scope for creating and using regional networks of understanding and exchange of knowledge?
· How are issues of equity handled?
· What lessons can be drawn from ‘old’ commons for application to ‘new’ common pool resources, and is there scope to transfer knowledge about institutional change between commons?
3. Community and governance: exploring new approaches
Many existing commons management regimes have had to adapt in order to survive. The respective roles for the state, for local and regional authorities, for communities and existing resource managers under different social, political and economic conditions need to be explored. This applies to the developed world where changing agricultural conditions and increased leisure time require multi-functional uses from limited resources, and new forms of common property require new institutional frameworks. In the developing world it applies where traditional rights are under threat from global and national economic changes. This theme will explore local management arrangements on an individual basis as well as how they can be sustained through larger regional networks that can represent a broad range of interests to national governments and international organisations.
Illustrative questions to consider:
· What benefits are provided by community based management approaches?
· To what extent do they offer scope for local input and tailoring of management to meet local objectives?
· What are the policy implications of changing the governance structures of commons?
· Is there renewed interest in increasing the input from local communities to manage ‘their’ resources?
· What lessons can community management of commons provide for the developed world?
· How do communities assert and retain influence in the face of large powerful organisations, and global forces?
· How do people share resources in order to preserve or sustain them?
· How do economic development policies at different scales (local to global) influence the governance and management of commons resources?
4. Analysing the multi-functional nature of complex commons
Commons in some more densely populated countries are coming under increasing pressure to provide a broader range services, for example, ecological diversity, recreational space, heritage protection, as well as the traditional agricultural function. In some cases the range of demands increases conflict over the resource putting pressure on traditional management structures. Similar issues are apparent in the recognition of global commons where scale provides an added layer of complexity. Institutional flexibility is required to enable effective management and maintenance of the resource base.
This theme will explore examples of multi-functional resource management, the problems created by competing demands, and strategies for change and adaptation. Moreover the theme will investigate ways of working with commons that operate under multiple and simultaneous types of property claims. This may cover everything from urban gardens and community-based parks to the rural commons of landscape character, and from countryside management in Europe to production and conservation in landscapes of patchwork properties from S.E. Asia and the Americas. It will also include more global commons such as the atmosphere and biodiversity, as well as the Internet.
Illustrative questions to consider:
· How might the traditional functions of commons change in the light of global environmental problems?
· To what extent do carbon sequestration and ecological protection, for example, offer resource management possibilities that might benefit traditional commons management regimes?
· To what extent can new developments in Game Theory offer insights for management of multi-functional and complex commons?
· Are there limits to the size and ‘multi-functionality’ of a commons resource?
· What type of institutional and policy changes might be required for managing multi-functional commons at different scales: local, regional and international?
· How will traditional participatory commons management approaches need to be altered to deal with the increasing complexity of the problems confronting local and global communities?
5. Evolution and enclosure of commons
An increasing number of resources are becoming recognised as new types of commons as a result of technological change, new legislation, and improved scientific understanding. There are new groups arising, new institutions and new conceptualisations of ‘common’ resources. These include tourism, landscapes, medical resources, scientific information, electronic resources, nanotechnologies, streets, playgrounds, and a myriad number of other types of shared resources.
Enclosure continues to be a threat to all commons. As soon as ‘new’ common pool resources appear with any value, they come under threat from forces seeking to capture those benefits for private gain. New technology for example, allows for the ‘capture’ of previously ‘un-capturable’ resources with no rules about rights or management. ‘Enclosure’ of commons based on incomplete understanding of the values and effectiveness of managing shared resources continues to be a major threat not just for new commons but also for many existing natural resource based commons such as fisheries, and terrestrial commons such as forestry in many developing countries.
Illustrative questions to consider:
· What lessons can be learned about the processes of commons recognition and the processes of enclosing communal resources?
· Where are commons likely to occur in the future?
· To what extent can we predict the formation of a new common pool resource, and what institutional arrangements might we be able to implement to prevent enclosure and improve chances of survival?
· What lessons have we learnt from the historical enclosures that are important in the context of new areas of ‘enclosure’?
· Alternatively, is there a new drive for privatization and what ‘resources’ are at risk from the new ‘enclosures’?
· Are governments beginning to recognize some rights while restricting or privatising others?
· What are the policy implications for recognition of new commons?
· When does a shared resource or a ‘public good’ become a ‘commons’?
6. Social movements, networks and collective action
There is concern throughout the world about the how different forms of social movement, and the creation of new networks of interests are changing - and the impact this has on both ‘old’ and ‘new’ commons. The theme will explore this issue beyond a traditional property-rights focus into a wide range of areas including social change, ecological politics and environmental sociology. Sessions will look to highlight the latest findings and approaches used in research on the social processes that affect the management of both traditional and new commons resources.
Illustrative questions to consider:
· What are the issues, threats and opportunities associated with local rights and how are groups mobilized?
· What scope does technology offer with the capacity to develop virtual as well as real networks of interests?
· What kind of pressures does migration of people create and how is this affecting governance of commons?
· When does ‘collective action’ become commons management?
Organisation of the conference
We will use the themes as a means of identifying and threading together key issues facing common pool resources throughout the world. This will allow for cross-sectoral reflection on the content of the meeting and enable discussion and analysis that will push back the boundaries of knowledge and understanding on commons issues.
There will be multiple forms of participation as this global meeting will be more than just a talking shop. We will use the opportunity to build human and social capital, and to raise awareness about sustainable management of resources held in common local communities, academic, and practitioner communities.
In particular the conference will provide opportunities for young researchers to present their work and ideas, and for practitioners and researchers to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience.
Location of the conference
The conference is hosted by the University of Gloucestershire located in Cheltenham, England. Cheltenham is an old spa town that developed during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and has a fine range of Regency architecture. It also has good road and rail links with major airports at Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, and London, (only two hours from Heathrow) and a range of hotel, B+B and student accommodation. The town is an excellent centre from which to explore commons issues ranging from ancient grazing, fisheries and forest commons to new commons of knowledge, landscape, and urban space.
Cheltenham is on the edge of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and well placed for field trips to visit old and new commons. Field trips will be organised to build on the six thematic strands of the conference.
In sight of the University campus are Leckhampton and Cleeve Hill commons, and slightly further away in Painswick, Stroud, and across the Cotswold hills a whole range of multi-functional commons, many still being utilised by common rights holders for agriculture. On the other side of the county is the Royal Forest of Dean. A focus of the early industrial revolution it provides an example of a large forested area where common rights of mining, estover, pannage and grazing are practiced under a complex legal regime, with a Verderers Court dating back to Norman times. Further south, the New Forest is an ancient common facing a range of pressures from development, increased population and recreation pressure, and a new national park authority. In the south-west the Dartmoor Commoner’s Council manages a large tract of upland commons in conjunction with over 30 commoner’s associations.
Also in the south-west region, the Somerset Levels are managed through cooperative water management of a shared drainage system. The whole coastal area in this region between England and Wales, the Severn estuary, provides an opportunity to explore management of shared coastal and energy resources. The high tidal range in the estuary, and in Cardiff Bay, make energy production from a tidal barrage attractive, but this will have impacts on the ecological values and fisheries. The Cotswold escarpment and large parts of Wales are also attractive locations for wind turbines but there are significant landscape impacts. Field visits to these areas will provide an opportunity to explore the management of complex commons such as landscape and biodiversity, and their relationship to climate change.
In Wales, the Brecon Beacons National Park are characterised by large areas of upland common with significant agricultural importance, as well as high landscape and recreational value. Marine fisheries management and creation of marine protected areas can be examined along the coasts of south Wales, Devon and Cornwall.
The Oxford University libraries and the new Centre for Active Learning at
University of Gloucestershire provide scope for the exploration of knowledge commons and intellectual property rights. In Birmingham, Swindon, Stroud and across the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Herefordshire there is potential to explore a wide range of commons issues: local networks and collective action in relation to cultural heritage (such as canal restoration), local trading schemes, creation of new community forests, urban commons in the creation of new city spaces, town and village greens, heritage, and cultural landscapes.
In addition there are opportunities to examine the implementation of new legislation on common land and town and village greens. The Commons Act 2006 dealing with improved protection of commons, registration of rights and creation of new local organisations for managing commons, is currently being implemented in England and Wales.
There is a long history of commons management within the UK, from crofting in Scotland, to the village greens and heathlands of southern England. There is also a long history of enclosure of commons stretching back over several hundred years, but this is a trend which has recently shown some signs of reversal. New rights of access to land have been created in England and Wales (through the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000), and in Scotland the Land Reform Act 2003 provides new access to land and waterways. There is renewed interest in managing common land, and in developing new legal regimes for access rights to inland waterways and coastal resources in England and Wales.
The creation of new legislation and new institutional arrangements for governance of commons makes this a fascinating time to visit England, and an opportunity to raise awareness of the potential for collective action in the management of shared resources, not just at the local, but also at global levels.