RESOURCES

“There are various definitions of commons at the present. If we use the terminology of commons as ‘common property’, it means the public sphere. The traditional context to define commons assumes that the form of existing community forests, the mutual utilization of forest areas, or the sacred forests (called Na Moo in the northern language) are indigenous peoples’ territory. On the other hand, commons points at a shared ‘public’ forest that everyone can access, use, and protect together. This concept of commons was inaugurated byoutsiders and capitalist investors invading indigenous land for exploitation. Additionally, the definition of commons extends to common rights or community rights. It’s not limited to the context of space or things anymore. And it is borderless: we now speak of the ‘global commons’ “.

The basis / element of the commons: “It’s an idea / ideology of compassion, to think about other people as well, and not just people but including organisms, animals, plants, trees, and whatever lifeforms. Usually we say on governing the commons, we think about people within an area but it’s not only that. If we cultivate the principles of compassion and sharing it is about our worldview. So essentially, it’s the sense of compassion, the members work together and try to include the life of other beings, not taking too much advantage and too much privatization”.

“‘Commons’ determines a public area that involves shared livelihoods of people in the dimensions of culture, social institutions, economy, and environment. Generally, commons consist of 2 types; first: commons based on a traditional way of life in the community including natural resources management; second: commons based on alternative markets such as green markets, organic markets or community markets. In terms of development, commons are dynamic and inconstant, consequently, they have brought about overlapping challenges in many dimensions when we study commons in different contexts. For example, in the social and cultural dimensions, commons are a shared area in the community where everyone can access to mutually use and produce, so this dimension is expressed as ritualized togetherness. On the other side, commons in the economic dimensions are a kind of alternative approach to trading and exchanging which avert the mainstream market and external capital. Additionally, in the political dimensions, commons are a participatory process which advocates people to establish co-governance to negotiate with the authorities or capitalists. Commons open true self-organization of lifeforms. Thus, they protect and peacefully interact with their environment. Moreover, in terms of spatial dimensions, commons in the rural areas are attached to sharing, using and producing common resources and products without claiming the ownership. Everyone is responsible to protect and maintain the resources mutually. On the contrary, the term ‘commons’ in urban areas has been still facing some semantic difficulties in defining its meaning because the complexity in the urban context has brought about the meaning enigma, term confusion, unsettlement of interpretation among various styles of interest groups and communities. Therefore, gaining an overview of the ‘commons’ is a tangible and intangible area that is an important root value for people in sharing their way of life”

“The principle of commons is the mutual utilization of space, or areas where individuals or people have access to the right to use space collectively. For example, commons in the rural area involve community forests, river conservation, watershed forests and care for the environment. This activates people to adopt a shared sense of belonging as well as common rights and responsibilities to protect their land and arrange a mutual agreement in using common resources. Thus, the commons principle in terms of rural or remote communities is relevant to shared utilization, protection, and maintenance. On the other hand, commons in urban areas have multiple layers because of complex and diverse social organizations. So the term ‘commons’ in the urban context has been still facing flexibility in defining a concrete meaning. Notwithstanding fluidity of the definition, the essence of commons is sharing an area where people have direct collective access and the right to utilize, self-organize, and co-operate irrespective ownership”

“Commons are styles of management that support people to exercise self-organization, have access to land rights and natural resources in their community so that people can mutually utilize, protect, and develop resources without claiming their ownership”

“In the definition or the meaning of the ‘commons’, from the work experiences of the City Farm Project and sustainable agriculture, the commons will be based on the principle of sharing in multiple aspects. Property can be owned by an individual or by a group / community. The group agreement must be developed by the group members in a participatory way. The interaction and collaboration of the group members are based on regular common activities therefore we speak of ‘commoning’ “

“Commons are the creative space of knowledge and local wisdom for children, families, and communities. The commons should be an open space to share, develop and sustain the life and learning skills of youth”