Two Victories for ‘The Commons’ in Europe

Bologna | a Laboratory for Urban Commoning

Excerpt – By David Bollier |  bollier.org

(image) David Bollier

Two weeks ago, the city government celebrated the first anniversary of its Bologna Regulation on public collaboration for urban commons, a system that actively invites ordinary citizens and neighborhoods to invent their own urban commons, with the government’s active assistance.  I joined about 200 people from Bologna and other Italian cities on May 15 for a conference that celebrated the Regulation, which is the formal legal authority empowering citizens to take charge of problems in their city. (image)

How does the program work?

It starts by regarding the city as a collaborative social ecosystem. Instead of seeing the city simply as an inventory of resources to be administered by politicians and bureaucratic experts, the Bologna Regulation sees the city’s residents as resourceful, imaginative agents in their own right.  Citizen initiative and collaboration are regarded as under-leveraged energies that – with suitable government assistance – can be recognized and given space to work.  Government is re-imagined as a hosting infrastructure for countless self-organized commons.

To date, the city and citizens have entered into more than 90 different “pacts of collaboration” – formal contracts between citizen groups and the Bolognese government that outline the scope of specific projects and everyone’s responsibilities. The projects fall into three general categories – living together (collaborative services), growing together (co-ventures) and working together (co-production).

Phase I projects over the past year included a kindergarten run by parents, a “social streets” initiative, and an urban agricultural coop.  In the coming year a new set of Phase II test projects selected by citizens will attempt to extend the scope of the efforts – perhaps with collaborative housing and new sorts of social services provisioning, perhaps with new co-learning programs in the public schools and neighborhood markets.

Bologna’s self-declared ambition to become a “city of collaboration” has deep roots in its culture.  It has long favored decentralized political authority and encouraged active citizen participation.  Mayor Virginio Merola explained the city’s unusual stance toward development:  “Our city relies upon common assets and social relationships – but we are also a city based on human rights and duties.  Our traditions as a city have been based on collaboration.”

When Merola addressed the conference, he got quite emotional:  “Being an attractive city means first of all, loving each other and not excluding,” noting that lots of Bolognese residents come from southern Italy and that there are 120 different ethnic groups in the city.  In an apparent slap at fashionable technocratic management ideas, Merola said, “We are an intelligent city because we believe in feelings,” adding that “smart cities can be stupid.”

Unlike so many politicians who remain committed to tight, centralized control, Merola and his staff understand the virtues of decentralized participation: “The less that central administration is doing, the more things are working,” he said. “Everybody needs to have power to do something for their lives.”  In this, a venerable Bolognese ethic meets up with Internet sensibilities, yielding a new model of city management.

The City of Bologna is quite serious about becoming a “city of collaboration.”  City officials regard it as a unifying vision, and almost a brand identity – one that aligns Bologna with some of the larger trends sweeping global culture today, such as open source software, social networks, and DIY innovation.

The concept of urban commons has been gaining a lot of visibility lately.  Here’s hoping that its various advocates, thinkers, and project pioneers will find each other soon and begin to build a new school of thought.  It’s hard to imagine a more effective, attractive way of reclaiming our cities and making them happy, liveable places.

To read the original article in its entirety, visit David Bollier’s blog.

 

A Commons Intergroup Takes Off in the Parliament

(image) Sophie Bloemen

Excerpt, By Sophie Bloemen of the Commons Network, for European Alternatives

The Commons; we hear this term more and more in a wide variety of contexts. Across Europe it is often used in the context of participatory initiatives: co-ops providing care for elderly in the neighbourhood, Greeks cooking for their crisis struck neighbours in social solidarity initiatives, or collaborative production endeavours such as Wikipedia made possible by new technology.

Most often though, the term is heard in the context of the Internet. Users intuitively recognize this digital environment as a commons. Meanwhile, creative commons licenses on cultural works will reach over one billion in 2015.

But also in discussions on climate change, on common ownership of water and in discussions on social justice, people have started appealing more to the concepts of ‘the common good,’ ‘commons’ or ‘public goods’ – all in parallel to the use of human rights. Surely the human rights discourse remains the most powerful social justice language we have, importantly enshrined in international conventions. With the concepts of the commons and common goods also gaining political traction our emancipatory spectrum is now being broadened. Tellingly, this discourse has now also reached Brussels.

Landed in real politics
It’s news that makes itself heard: The new European Parliament will see a Commons Intergroup among its 28 intergroups. The Parliament’s main political factions decided on the list of intergroups in December. In order to form an intergroup there need to be three supporting political groups at least, which can be quite a challenge as each political group can only join a limited number of intergroups.

Even though the intergroups have no legislative power, it can be valuable having such a representation in the European Parliament. At the minimum, it is a multiparty forum where one can exchange views and propose ideas on particular subjects in an informal way. Those who choose to work with such an intergroup, its Members of Parliament, and civil society or lobbyists, share the notion that a certain topic is important and can focus on how to get things done.

Now there will also be a Commons Intergroup. This particular group will allow for discussions on policy from a shared perspective: the idea that ‘ the commons’ – is an important and helpful way of framing the important themes of present times.

As there can only be so many Intergroups, inevitably the group is the result of a political compromise. It has been formed by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Greens, the left group GUE, the large Social Democrat party (S&D) and the group EFDD which now includes Beppe Grillo with his Cinque Stelle party. The movement on water as a commons has been instrumental for the mobilization of the intergroup.

Is the commons movement becoming a political force?
The commons intergroup ended up joining the already existing one on Public Services and in the process of political shuffling, the name ended up shifting to common goods. So officially referred to as ‘intergroup on commons goods’, it is part of the ‘European Parliamentary intergroup on Common Goods and Public Services.’ Practically the group will operate in two subgroups. The president of the sub group on the commons is MEP Marisa Matias from GUE.

The intergroup can be understood as confirmation of the aspirations and discourse of the commons becoming a political force. In a way, the bottom-up movement is given a certain political legitimacy by the intergroup. Nevertheless, the question arises: How can an intergroup with such a broad scope as commons or common goods be useful? Aren’t the daily activities of the European Parliament in the end about concrete policies, amendments to policy proposals and votes?

To learn more about the Commons Network, visit their website.