Embedded Files
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you, which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems
Section 1.1.4 Regenerative economies, which explains how circular, distributive and caring, needs-based and sufficient economies can meet human needs within planetary boundaries
Section 1.3.7 Care in the economy, which explains the importance of care in the economy, the types of care, and why care is undervalued
Section S.1 What are systems?, which explains what a system is, the importance of systems boundaries, the difference between open and closed systems and the importance of systems thinking
Learning objectives:
describe the commons provisioning institution in terms of parts, the parts’ relationships and overall functions of the commons
In southern India, women farmers in the village of Erakulapally gather each season to share seeds saved from their harvest. These women avoid costly chemical fertilisers and pesticides and genetically modified seeds. Instead, they share traditional techniques and seed varieties adapted to their region. Their shared efforts ensure that every family has enough food, and also helps preserve the health of the soil and the biodiversity of their crops.
Figure 1. Women farmers in the village of Erakulapally gather each season to share seeds saved from their harvest
(Credit: Deccan Development Society)
Artists, writers, and musicians all over the world create and share their work in the Creative Commons system. Artists give others the right to use, remix, and build upon their work without needing to ask permission. Each creator decides which intellectual property rights they want to keep and which rights they want to give away, making it easier for people to access and share creative content legally and ethically.
This open framework supports a wide range of creative collaborations, like educational videos, remixed songs and many of the images used in this book. Creative commons also supports a global community of creators who believe that knowledge and culture grow stronger when they are shared freely.
Figure 2. Many organisations like these make their work widely available to others to use without permission through Creative Commons licences.
(Credit: Creative Commons)
In Hawaii, a local surf group called the Wolfpak keeps a watchful eye on the waves at Pipeline, a legendary surfing spot known for its huge, hollow waves. The Wolfpak’s members don’t own the ocean, but they enforce rules about who can surf, maintaining a balance between locals and visitors. By establishing an informal code of conduct, sometimes by force, they help ensure safety in the water and preserve the spirit of respect for the powerful surf.
Figure 3. A group of surfers set rules for using the Pipeline waves on the North Shore of Hawaii
(Credit: Alan Grinberg, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
These communities are all part of the commons. Each of these commons— preserving seeds, sharing creative works, and protecting surf spots—developed on their own, without the direction or oversight of a state or other central authority. These commons have a larger collective purpose while still providing personal benefits for the people involved. None of them are primarily focused on making money. Yet, even without the direct involvement of markets or the state, useful production and governance take place. These groups rely on cooperation, trust, and a commitment to keep their resources available and thriving for their community, now and in the future.
What are the commons?
What are the commons?
The commons is a provisioning institution where the shared resources of a group are used and managed in accessible ways through self-organised management and social practices. The commons is one of four main provisioning institutions in the economy along with households, markets and the state.
Commons are systems, sets of interdependent parts that organise to create a functional whole. Let’s see what this means.
Figure 4. Commons consist of three elements: the resource, the community, and the rules
(Credit: Heinrich Böll Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Parts of the commons
Parts of the commons
Three parts—resources, community, and rules—are the building blocks of any commons:
Figure 4. This online textbook is a resource shared in the commons
Resource
Can be anything: a forest, a river, a building, tools, internet platform, knowledge…
Figure 5: Groups of people support community supported agriculture (CSA) around the world
Community
A group of people who share a concern or interest for that resource and work together to sustain it
Figure 6: Many of us already share a space with rules and norms
Rules
Rules, practices and social norms help the community members manage the resource fairly and sustainably.
Relationships in the commons
Relationships in the commons
The commons is more than just these building blocks—it’s mainly about relationships, both among people and between people and the shared resource. A key part of the commons is that a community actively manages the resource for the benefit of everyone in the community. This active management is called commoning. A commons is mostly about the social practices, values, and responsibilities that bring people closer together to care for the resource. These relationships involve cooperation, mutual support, and the creation of shared rules and social norms.
Members don’t just divide their work and resolve conflicts together. They also develop direct, respectful relationships with the resource itself, whether it’s land, water, knowledge or some other resource. They care about the resource and manage it as stewards. This care changes the thing from a resource that can be used, bought and sold, into care wealth, something that is cherished as a part of a community’s identity and culture. Organising care as a social practice helps ensure the health of the community’s shared wealth over time for the benefit of everyone involved.
Functions of the commons
Functions of the commons
The commons serves many functions, providing for human needs like food, water, or knowledge that people rely on in their daily lives. Beyond that, commoning also helps strengthen social and ecological resilience. By working together and following shared rules, people build trust, form strong relationships, and learn how to solve problems as a group. This social resilience makes communities more adaptable and able to respond quickly, flexibly, and creatively to challenges like economic changes or weather extremes.
Caring for natural resources through commoning also helps maintain healthy forests, rivers, and other ecosystems as humans interact with them. This strengthens both social and ecological resilience over time, enabling communities to better withstand unexpected changes and thrive in the long run.
You will get a better sense of the different functions of commons and the different types of relationships that form in different contexts in Subtopic 4.2, which describes some different areas where commoning happens.
Activity 4.1.1
Activity 4.1.1
Concept: Systems
Skills: Reflection
Time: ca. 25 minutes (depends on whether the final question is asked and how much discussion occurs)
Type: Individual, pairs, or group
Video of seed commoning
Watch the following video about seed commoning (ca. 10 minutes)
Saved by a Seed : Meet the woman who preserves over 90 endangered varieties of grains
Individually in writing or audio recording, or orally in small groups:
Describe the commons in the video in terms of:
Its parts (resource, community, rules)
Its social and ecological relationships (between people, between people and the resource)
Its function - what is the purpose of this commons?
Consider how households, markets and the state support or hinder this seed commoning? This question can help students already consider the relationships between commons and other provisioning institutions, which are discussed in greater detail in the next Section 4.1.2.
Ideas for longer activities and projects are listed in Subtopic 4.5 Taking action
Checking for understanding
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
Further exploration
Silke Helfrich 1/6 - Terminology of Commons - a short video from Leuphana Digital School with commons expert Silke Helfrich explaining the basic parts and relationships in the commons. Difficulty level: medium
Silke Helfrich 4/6 - Social Identity from a Commons Perspective - a 2 minute short video from Leuphana Digital School with commons expert Silke Helfrich explaining that social identity (who are we as a group and what are our values?) and commoning are dynamic processes that impact each other, and that social identities can be strengthened through commoning. Difficulty level: medium
The Commons, Short and Sweet - A short description from David Bollier of key characteristics of the commons for beginners. Difficulty level: medium
Frontiers of Commoning - a podcast hosted by David Bollier exploring the many examples of commoning from around the world. Difficulty level: medium/high
The Seed-Sharing Solution - an article describing the seed sharing commons formed by thousands of women in small villages in Andhra Pradesh, who have become self-reliant farmers able to grow enough food to feed their households. Difficulty level: easy/medium
Gaming for the commons: Commonspoly - a site that explains how a new game called Commonspoly (like Monopoly but for the commons) was developed. The website for purchasing or downloading (free) the game can be found at Commonspoly. Difficulty level: easy/medium
Sources
Sources
Bollier. D. (2021). The Commoners Catalog For Changemaking: Tools for the Transitions Ahead. https://commonerscatalog.org/
Bollier, D. and Helfrich, S. (2019). “1. Commons and Commoning,” in Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers.
Bollier, D. (2025). Think Like a Commoner, 2nd edition. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers. https://www.thinklikeacommoner.com/
— “The Seeding Sharing Solution,” Bollier.org [David Bollier’s blog], January 19, 2011. https://www.bollier.org/seed-sharing-solution
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Terminology (in order of appearance)
fertiliser: a chemical or natural substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility
pesticide: a chemical that kills pests
genetically modified: an organism with genetic material that has been artificially altered to produce a desired characteristic
biodiversity: the variety of living organisms on Earth
system: a set of interdependent parts that organise to create a functional whole
intellectual property: creations of the human mind such as inventions, designs, data, logos, computer code, and others
ethics: a set of moral principles about right and wrong that affect how people make decisions and lead their lives
culture: the beliefs, values, attitudes, behaviours and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
commons: a system where people self-organise to co-produce and manage shared resources.
market: a system where people buy and sell goods and services for a price.
state: a system that provides essential public services, and also governs and regulates other economic institutions
governance: the process of overseeing the control and direction of something
provisioning institution: a group of people and their relationships as they try to meet human needs and wants
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants
household: a system where people living together care for each other and do domestic work, often termed the 'core economy'
norm: a social rule for accepted and expected behaviour, can be stated or unstated
sustainability: meeting people’s needs within the means of the planet
commoning: when a group of people self-organise to manage shared resources
value: ideas about what is important or good
care: the act of providing what is necessary for the health, welfare, upkeep, and protection of someone or something
steward: to manage or look after something
resource: a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organisation in order to function effectively
care-wealth: shared wealth that is created when people take care of forests, water, data, or urban spaces, and adopt these resources into their shared memory, culture, social lives, and identities
culture: the beliefs, values, attitudes, behaviours and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
care: the act of providing what is necessary for the health, welfare, upkeep, and protection of someone or something
resilient: able to recover after a disturbance
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants
ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment
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