EDFix call #3: Deeper into the Commons

Let's return to the path we started down on our first EDFix call, where we opened an inquiry into The Commons with a goal of defining a "Sustainability Commons" over several conversations (you'll find a thought-provoking page on Commons here).

That first call brought us many useful perspectives:

• Point of view is key. For example: is The Commons everything, or everything that's left over outside private property?
• Rules for governing a Commons have to be as complex as the system under management. There is no one right way.
• Locals are usually best positioned to decide what works.
• It's important to think beyond sustainability to something like "thrivability;" beyond yield to regeneration.
• The words "commons," "sustainability" and "resources" are all possible semantic traps; we should use them with due care.

Our next call is Monday, Dec. 28 at 9am Pacific, for 45 minutes. The number is (218) 862-6420, passcode 267-6815.

Two new voices, Neal Gorenflo and Kenoli Oleari, will join some of our original guests, David Hodgson and Ken Homer.  We'll examine how specific communities deal with their Commons: how individuals talk about it and what productive discourse sounds like. We'll also talk about several kinds of Commons, paving the ground for a future call comparing their governance mechanisms.

For your calendar, the following call will be on January 11, 2010, back on our normal schedule (the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month). Please join us, and pass the word!

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