The 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons
14th to 19th July 2008
Over 500 delegates from over 70 different countries attended the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons Conference, organised by the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire on 14-18 July 2008. Sponsorship enabled 124 delegates from developing countries to attend the conference who would not otherwise have been able to.
Through five days of excellent participation and stimulating discussion, this major conference raised awareness of how mis-management is damaging our 'global commons' and contributing to ecological poverty, and sought to explore how these 'commons' should be managed at local, regional, national and global levels to promote a more sustainable world. The English village green and the management of common land in England also came under the spotlight.
Bakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Conventions (DEC) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) who gave a keynote speech on the opening day of the conference said "the global commons are the backbone to sustainability because all ecosystems, including the management of water, is in crisis. We need conferences like this to tackle these issues in depth." He also said that 'the challenge for this conference is to bring the issue of the world's 'shared resources' or commons, to the centre of the debate.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury and current Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire Lord Carey commented that the conference highlighted the need for a change in lifestyle among the developed countries where mobility and life style are comfortable but not in tune with the worlds needs.
UK Director of Black Environment Network and CCRI board member Judy Lee Wong felt that academics and others at the conference could play a useful role in explaining uncertainty to bureaucrats, to foster a more flexible approach in dealing with uncertain and complex systems.
Around 420 papers were presented in 8 panel sessions across 3 days. Between 250-300 people attended one of the 11 field trips on the Thursday. Almost 250 delegates attended one of the 4 workshops on Monday 14th July.
A video showcase of the event, plus other information, can be found on the IASC Conference website http://iasc2008.glos.ac.uk/iasc08.html
Other comments on the conference:
"I would like to thank you for the great conference. It was a pleasure for me to meet all the wonderful people and discuss commons matters." Justyna Hofmokl, Poland
"On behalf of all of the RRI, we would like to thank you for your gracious hosting of our meetings at the University of Gloucestershire. Our meetings went off well and all of our participants greatly enjoyed the field trip to the Forest of Dean. We are very happy with the outcomes of the two policy events and the CIFOR-RRI research panels on Friday. There was excellent participation and rousing discussion at all events. (During the Contested Commons policy event on Tuesday we counted at least 80 participants; during the Clash of the Commons policy event on Wednesday we counted close to 200!) The conversations started in Cheltenham are reverberating across email channels as we all move to put into practice the ideas exchanged over the past two weeks." Megan Liddle Rights and Resources Institute, USA
"Let me congratulate you again on organizing a great IASC meeting this past week." Elinor Ostrom, USA
Information on the conference
The 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) was held between 14/19 July 2008. The previous three international conferences were held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (2002), Oaxaca, Mexico (2004) and Bali, Indonesia (2006).
Through policy events, field trips and papers, the conference theme 'Governing Shared Resources: connecting local experience to global challenges' was explored. 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 will be a fundamental element of the conference.
Christopher Short and Dr. John Powell were the conference organisers.
For further information, see the IASC website: http://www.iascp.org/iasc08/iasc08.html
