Press Release
4 June 2008
Common resources under threat
What do the English village green and the blue whale have in common?
They are both endangered species and they are both different forms of shared resource, or resources held 'in-common', which means that although there is no private ownership many people might have some form of rights to use or benefit from their existence.
The management of these and other shared resources will be investigated, and alternative management approaches explored, at the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons Conference, which is being held at the University of Gloucestershire on 14-18 July 2008.
Commons resource management experts from all over the world will be attending the conference, which is being organised by the Countryside and Community Research Institute, a specialist rural research centre and a unique collaboration between the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England and Hartpury College.
This major international conference will raise awareness of the damage caused to environmental goods such as the global atmosphere, the contribution to ecological poverty caused by the mis-management of shared resources such as marine fisheries, and the loss of native rights to traditional resources such as grazing lands for reindeer in the Arctic and medicinal plants in tropical forests. Such goods, shared by communities or groups of individuals, are also known as ‘commons’. The Conference will seek to address how commons should be managed at local, regional, national and global levels to promote a more sustainable world.
Conference organiser Christopher Short says, 'In many parts of the world shared resources remain under threat as a result of global economic forces, regional and national political developments, and inadequate legal recognition of common property rights. At the same time the global implications of poor resource management are increasingly recognised in terms of loss of biodiversity, destruction of valued resource systems, both natural and man-made, and global warming impacts. We intend the conference to focus on the exchange of ideas between developing and developed world, between practitioners and researchers, and between old and new conceptions of commons. Policy improvements will only result through discussion and testing of new theories, approaches and new knowledge.'
The term 'commons' includes all the things we own together and none of us owns individually. These include the air we breathe, water, forests, wildlife, energy, climate and landscapes, all of which are increasingly under threat.
Millions of people are without adequate drinking water. Deforestation is destroying natural habitats for many wildlife species. The burning of fossil fuels and other pollution is linked to climate change. Over-fishing has put many fish species at risk. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg and in these and many other cases local people and their communities are increasingly isolated and being ignored in decision-making in favour of other, often private, interests.
The conference will seek to explore these issues from a commons perspective, sharing local experiences which may hold lessons or provide insights into problems of dealing with global issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
The conference will also look at the contribution of the ancient commons to the culture and society of England and Wales. It will include contributions from those directly concerned with the management of these resources, which are increasingly recognised for their environmental and public values.
ENDS
The Conference
1. The 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC) will take place at The University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, England on July 14-18, 2008.
2. The title of the conference is: 'Governing shared resources: connecting local experience to global challenges'
3. The conference will attract over 600 participants from 75 countries around the world. Key speakers include: Lord George Carey (former Archbishop of Canterbury), Elinor Ostrum (Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science, Indiana university, USA), and Judy Lin Wong OBE (Director, Black Environment Network)
4. Overview of the Conference
The emphasis of the conference is the exchange of knowledge on shared resources or 'commons' between:
- developing and developed world, ·
- practitioners and researchers, ·
- 'old' and 'new' commons.
The overarching theme of 'governing shared resources' aims to encourage discussion on alternative approaches to using, managing, protecting and creating ‘commons’.
5. What are 'commons'?
Commons are resources that are shared by different members of a community or society. Typically in a commons certain people will have defined or specific rights to use or access the resource. In an open access resource, like the traditional ocean fishery, there may be no rules about who can access the resource. Commons range from globally shared resources such as the atmosphere, climate stability, and biodiversity, to local community managed resources such as a woodland, water source, or village green.
6. Conference website: http://iasc2008.glos.ac.uk/iasc08.html More details from: Gill Parker, Conference Administrator
Email: iasc2008@glos.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1242 714123
7. The International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC) was founded in 1989 and is a nonprofit Association devoted to understanding and improving institutions for the management of resources that are (or could be) held or used collectively by communities in developing or developed countries. IASC's goals are: · to encourage exchange of knowledge among diverse disciplines, areas, and resource types · to foster mutual exchange of scholarship and practical experience · to promote appropriate institutional design for commons resource management.
The website for the IASC:
http://www.indiana.edu/~iascp/index.html
Organising Committee for IASC 2008 Conference
The conference will be co-chaired by:
Dr. John Powell, Senior Research Fellow, Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire. E-mail jpowell@glos.ac.uk. Telephone +44 (0) 1242 714129 714129
Mr. Chris Short, Senior Research Fellow, Countryside and Community Research Institute, and Senior Lecturer, Department of Natural and Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire. E-mail cshort@glos.ac.uk. Telephone +44 (0) 1242 714550
The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) is a new body created by the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England and Hartpury College. It is one of the leading specialist rural research centres in the country with programmes of research in rural community development, rural poverty, agri-environment policies, agri-tourism, local sustainability, local economic development, EU and UK rural development, and the planning system in the countryside. See www.ccri.ac.uk for more information.
ENDS
Contacts:
Press Officer, Julie Ryan
Office Manager, Chris Rayfield, crayfield@glos.ac.uk or telephone 01242 714121
Issued by:
COUNTRYSIDE AND COMMUNITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Dunholme Villa,
The Park,
Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire
GL50 2RH
