Commons Governance Work Group
Our Mission: We seek to assist in the creation of an integral model of co-governance that can be applied both within existing and emergent commons in various developmental stages and contexts. The Commons Defined: We understand the commons to be a sphere of life that is distinct, both from the public sphere of government provision and distribution, a ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Feb 26, 2009
Updated: Nov 19, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
Topic: Working/conceptual model for "commons trust" at various scales?
Posts (1 - 9 of 9)
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Hi Bowo,
Welcome to our group.
Wow, you pose some very good questions. And, your right we are in the process of looking into working and experimental commons trusts (although they might not be referred to as such) to try and discover the basic structure that either makes them work, or not. This will happen simultaneously with the development of our Integral Model of Co-Governance, which will be a conceptual model that could be applied to a commons.
As far as I know, there are no lists of different models (conceptual, working, experimental) that have to do with the different commons categories. This may be something that comes out of this project here. It certainly would be a benefical peice of information to develop. There may be some of this information at onthecommons.org, also there is some information in Peter Barnes' newest book Capitalism 3.0, but as far as anything concentrated I am unaware.
If you come across any of this type of information I would be greatful if you would share it with me. We are in the process of organizing this wiki so that such information can be posted by anyone who visits the site.
Again, welcome to our group and you are certainly invited to join us on one of our weekly flashmeetings if you feel inspired - even if just to observe - we always love to put a voice to the face.
Jay |
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Hi Jay, Thank you for the warm welcome. I haven't given the integral model wiki a thorough look but looks like there's much I can learn there. I was wondering... why the blend between the two? Integral model and commons co-governance. Perhaps that could be added to the top of the wiki, so people who are relatively new to both can understand the context and perhaps chip in their thoughts immediately? As for the list, how about starting a wiki on that too? Further down the road, I can imagine adding the solutions module to the group to elaborate each item on the list. Btw, the last item on my (long time not updated) blog happens to be about the commons (quoting a report from onthecommons.org). I downloaded Peter's book a while back but haven't had the chance to read through. Perhaps now is a good time. I just peak into one of the flash meeting recording. Looks like a very effective system. Is it free to use for everyone? I'd be happy to put a voice to my face if time permits (I think it will be early morning here in Jakarta). Otherwise, I'm happy enough to start by looking around some more. Bowo |
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Dear Bowo, Thank you very much for your timely response, mine semse to be lagging a bit. I brought your idea to our last flashmeeting about putting a brief statement about integral modeling, as well as co-governance of the commons, so that folks can get an idea of what we are about and chime in if appropriate. If you watch the replay, you will find this portion of the discussion near the end of the meeting, probably somewhere in the last 20 minutes. As for your comments/questions about flashmeeting, yes it is a very effective tool. It is free to all who wish to use it. During peak hours sometimes it is hard to get server space. During those times it is wise to schedule a block of meetings and at least two weeks in advance. If you want a primer on this technology before you attend a live meeting, I would be happy to assist. Regarding the solutions module, I am unfamiliar with it. How is this module different from the others? I am finding it difficult to do everything I want this wiki to do. Maybe it is just my lack of experience with this type of technology. For example, I can't think of a single module that would allow me to display some nice text at the top of our wiki. Specifically, what module would you use to display the type of text you recommended in your last comment - why integral - why commons governance. Be Well, Jay
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Dear Jay, No worries. In fact, it's my turn to lag a bit :) I appreciate you guys actually discussed how to go about answering my previous question. For that all I imagined is a simple intro text at the top of the Integral Model of Co-governance wikipage since that seems to be the main document that underpins the mission of the group. And perhaps also on the group's About page, where you currently have "Our mission" and "The Commons Defined" section. Simply adding "Why an Integral Model of Co-governance" in between or after those sections would provide enough context I suppose. So, no need to add any more module for this. If you want to display "some nice text" at the top of your group, you can add another Bulletin Board module via the "Admin Tools" >> "Add a new module" link (only group admins can do that). You can then rename the module to something like "Welcome" or "Introduction" or whatever you'd like it to be. If you need more info on how to use and customize the group, there are FAQ and Tutorial pages accessible from the small info icon to the left of the blue "Admin/Group Tools" button. I've been reading some documentation about fm-openlearn flashmeeting tool, but haven't been able to figure out how to set up / book server space and whether one must pay or not to do that. Though the interface is not as pretty as the more popular web conferencing tool (DimDim, conference.io, etc.) the funtionality looks very robust (I tried DimDim once and it was glitchy) and I really like the replay feature. One last thing, we just updated WiserEarth's homepage and added a new section called "Featured Communities". I hope you guys don't mind us listing Comons Governance Work Group as one of them. This has been a steadily active group and we thought that people need to know about the important work you do. In solidarity, |
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Hello Bowo, I am thrilled to see someone join in who is so familiar with the concepts our group is working with, and especially you being from a region within the so-called "developing world" (South). Are you still having a problem with the flash meeting setup? Many thanks, Greg |
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Hello Greg, Only just beginning to understand here and was happy to found this group myself :) And yes, I still can't figure out a way to setup / book server space on fm-openlearn, and whether one needs to pay or not to do that. I think this is a tool that could be very useful for other WiserEarth groups too. If you could message/email me the info, that'd be great. Thank you so much, |
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Hi Bowo, Flashmeeting is free to all who wish to use it. Unfortunately everyone who try's to use this technology for the first time has a very difficult time in figuring out how to make it work. However, once you learn how to use its basic function - the online meeting - it is very easy. To start, follow this link and register as a user: https://labspace.open.ac.uk/local/ocilogin.php Then use this link to sign in and book your meetings: http://fm-openlearn.open.ac.uk/mxbooking/index.php?kwd=FM If you have any questions feel free to email me or continue the discussion here... Jay |
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Hi Jay, Thanks for that. It does seem a bit complex at first but easier and powerful once you get used to it. I talked with Greg over email several days ago and it appears that one can't get a login id if not part of the Open University. I tried opening the first link above, but received a "secure connection failed" error. Will stick to Skype or DimDim (free up to 20 users or so) when advising people on free web conferencing tool. Thanks again and it's good to see new pages in the group listing papers, articles and books about various commons trust models and case studies. Keep it up!... and I hope to catch up one day! Bowo |
Hello everyone,
Just joined the group today and went over the Mission, Vision and Intent document. Always have been intrigued by the idea of the commons as the third entity to complement the conventional public-private view of things, and was wondering about the phrase "commons trust".
I think I'm hearing both working and conceptual model of such trusts across scales from communal land trust to global sky trust. Is there a list of such models for different types of commons and across all scales? Both working and conceptual, or even those in experimentation phase? It would be interesting I think to actually observe the various models and the circumstances where they have or have not been successful to steward the commons.
Thanks for sharing,
Bowo