About Us

VISION

Young people have awakened. They are participating, building and striving to nurture a purposeful community.

MISSION

To develop learning ecosystems that encourage a million youthful leaders in finding creative ways to address persistent social issues in their communities.

STRATEGY

Build an online & on-ground civic-tech platform for meaningful volunteering, purposeful fellowships and social entrepreneurship.

ESSENCE

The University of Commons invites changemakers to find and offer learning opportunities amidst community service. To that, we offer value to both sides. We build capacity with active citizens to drive change locally and we support entrepreneurs in achieving their mission.
The idea of University has brought together individuals and communities to learn by practicing and challenging the status quo; Commons is the space that allows for both change and learning to happen.

WHY UOC?

“[disclaimer] We are not an academic university, we do not award degrees [/disclaimer].
University of Commons believes in self-development as a consequence of community development and vice versa. “University” for us is about learning through serving, and “Commons” is our immersive classroom”

EVOLUTION

  • The Seed

    The idea of the University of Commons was seeded in ‘Cambium’, in Mindtree, Bangalore, where many big ideas take shape. A space where many cutting-edge technology products for social change took birth and that paved the way for the University of Commons. We believe, that with a little but right support (& tools), people can determine a sustainable, mostly satisfying future for themselves and fellow citizens.

  • The Story

    In early 2014, some of us shared a common purpose, beyond the modern & urban way of living. And along with our own work with farmers, weavers, and waste pickers, we constantly questioned the obliviousness around us, esp. that of the middle and upper class. These discussions and reflections exposed the inadequacies of the functioning society, which upheld our culture and reasoning.

    We knew that something needed to be done.

  • The Idea

    Some of us got together and designed an immersion curriculum that could make others feel the way we did. The tribe grew and soon after we saw ourselves on a journey to having conversations in bigger circles. Many circles where everyone had chosen their own path of commoning. Knowingly, unknowingly, we created this space for learning and sharing. Space where the community is at the center of experience!

    We called ourselves the University of Commons.

  • The Community

    More and more believers joined. The entrepreneurs, civil society, academia, and changemakers of all kinds. The collective has grown from humble beginnings, and over the years developed our own understanding of social change, or ‘commoning’ as we call it.

  • The Evolution

    We have started by building ‘the tools’. The tools needed to drive change and especially those sharp ones that fellow changemakers would need.

    In our conversations, we keep referring to how we will evolve in ‘300 years’! Everything we do, we try and see through the long-term view. Above all we have learned, is that Life can only be lived – now!

VALUES

Be you!

In a world that pressures us to be somebody else, we create a space where we can be our whole selves. We create spaces where we can be wonderfully weird, where we can be open with our thoughts and feelings.

Be young!

Its not about age. The young in you is built to learn. Unconcerned with the judgment of others, the youngness wholeheartedly embrace the awkwardness of being a beginner. They dive in, stumble, and learn rapidly from their mistakes.

Be visionary!

We set our gaze on our long-term vision and take the long-view on the daily decisions we make. We recognize that building something that matters doesn’t happen overnight, and we press forward with long-term wisdom.

Be there!

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles…The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, sweat & blood…” Theodore Roosevelt

Be with them!

We believe in people. We believe in commoners and their style of commoning. None of us know who might change the course of history. So we treat everyone as though it might be them.

Be the Change!

There is no substitute of leading oneself into action. Action that is backed by knowledge & fearlessness. We, commoners, begin with the change we wish to see around us. And yes, we enjoy every bit of it..