Commons, in Short

Commons is everything that needs to be preserved, enriched. The community you are a part of, your relationships, humans and their rights, care and knowledge of elders, forests, rivers. Look around!

Natural and Creative Commons

The commons is not just the natural resources such as rivers, mountains, and lakes. The commons is not just civic spaces such as public toilets, railway stations or government schools. And it’s not just about accessing hundreds of wikis on the Internet. It is all of those plus more. And ‘more’ is defined by the community of its users, including the protocols of its use and protection, values and the culture.

People Commons

A social system that gives us a sense of belonging. The expression of the bond inside us towards people, a community or shared knowledge hubs. Stewardship or one’s personal interest in protecting such a social system and ensuring all in the current and future generations benefit from it. A set of shared values that no new member of the community compromises on.

Intellectual Commons

With People-to-People forms the fabric of collaborative actions and a new form of production, and emerges intellectual commons in the form of knowledge hubs & maker-spaces. Be it those conversations with the wise man under a tree in a village or licenses to ensure the use of such knowledge.

There is no commons without commoning.

There is no standard template for commons; it must be understood as a verb as much as a noun. A deeper understanding of your peers can answer questions about self and the community. What resource we collectively use / guard? What’s the nature of our community and what we collectively care about? How our community functions?