Announcement: Launch of the Commons Strategy Group

[Michel Bauwens]

More info via http://www.commonsstrategies.org

The Commons Strategy Group sees the commons as an emerging concept for advancing new models of governance and resource management in nature, culture, the economy and our local communities. The commons places stewardship, participation, sustainability, community and the freedom to create at the center of productive enterprise.


The Commons Strategy Group (CSG) is a partnership to help advance the commons as a paradigm
in diverse settings both in theory and practice. Working on four continents, we catalyze and assist
commons-based projects, activism, research and public education with a great variety of partners.
We believe that commons offers great hope for the future because it provides practical, effective
forms of governance and resource management that can address the growing failures of centralized,
hierarchical institutions and the market fundamentalist order.


Our primary purpose is to help consolidate and extend the many existing commons initiatives
around the world through projects, research and writing about contemporary commons
developments, through public speaking and education.

The market and the state are not the only serious sectors of power and resource management
in the world; and they are not the most effective ones when it comes to socially and
ecologically sound development. The commons is a viable alternative!

Who we are

The CSG’s networks reach across Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America. We are a team
of four activists and researchers.

• Michel Bauwens, based in Chang Mai, Thailand, is familiar with Asian projects and
initiatives and travels frequently to Europe and North America.

• David Bollier, based in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA, is a veteran of American commons
work and Washington, D.C. policy activism, and has extensive ties to Europe.

• Beatriz Busaniche, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a Board Member of Vía Libre
Foundation and a leading free software/free culture activist in Latin America.

• Silke Helfrich, based in Jena, Germany, headed the regional office of the Heinrich Böll
Foundation for Central America and Mexico from 1999 to 2007 and is now an independent
author and commons activist. She speaks frequently in Europe and Latin America.
Visit us at http://www.commonsstrategies.org