Instead of uniformity, commoning urban spaces offers an inclusive life, open to differences. Through self-managed initiatives, the ‘right to the city’ becomes the right to collectively produce it through creative cooperation, argues Stavros Stavrides.
Read MoreCommons Network launches manifesto Democratise Europe Now
In May, hundreds of millions of Europeans will vote for a new European Parliament. The incoming Members of the European Parliament will move to Brussels during a crucial moment in EU-history. That is why a coalition of organisations that work towards a more democratic society, are making themselves heard.
Commons Network, Democracy International, European Alternatives, European Democracy Lab, Netwerk Democratie, Waag invite everyone to “Let's Democratise Europe!” They write: “This moment in Europe’s history offers many challenges, but it also gives us a chance to make a real difference.”
The manifesto will be updated regularly in order to formulate a set of calls for EU leaders. Find the manifesto here.
Philanthropy needs imagination
A true civic-philanthropic collaboration… Is it that difficult to imagine?
Read MoreFeatured People: #RDgrantee Silvia Nanclares
Throughout our Featured People, we are very happy to share highlights on the works of former Idea Camp participants, showing the depth and breadth of our grantees’ networks. In this feature, we talk to Silvia Nanclares, who participated to the Idea Camp in 2015 and received an R&D grant to work on her idea Caring IN the city.
Read MoreStatement: Culture and the Commons
Download the statement by members of our Connected Action for the Commons, which was created for the attention of the EP Intergroup Common Goods and Public Services and EU decision-makers.
Read MoreCommoning at the World Social Forum
The idea, Atlas of Urban Commons Charters, was presented at the Idea Camp 2015 by Frederic Sultan (Remix the Commons, France) and received an ECF R&D grant. Frederic's colleague Nicole Leonard was at the World Social Forum in Montreal this August. You can read Nicole's insights on the event below, accompanied by pictures by Sylvia Fredriksson.
Read MoreFeatured People & Instagram Takeover: #RDgrantees Ana Gonçalves and Laura Pana
Idea Makers Ana Gonçalves (Portugal) and Laura M. Pana (Netherlands) visit Sweden in June to attend the residency BiR (Business in Residence) in the culture business incubator KLUMP Subtopia. Ana and Laura will spend two weeks in Subtopia -one of the six hubs of our Connected Action for the Commons programme, to develop their projects. Learn more about their projects.
Read MoreBuild the City Magazine: a collection of evidence-based practices
ECF initiated Build the City to highlight innovative civil-public partnerships in broader Europe that have solved urban challenges. The 26 practices highlighted in this publication are civil-public partnerships based on principles of the commons, i.e. enabling citizens and governments to share power, co-design and co-shape legislation, management or collective action for the common good. Download a copy of the Build the City Magazine and join the conversation on ECF Labs.
Read MoreInstagram Takeover: Borbála Soós from Tenderpixel
From 30 April to 6 May, Borbala Soos, Director of Tenderpixel Galley in London, is taking over our Instagram account. Borbala is the curator of the 8 week event series and exhibition ‘Spatial Practices and the Urban Commons’ that will run at the gallery until 4 June 2016. During the takeover, she will share some of the research behind the project.
Read MoreWhen commoning strategies travel by Jayne Ifekwunigwe →
Commoning strategies are often improvised even in the liminal spaces that emerge in the cracks of Fortress Europe, says urban anthropologist Jayne O. Ifekwunigwe. In a text based on her September 2015 talk at the ECF's annual Idea Camp, Ifekwunigwe calls for a new commons that embraces both the mobile and the settled.
Read MoreNew models of governance of culture by Katarina Pavić →
Bottom-up cooperation between the independent cultural sector and domestic and European institutions can lead to both the decentralisation of cultural production and the democratisation of culture. So says Katarina Pavić of the Croatian cultural hub organisation Culture 2 Commons.
Read MoreCulture WITH people, not just FOR people! by Agnieszka Wiśniewska →
Received notions of artistic and social practices belonging to separate spheres of society are fading away, writes Agnieszka Wiśniewska of Krytyka Polityczna (Poland). The commons is where cultural and social activists meet with the broader public and, together, create a genuinely participatory culture.
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