Commons

Our commons are vital places and services we all share. They can be physical, such as parks or roads; or intellectual, like the internet. A main function of government is to protect and preserve our commons for future generations. Is our government doing its job? How can we think about the commons in ways that help us appreciate them now, and preserve them for the future?

Define and Develop a Law of the Ecological Commons for Present and Future Generations Carolyn Raffensperger, Burns Weston, David Bollier Vermont Law School Climate Legacy Initiative Recommendation No. 1 (2009)

Part of the Climate Legacy Initiative Green Paper, this recommendation describes how climate change law must incorporate new rules for the commons.

The Commons, Future Generations, and Elinor Ostrom Carolyn Raffensperger on the SEHN blog, October 21, 2009.

Check the "commons" topic on the blog for other entries.

Carolyn Raffensperger's guest blog on the "On the Commons" website.

Four 2006 essays: Ten Tenets: The Law of the Commons of the Natural World, Reclaiming a Public Interest Research agenda, What If Prisons Were Preventable, Imagining New Institutions to Defend the Commons.

Faith and Thought: Returning soldier has much to teach us? Carolyn Raffensperger Mid-Iowa News, February 2007