Please see this message from Council of Canadians Blue Planet Project organizer Anil Naidoo:
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Yesterday the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Dr. Elinor Ostrom. That’s at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/12/nobel-economics-prize-elinor-ostrom.
Dr. Ostrom is someone who we have previously contacted regarding the water commons work that some of you are aware of and which I hope we can move forward together.
Dr Ostrom has done work on the issue of water governance and community participation in control of water resources.
The idea of the commons is a powerful concept for our water justice movement. There is a new project called Our Water Commons which is promoting the water commons – more information on this project will be forthcoming.
I also invite you to learn more about this concept of the water commons through Maude Barlow’s paper called Our Water Commons; toward a new freshwater narrative at http://canadians.org/water/publications/water%20commons/index.html.
For more information on the Commons in its many different aspects, you can go to On The Commons website at http://www.onthecommons.org.
Related to this work on the commons and water governance, there is also a very exciting course being developed by colleagues in India. More information on this important project will be shared shortly.
All of this builds on the great work of communities around the world which have been living the commons through indigenous and traditional practice, and which have not received the attention they deserve for their efforts. Also, many organizations have been leading this work through networks such as the Reclaiming Public Water Network. Red Vida members are also doing strong work in this area.
Personally, I find great hope and inspiration in the powerful stories of the water commons and look forward to our collective work to reclaim and protect the water commons!
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