Commons Seminar in Zagreb

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Auf Einladung des Institute for Political Ecology und der Green European Foundation hat die Nachbarschaftsakademie an dem Seminar „Urban Commons – Commoning the City“ in Zagreb teilgenommen.Mit dabei waren unter anderen Iva Čukić vom Ministarstvo prostora (Ministry of Space) und von Ne davimo Beograd (Don’tlet Belgrade drown), die zehntausende Menschen auf die Strasse bringen, um ein umstrittenes Investorenprojekt zu verhindern; Lucia Lois vom Sozialzentrum Patio Maravillas in Madrid, die die Geschichte des im letzten Jahr geräumten Zentrums dargestellt hat und die Veränderungen in der politischen Landschaft durch den Sieg des Wahlbündnisses Ahora Madrid,  Alma Midžić von Crvena, die in Sarajewo gegen die Privatisierung des einzig öffentlichen Krankenhauses kämpfen; Matic Primc from INICIATIVA MESTNI ZBOR (IMZ), die offene Stadtteilversammlungen in 11 Bezirken Maribors organisieren. Daneben gab es zahlreiche lokale Initiativen, darunter  Pravo na grad (Right to the City Zagreb) and parkticipacija. Letztere haben, auch inspiriert von Berliner Beispielen wie dem Allmende-Kontor und den Prinzessinnengärten, inzwischen schon 12 Gemeinschaftsgärten in Zagreb initiiert.

Unterstützungsvideo für Ne davimo Beograd

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Workshop “URBAN COMMONS – COMMONING THE CITY”

Commons as the concept and practice entered into mainstream after Elinor Ostrom received in 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics for empirically proving that communities of users can sustainably manage natural resources without direct influence of the state and the market. Concept of the commons was extended also for social resources and for different contexts including the urban. More radical and critical approaches of the commons emerged especially in the context of various urban social movements fighting against privatisation, commodification and commercialisation of cities. Practices of self-governance and community governance of urban resources were introduced or reintroduced in cities all around Europe. For example, in Athens there is a network of solidarity commoning practices providing food, housing and even health service to people affected by years of austerity politics. In Bologna the local government even adopted regulation in order to engage in collaboration with communities to produce and regenerate urban commons. In Barcelona citizen platform called “Barcelona in Common” won the local elections and is trying to establish framework for urban commons governance in different sectors.

The Seminar will present interesting examples of urban commoning through commons governance practices and struggles for urban commons in cities of Madrid, Berlin, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Maribor and Zagreb. It will also provide forum for exchange on challenges in various urban commons practices as well as confrontational tactics against the enclosure of the urban commons and privatisation of the urban public goods. Seminar aims to tackle the debate among local participants on how can urban commons and self-governance models be multiplied, enhanced, supported and protected in cities of the region.