Exploring New Approaches to Community Governance

Abstract

'Commons' researchers, historical experience and literature have a lot to offer the considerable challenge of global resource management and environmental degradation. Researchers and policy makers not only need a more seamless dialogue and understanding, we also need to be willing to be bold and innovative in using the available knowledge to address community governance issues in operational and practical ways. In turn, these become 'learning laboratories' building new, practical knowledge and adaptive capacity. This 'Commons Forum' is, hopefully, a conversation piece aimed at stimulating thoughts and discussion. I must declare up front however, where I am coming from – my biases. As a landscape ecologist interested in resource governance issues and therefore society, community and collaborative mechanisms, I am interested in innovation and knowledge building towards "integrative" resource governance that build resilience and sustainability capacity within and across landscapes and regions.