Commons in a Changing Europe

Abstract

"The International Journal of the Commons published in 2008 a special issue on 'The commons in Europe: from past to future' (IJC Vol. 2, No. 2, July 2008). This volume traced the development of European commons from the Middle Ages to the modern environmental services organized as commons. In the northern and Western European continent, most historical commons had by the end of the 19th century changed their character by the enclosure movement and general land consolidation. But it also showed that many resources in the European region are still governed by common user associations or by community institutions in the form of alpine forests, mountain pastures etc. The volume also identified a number of 'new commons' in the European region (leisure areas, ecosystem services etc.) that has caught the interest of commons scholars. In summing up the contribution of the first IASC European Regional meeting in Brescia (2006) and that first special issue, there was a discussion of what was missing at that stage in the development of commons scholarship in Europe. One type of missing research identified was connected to the large field of fisheries and use of coastal areas (costal commons) for aquaculture and sea-ranching. Another type of missing research was related to urban commons and new ways of organizing various community services."