Local Control and Management of Our Commons: Stories of Rising to the Challenge

Abstract

"As we seek to better understand what circumstances local alternatives for democratic, equitable and sustainable control of water Commons are working best, water justice activists in the North and South continue to rediscover the wealth of alternatives in the indigenous societies that so-called 'modernization' has effectively neglected, excluded and degraded. We find ourselves marveling at the amazing diversity of culturally-specifi c economic and political traditions around water that both exist and are being created. These living experiments, present in both indigenous and non indigenous societies, help us redefi ne the meaning and practice of the water Commons and of water justice. Toward exploring such positive solutions, this report draws together 21 'tools' or cases of local action that emphasize local control of the water Commons for equitable access and sustainability. This collection is by no means complete. In fact, this is the strength of the alternatives out there: there is a true wealth of them. These tools are meant to provoke discussion and dialogue, and to raise further questions and answers."