The State of the Commons in Europe

Abstract

"During the IASCP Europe Regional Meeting in Brescia, Italy 23-25 March, the Commons of Europe received a thorough coverage by scholars from a large number of European countries. Not since the International IASCP Conference in Bodo in 1995, has such a variety of European Commons been discussed by scientists and resource managers. The conference participants could enjoy timely updates on the contemporary governing challenges for the century old grazing commons of England (Adrian Walters, John Goodacre) and for the modernizing alpine pastures (Agrargesellschaft) of Austria (Elisabeth Johann). In addition, the conference brought the attention to a number of new aspects of European Commons hitherto not well known to the IASCP network. These included as diverse commons as the reemerging village commons of the Vrancea Mountains of Romania (Liviu Mantescu and Monica Vasile), the deterioration of the collective irrigation systems of Bulgaria (Insa Theesfeld), the revival of the Collective Alps in the alpine region of Germany (Anne Gueydon) and the surviving commons of Navarra (Jose Miguel, Lana Bersain)."