13th Biennial Conference of the

International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC)

(www.iasc2011.fes.org.in)

The conference will be hosted by Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), an organization that has been involved in assisting the management and governance of Common Property Land Resources since 1986. By working with 1500 village institutions spread across diverse ecosystems of six provinces in the country over the last 22 years, FES is recognized for its activities around commons. FES has been an institutional member of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (IASC) since 1999 and has been a regular participant in the biennial conferences.

Holding the International Conference on Commons in India in January 2011 would provide a unique opportunity to resurface the discussion and debate on commons, bringing international experience and evidence from across the world to show that the commons are not a relic of the past, but can play a strategic role in maintaining ecological health, reducing poverty, and improving collective action. By placing the conference agenda in the ongoing discussions around conservation, local governance, human rights, agrarian distress and rural livelihoods in general, we encourage several networks of practitioner organizations to leverage this opportunity to both integrate their ongoing activities with other streams as well as mainstream commons into their nature of work. By pitching it at the interface of policy and practice; research and action; conservation and development we aim to bring several players to a common meeting ground which would in turn help in sustaining the process beyond the conference. By strategically leveraging the conference, we aim to influence larger policy and programmatic focus in the 12th five year Plan (2012 –2017). The conference is not intended to be a one-time event, but a key piece in a longer process of raising attention on the commons.

Conference Chair: Nitin Desai

Mr. Nitin Desai has served as a Senior Economic Adviser for the World Commission on Environment and Development. He served as Deputy Secretary-General of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and later in 2002 he served as the Secretary General of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10). He is also on the Governing Council of the Stockholm Environment Institute and a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat Expert Group on Climate Change. He is involved in the Helsinki process on globalisation and democracy.

Conference Co Chair: Jagdeesh Puppala

Jagdeesh is presently the Chief Executive of the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES).

About FOUNDATION FOR ECOLOGICAL SECURITY

The Foundation for Ecological Security promotes the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources, forests and water in particular, through local self governance institutions. The crux of our efforts lie in locating forests and other natural resources within the prevailing economic, social and ecological demands at the level of villages and village conglomerates and in intertwining principles of conservation and local self governance for the safeguard of the natural surroundings and improvement in the living conditions of the poor. By working on systemic issues that can bring about a multiplier change we try to bring in a gestalt that establishes inter-linkages between ecological, social and economic realities.

Details: www.fes.org.in

Contact: ed@fes.org.in

About IASC

The International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) is the leading professional association dedicated to the study of the commons. By bringing researchers from different disciplines together with practitioners and policymakers, the association aims to improve general understanding of shared resources (commons) and provide sustainable solutions for related issues.

IASC’s goals are to

• encourage exchange of knowledge among diverse disciplines, world areas, and resource types

• foster mutual exchange of scholarship and practical experience, and

• promote appropriate institutional design

Details: www.iascp.org

Contact: iasc@iasc-commons.org