Oct 15, 2009 by Ruth Meinzen-Dick
Monday’s news of Elinor Ostrom winning the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences is still reverberating, causing much excitement. In awarding the prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences noted it is “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.” It is so encouraging to see the explicit recognition, by the economics profession, of her landmark studies in the factors that encourage cooperation.
Those who have been privileged to work with her know how richly deserved this recognition is. Those who are not familiar with her work, who still believe in the inevitability of Garrett Hardin’s “tragedy of the commons” have a treat in store, discovering her research. She is a brilliant scholar who can still communicate her ideas to a wide audience, an inspiring teacher and generous colleague.
I am fortunate to be in the former group. I have been following her work on cooperation for managing water, forests, and other shared resources (even the internet!) for more than 20 years. She was the founding President of the International Association for Study of the Commons (IASC), instrumental in building an organization that brings together researchers and practitioners to build understanding and improve institutions for the management of resources that are (or could be) held or used collectively by communities in developing or developed countries. I’m privileged to be the current President of IASC, able to build on the foundations of her work and that of hundreds of others who are helping to learn how to craft institutions to govern the commons effectively.
From this vantage point, let me point out two aspects of Prof. Ostrom’s work that are noteworthy, especially for a Nobel Laureate in Economics Sciences. The first is that her work is grounded in empirical observations. She draws on theory, but also questions the underlying assumptions and tests them against the actual behavior of people and institutions. She looks for the commonalities—and differences—in the way people relate to different types of resources, in developing countries as well as the US and other industrialized countries, using case studies, structured comparable data collection across sites, and experimental games, both in the lab and in the field.
The second significant aspect of her work is that she is transcends disciplines. A political scientist who wins the highest prize in economics, she works with the whole range of social scientists, but also with foresters, ecologists, mathematicians, … the list goes on. She learns from each discipline, and offers conceptual frameworks (notably the Institutional Analysis and Development, or IAD framework) that help integrate knowledge and insights. And more importantly, the combination of perspectives helps to address important practical problems of resource management and crafting institutions that are sustainable and equitable.
For those who want to learn more, a list of her key publications that are available free online is at http://www.indiana.edu/~iascp/LinPubs.html. Over 100 of her online articles are also available in the Digital Library of the Commons.
This blog entry is also posted on the website of the International Association for Study of the Commons.
See what others thought of her award:
* Elinor Ostrom and the Future of Economics (Umair Haque, Harvard Business)
* Elinor Ostrom breaks the Nobel mould (Kevin Gallagher, Guardian)
* Governing the Commons (Vernon Smith, Forbes)
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Learning from Community Forestry: Recognizing Rights and Advancing Democratic Forest Governance Globally
Dear All,
The Declaration from the Community Forestry International Workshop in Pokhara is really interesting. There is a need for a lot more meetings to highlight the issues faced by community forestry group and the contributions they are making in their own way in making this world a better place to live.
Would like your comments on this!
Cheers,
Subrat
Learning from Community Forestry: Recognizing Rights and Advancing Democratic Forest Governance Globally
Declaration from the Community Forestry International Workshop Pokhara - September 18, 2009
Recognizing that local communities and indigenous peoples have demonstrated the capacity to organize and act towards sustainable management, utilization and democratic governance of forests; and their legitimate claims for the recognition of their land and forest rights worldwide.
Recognizing the wide range of institutional, entrepreneurial and governance innovations by communities and their partners;
Recognizing the emergence of grassroots networks, federations and associations influencing governance at different scales, and advocating for the rights of local, indigenous, poor and socially marginalized communities;
Recognizing the positive steps being taken by some governments to support community rights and initiatives through policies and legal frameworks
Admitting that creating equitable and inclusive livelihood outcomes is a long-term and challenging process in the face of prevailing social hierarchies, dominant private interests and state-centric governance legacies;
Recognizing the history of discrimination against women in forest and land laws, programs, policies, markets and institutions, as well as their strong contribution to forest conservation, livelihoods and development;
Acknowledging the positive role and potential of communities in achieving sustainable forest management and contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation processes;
Affirming the importance of legally acknowledging and practically supporting the rights and responsibilities of communities to determine their own destiny in the sustainable development of their socioeconomic condition (livelihoods) and resources;
We, the 200 representatives of diverse stakeholders from communities, governments, civil society and other development partners from over 30 countries working in forestry and development, hereby declare that:
1. Governments and policy makers should guarantee the human, civil, customary and property rights of local people over land and forest resources, including the recognition of the authority of forest communities to identify and pursue their own development objectives, by incorporating these rights into national laws, constitutions and all forest policies and programs.
2. National governments have a responsibility to ensure the transparent and democratic governance of forests with active involvement and representation of communities, including poor, women, indigenous and socially marginalized groups, in policy formulation and regulatory decision-making.
3. Laws and regulatory practices should affirm and encourage local entrepreneurship by affirming full community ownership over forest and land resources, and by removing barriers to community and small-scale forest-based enterprises and the transportation and sale of their products.
4. Governments and the private sector should properly acknowledge, account for and financially reward the contributions of communities in creating environmental public goods; and foster financial mechanisms through which local communities can realize greater value from their forests, such as payments for various environmental services;
5. International and national climate change agreements, policies and mechanisms, including carbon trading, should respect local rights and privilege payment to local communities conserving forests.
6. Governments and community leaders must empower poor, women, indigenous and socially disadvantaged groups to exercise their rights, responsibilities and participate in decision-making at all levels of governance; and to ensure their fair access to markets and an equitable share of all benefits derived from the forest.
7. Government policy should promote the development of community-based forest management institutions and expand the area of forest under community rights and management.
8. Government, civil society, the private sector and donor organizations should work closely together to capitalise on the lessons of democratization and civic participation emerging from the experience of community forestry, to drastically revise institutions and processes for the democratic governance of the entire forest sector, a necessary step to achieve the globally desired outcomes of social, economic and environmentally sustainable development in the forested areas of the world.
The Declaration from the Community Forestry International Workshop in Pokhara is really interesting. There is a need for a lot more meetings to highlight the issues faced by community forestry group and the contributions they are making in their own way in making this world a better place to live.
Would like your comments on this!
Cheers,
Subrat
Learning from Community Forestry: Recognizing Rights and Advancing Democratic Forest Governance Globally
Declaration from the Community Forestry International Workshop Pokhara - September 18, 2009
Recognizing that local communities and indigenous peoples have demonstrated the capacity to organize and act towards sustainable management, utilization and democratic governance of forests; and their legitimate claims for the recognition of their land and forest rights worldwide.
Recognizing the wide range of institutional, entrepreneurial and governance innovations by communities and their partners;
Recognizing the emergence of grassroots networks, federations and associations influencing governance at different scales, and advocating for the rights of local, indigenous, poor and socially marginalized communities;
Recognizing the positive steps being taken by some governments to support community rights and initiatives through policies and legal frameworks
Admitting that creating equitable and inclusive livelihood outcomes is a long-term and challenging process in the face of prevailing social hierarchies, dominant private interests and state-centric governance legacies;
Recognizing the history of discrimination against women in forest and land laws, programs, policies, markets and institutions, as well as their strong contribution to forest conservation, livelihoods and development;
Acknowledging the positive role and potential of communities in achieving sustainable forest management and contributing to climate change adaptation and mitigation processes;
Affirming the importance of legally acknowledging and practically supporting the rights and responsibilities of communities to determine their own destiny in the sustainable development of their socioeconomic condition (livelihoods) and resources;
We, the 200 representatives of diverse stakeholders from communities, governments, civil society and other development partners from over 30 countries working in forestry and development, hereby declare that:
1. Governments and policy makers should guarantee the human, civil, customary and property rights of local people over land and forest resources, including the recognition of the authority of forest communities to identify and pursue their own development objectives, by incorporating these rights into national laws, constitutions and all forest policies and programs.
2. National governments have a responsibility to ensure the transparent and democratic governance of forests with active involvement and representation of communities, including poor, women, indigenous and socially marginalized groups, in policy formulation and regulatory decision-making.
3. Laws and regulatory practices should affirm and encourage local entrepreneurship by affirming full community ownership over forest and land resources, and by removing barriers to community and small-scale forest-based enterprises and the transportation and sale of their products.
4. Governments and the private sector should properly acknowledge, account for and financially reward the contributions of communities in creating environmental public goods; and foster financial mechanisms through which local communities can realize greater value from their forests, such as payments for various environmental services;
5. International and national climate change agreements, policies and mechanisms, including carbon trading, should respect local rights and privilege payment to local communities conserving forests.
6. Governments and community leaders must empower poor, women, indigenous and socially disadvantaged groups to exercise their rights, responsibilities and participate in decision-making at all levels of governance; and to ensure their fair access to markets and an equitable share of all benefits derived from the forest.
7. Government policy should promote the development of community-based forest management institutions and expand the area of forest under community rights and management.
8. Government, civil society, the private sector and donor organizations should work closely together to capitalise on the lessons of democratization and civic participation emerging from the experience of community forestry, to drastically revise institutions and processes for the democratic governance of the entire forest sector, a necessary step to achieve the globally desired outcomes of social, economic and environmentally sustainable development in the forested areas of the world.
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