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Dear courageous commoners
The Commons Hub is a common. Very often, people ask us, but what exactly is a common? What do you mean with this word? Who are the commoners and why did we choose to … common?
In this newsletter, you’ll learn
For a good definition of a common, we can turn to a knowledge common (aka ChatGPT) for some help:
A common (or the commons) refers to a resource that is collectively managed and shared by a community, rather than owned privately (market driven) or controlled solely by the government (public good). The shared resource can be
Key aspect is that commons rely on collective stewardship, with shared responsibilities rather than market-driven ownership. The difference between a common and a public good, which are government owned, is that commons have a closed community, often membership based. Unlike the public park in the city, not everyone has access to the common at any time and, nobody will do the maintenance for you. As in, do your own dishes. 🍽️
This collective stewardship requires a lot of coordination and a healthy culture to thrive. We refer to this as commoning, it requires quite some practice for a group of commoners to get organised.
The Commons Hub is both a social and urban common. Our common (or shared resource) is space, more precisely 2 floors in a big building in the city center. Our community, our courageous commoners, are the people that use the space and contribute to the wellbeing of the space and of each other. These are the questions that we ask ourselves every day: