Preservation Of Commons Research Articles

The status of commons in the changing landscape in the Czech Republic

Commons were ancient pastures, which once occurred in every village in many countries, including the Czech Republic. They have been a landscape and social phenomenon for decades. However, social and economic changes brought an end to community ownership and traditional management of these commons. The number of commons has been decreasing since the middle of the 19th century and currently very few remain. This paper evaluates the status of former commons in 35 cadastres in south-western Bohemia and describes the changes they have undergone in the last two hundred years. Three historical periods were identified as the main drivers in the changes in the status of commons. We started with a period from the middle of the 19th century to the 1950s, the second from 1950s to 1990s and the last from 1990s to 2019. Aerial images and field surveys revealed that 93% of former commons disappeared due to afforestation, conversion to fields and natural succession occurring on abandoned commons. The social and economic aspects associated with these changes are mentioned. Some of the commons are part of the Territorial system of landscape ecological stability (Ecological networks) and we suggest that more of the remaining commons should be included in this network. They could play a role in maintaining biodiversity and providing stepping stones in a uniform agriculture landscape. We propose to evaluate the conservation and ecosystem value of these commons in more detail and set up the appropriate management essential for the preservation or restoration of commons, an indisputable part of our biological and cultural heritage.

Ocean Commons, Law of the Sea and Rights for the Sea

The aim of this paper is to re-activate certain layers of normative meaning that have been obscured, forgotten or rendered inoperative by the predominant traditions that engaged, from Grotius onwards, with the concept of res communes omnium. The hope and the purpose is that of offering a novel perspective on matters such as the protection and preservation of ocean commons that are of great urgency and importance today. Re-activating or ‘remembering’ the full scope of the concept of res communes omnium may produce some effects on the broader discourse of ocean environmental protection. It may, perhaps, help carve novel space for re-imagining the terms of the problems, and the array of available solutions that can be entertained and discussed, having particularly in mind the debates currently ongoing in the context of the negotiations towards a new global treaty on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Ocean Commons, Law of the Sea and Rights for the Sea

The aim of this paper is to re-activate certain layers of normative meaning that have been obscured, forgotten or rendered inoperative by the predominant traditions that engaged, from Grotius onwards, with the concept of res communes omnium. The hope and the purpose is that of offering a novel perspective on matters such as the protection and preservation of ocean commons that are of great urgency and importance today. Re-activating or ‘remembering’ the full scope of the concept of res communes omnium may produce some effects on the broader discourse of ocean environmental protection. It may, perhaps, help carve novel space for reimagining the terms of the problems, and the array of available solutions that can be entertained and discussed, having particularly in mind the debates currently ongoing in the context of the negotiations towards a new global treaty on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

"Legitimate Distinctiveness, Collective Stories and the Fortune of the Commons"

This paper theorizes on how the spontaneous appropriation and preservation of regional commons explain that collective stories can make organizations unique. Through an empirical investigation of s...

An Inquiry for an Institutional Arrangement to Govern the Space Commons

Space debris can result a collective-action problem, and its existing population has already reached a 'tipping point.' Many efforts have been considered to control and reduce environmental degradation, such as the use of technological solutions like mitigation and remediation procedures, and a proposed International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities prescribing the 'rules of the road for space.’ However, these mechanisms lack the long-term aggressiveness to deal with the debris problem. An alternative strategy is required. This paper carries an inquiry whether the existing space governance regime can optimally manage and sustain safe access to and use of space, and address this collective-action problem. For this investigation, Elinor Ostrom’s framework for institutional analysis from her publication of Governing the Commons is used. It argues that such regulatory set-up is inherently inefficient to protect the orbits. The bifurcate nature of international space law, delegating responsibility for overseeing the space activities of governmental and non-governmental entities to nation-states with heterogeneity of interests and capabilities in the utilisation of space, significantly challenge the successful preservation of the Space Commons. This paper, accordingly, makes a case that a new governance regime is needed and, indeed, desirable for the sustainability and safety of space.

LOTTERIES AS A MEANS OF FINANCING FOR PRESERVATION OF THE GLOBAL COMMONS AND AGENT-BASED SIMULATION ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT In this paper, we deal with lotteries to finance the preservation of the global commons and we carry out simulations on an agent-based artificial society model. Focusing on the preservation of the global commons, such as the atmospheric quality, we show that financing by means of lotteries with selective incentives is effective, as compared to voluntary contributions without those incentives, when the condition of the global commons does not become excessively worse.

慈善くじによるグローバル・コモンズの保全のための資金調達と人工社会モデルを用いたシミュレーション分析

In this paper, we deal with lotteries for financing for preservation of the global commons and carry out simulations on an agent-based artificial society model. Especially, focusing on the preservation of the global commons as the atmospheric quality, when it does not become excessively worse, we show the effectiveness of lotteries with selective incentives, compared to voluntary contributions without those incentives. We also provide sensitivity analysis for our model.

Octavia Hill and The Homes of the London Poor

It has been Octavia Hill's fate to survive, rather like some great “classic,” well-known by name, but neglected and unread – of the major Victorian social reformers perhaps the most misunderstood and inadequately handled. Geoffrey Best in his study of the Church of England Ecclesiastical Commissioners has drawn attention to her profound respect for the principle of self-help and comments, “She was on one of history's losing sides, and, as is the way with losers who are in no way romantic, she has rather dropped below the horizon of modern knowledge.” Octavia Hill has, unfortunately, been the victim of partisan history. Abruptly dismissed, on one hand, as an absurd anachronism, a devout believer in individualistic solutions in an age of creeping state and municipal socialism, she has been too uncritically praised, on the other, by those who were related to her or closely associated with her work. Her life (1838-1912) encompassed many vital reforms. She was co-founder of the National Trust and a great Victorian conservationist, whose devotion to the preservation of commons and parks, and concept of a “green belt” enabled London and other large towns to pass into the twentieth century, civilized and relaxing places in which to live. Her successful efforts to save Parliament Hill and Hampstead Heath from the encroachments of late Victorian speculative builders deserve the closest examination, from all those interested in urban development and the preservation, in and around our cities, of the natural environment.