Commons Magazine

Commons Magazine is your gateway to the latest thinking and action in the commons movement. We pay close attention to how communities around the world are discovering the commons as a way to solve problems and to share what belong to all of us equitably – including future generations. You’ll find profiles of everyday people making a difference, groundbreaking ideas that will prove useful in your own life, as well as current news examined in fresh ways through a commons lens.

June 2012 Edition

1st: Protect Obama's Health Care Reform. 2nd: Move Toward a Public Option Lessons from Canada in creating a health care commons step-by-step	From Middle East to Wall Street, Justice Depends on Public Spaces What happens when people have no place to gather as citizens?
To Young People, Justice is a Key Ingredient in Good Food Cooperative restaurants sprout on many campuses	Why Don't We Do It in the Road? The surprising absence of pedestrian streets in North America-- and what Calgary can show us
A Cure for What Ails the Great Lakes A Canadian tour trumpets the message that the lakes belong to everyone living there	Commons Champion: Elinor Ostrom (1933-2012) Winner of the Nobel Prize for her seminal work on shared resources
12 Steps to a Commons-based Society Notes from James Quilligan's Landmark London Seminars	Let Us Now Praise Vacant Lots Commoners work to keep these vital places in the public realm
Green Lanes Bring Bicycling Into the 21st Century With positive results for the economy, the environment, our health and our commutes	Business Can't Win the Privatization Game Without a Handicap Private sector depends on public subsidies to compete with public sector

May 2012 Edition

An Introduction to Green Governance Ecological Survival, Human Rights, and the Law of the Commons	New Website Maps What We Share Around the Great Lakes Digital advances paired with commons consciousness helps protect what belongs to us
How the Post Office Is Being Destroyed By a Phony Budget Crisis Congress, not the post office itself, is the problem	Amsterdam-By-the-Bay What the Bay Area is learning from the Dutch about better bicycling
Our Home on Earth Winona LaDuke outlines lessons from indigenous cultures for restoring balance	Back to the Land for the Occupy Movement Commons at the heart of the issue in occupation of agricultural land in the Bay Area
What Exactly is Mitt Romney Saying? His comments on Hoover Dam, Interstate highways and the Keystone XL pipeline deserve scrutiny	The Role of Commons Animateurs Illuminating new possibilities and solutions
The Pirate Party Shakes Up European Politics New commons-based movement gains ground in Sweden and Germany	The Alchemy of Creativity How cooperation boosts art, science and everything else
An Efficient, Effective Alternative to Water Privatization Public-public partnerships are now four times as common in the U.S. as public-private ones	Health Care Showdown Shows Obama's Political Courage With health insurance reform, Obama put the good of the country ahead of political considerations
Reclaiming May Day as a Commons Holiday Protesters around the world rallied for economic equity May 1