Extend, defend, deepen the commons

Sign the commons manifesto...from the Pirate Party to the indigenous of Peru the defenders of commons are winning victories I salute them (although I hope the Pirates can join up with the Green Party not just in the EU but every where!)

About the Commons Campaign.

This website is dedicated to the collection of signatures for the "Reclaim the Commons" global call, launched at the World Social Forum held in Belém do Pará (Brazil) in January, 2009. The presentation of the "Reclaim the Commons" manifesto, on the occasion of the Belém WSF 2009, was the starting point of an international mobilization campaign to reclaim, protect and re-create the commons. The purpose of this campaign is to popularize the notion of Commons by opening a participatory space which allows us to share and discuss ideas and initiatives concerning the future of the commons. The Manifesto is just a starting point.

Everybody is invited to critically comment on it and to share his/her visions, ideas and commons-related practices. It goes without saying, that the Manifesto (closely) refers to numerous texts and ideas that have been produced during the last few years. We cordially invite everybody to sign the Manifesto, to discuss it and to spread the word. The initiatives and practices concerning the various aspects of the Commons are numerous and of prodigious diversity. Farmers, educators, patients, technicians, activists, scientists, artists, parents, etc., they all fight daily for the Commons, with imagination and creativity. The objective of this campaign is to bring those initiatives together, to multiply their impacts, by creating new ties among the commoners worldwide, both in cyberspace and in person.

Our hope is to facilitate the genesis of new ideas and mobilizations - as free, creative, and diverse as possible. We invite everybody to present your initiatives for reclaiming, protecting or creating the commons at the following site: http://commons-campaign.org. Take advantage of this opportunity to promote your initiative and this campaign; call your friends and colleagues to sign the Manifesto, connect people and their organizations so that the Commons becomes a top issue on the agenda of global social movements.

In 5 languages http://bienscommuns.org/signature/appel/?a=appel&lang=en

Humankind is suffering from an unprecedented campaign of privatization and commodification of the most basic elements of life: nature, culture, human work and knowledge itself. In countless arenas, businesses are claiming our shared inheritance - sciences, creative works, water, the atmosphere, health, education, genetic diversity, even living creatures - as private property. A compulsive quest for short-term financial gain is sacrificing the prosperity of all and the stability of the Earth itself.

The dismal consequences of market enclosures can be seen in our declining ecosystems: the erosion of soil and biodiversity, global climate change, reduction of food sovereingty. Agressive intellectual property politics harness those suffering from neglected deseases or who can't purchase patented medicines, reduce cultural diversity, limit access to knowledge and education, and promote a global consumerist culture.

The World Social Forum of 2009, meeting at Belem, Pará, in Brazil, convened at a very special moment: a time when the neoliberal vision of unfettered markets, global finance and private regulation and control has utterly failed. It also meets at a time when people are recognizing the many life-giving resources of our Earth and human societies should not be privatized or commodified because of the enormous harms and inequalities that result. As more citizens discover this reality, a new vision of society is arising - one that honors human rights, democratic participation, inclusion and cooperation.

People are discovering that alternatives and commons-based approaches offer practical solutions for protecting water and rivers, agricultural soils, seeds, knowledge, sciences, forest, oceans, wind, money, communication and online collaborations, culture, music and other arts, open technologies, free software, public services of education, health or sanitization, biodiversity and the wisdom of traditional knowledges.

The signers of this Manifesto, launched at the World Social Forum of 2009, call upon all citizens and organizations to commit themselves to recovering the Earth and humanity's shared inheritance and future creations. Let us demonstrate how commons-based management - participatory, collaborative and transparent - offers the best hope for building a world that is sustainable, fair and life-giving.

This Manifesto calls upon all citizens of the world to deepen the notion of the commons and to share the diverse approaches and experiences that it honors. In our many different ways, let us mobilize to reclaim the commons, organize their de-privatization and get them off markets, and strengthen our individual initiatives by joining together in this urgent, shared mission.

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