Cities and Regions

Many of the radical changes we envision are designed to be as local as possible. That is why we see cities and regions as pockets of transformation, where real alternatives are being explored and put into practice.

Experiments with democratic economies, community wealth building, local cooperative ecosystems, for example, are rooted in actual neighbourhoods, villages, provinces and municipalities.

In 2014, we joined the new municipalist wave that inspired much of the European New Left in 2014. Municipalism and commons thinking are closely related, and our work as municipalists has only just begun.

August 2021Interview in French Journal ‘Horizons Publics’

Together with local alderman Rutger Groot-Wassink, Commons Network gave an interview about our research into Public-Civic Partnerships and other ways to transform the public sector.

June 2021Commons Network Publishes New Report about Municipalism with Minim

Together with scholar Imogen Hamilton-Jones and the colleagues of Minim, Commons Network published a report about the challenges of municipalism in Amsterdam.

March 2021Second International Fearless Cities Conference in Amsterdam

Together with the municipality of Amsterdam and many local and international movements, Commons Network organized the second international Fearless Cities conference, which lasted for three months, all over the city and online and throughout Europe.

June 2020Commons Network Starts Community Wealth Building in Amsterdam

Together with the municipality of Amsterdam, Commons Network started researching and piloting Community Wealth Building in three disenfranchised areas of the city.

April 2020Commons Network Starts Storytelling about Initiatives all over the Country

In partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs, Commons Network published stories about alternative currencies, commons-based mental health care, food banks, community-supported agriculture and much more.

December 2019First Fearless Cities Conference in Amsterdam

Together with the municipality of Amsterdam and Transnational Institute, Commons Network organized a 4-day international conference in Amsterdam for municipalists, policy makers, researchers, students and local activists.

September 2019New Research Into the Dutch Urban Planning Law

Commons Network investigated the new Dutch law for all planning and zoning designs, called the ‘Omgevingswet’, and explored if it offers potential for the commons.

June 2019Commons Network Starts Collaboration with Amsterdam Fearless Cities

Commons Network partnered with the Fearless Cities programme of the municipality of Amsterdam to bring the new municipalism to Amsterdam and to empower local movements.

2019Commons Network Starts Exploration of Amsterdam Commons Policies

In collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam, Commons Network researched the chances and challenges of the commons in Amsterdam.

November 2018Workshop in Leeuwarden, European Capital of Culture

As part of the conference about the commons in Leeuwarden, which was then Culture Capital of Europe, Commons Network organized a workshop about the role of art, with a number of other organizations.

November 2018Publication of ‘Urban Commons – Shared Spaces’

Urban Commons – Shared Spaces is a report, published by Commons Network, about the emerging urban commons, based on research about new scientific literature and fieldwork in Berlin and Amsterdam.