Knowledge Commons

Scientific knowledge is created in publicly-funded universities. More often than not, that same knowledge is turned into commodities, such as medicines or technologies, that are then sold to the public to make a profit.

What if knowledge was not enclosed by a select few profit driven private actors? What if there was a way to organize the production, management and distribution of knowledge in a more equitable and shared way?

Knowledge commons can be an antidote to monopolies in every industry, improve accessibility and spur innovation. In a world that is increasingly knowledge and data-driven, the question of how we organize it becomes more urgent with every passing day.

January 2022Publication: Generative interoperability: Building Online Public & Civic Spaces

Commons Network and Open Future publish Generative Interoperability: Building Public & Civic Spaces online. This report builds upon our earlier publication from 2019 named Our Vision for a Shared Digital Europe and culminates the research supported by NESTA.

April 2019Publication: Our Vision for a Shared Digital Europe

Our Vision for a Shared Digital Europe provides a policy framework that can guide policymakers and civil society organisations involved with digital policymaking in the direction of a more equitable and democratic digital environment, where basic liberties and rights are protected, where strong public institutions function in the public interest, and where people have a say in how their digital environment functions.

June 2018Publication: From Lab to Commons: Shifting to a Public Interest Biomedical System

Commons Network publishes a new policy paper that takes on the pharmaceutical system and presents real alternatives, based on open source research and the knowledge commons. Commons Network proposes a new vision for the biomedical research system that safeguards universal access to affordable medicines and scientific advances.

April 2018Publication: Supporting the Commons: Opportunities in the EU policy landscape

Taking a commons approach to European policy, this paper analysis EU policy with regards to Urban Commons, Digital infrastructure & the Collaborative economy and Knowledge management.

October 2015Commons Network founds European Alliance on Responsible R&D and Affordable Medicines

In order to have a strong joint voice and coordination among different actors advocating for access to medicines CN founds a civil society alliance together with Health Action International and other partners. The EU Alliance consists of more than 80 organisation from many different countries across Europe and focuses on EU policy.

July 2015Publication: The EU and Commons. A commons approach to European knowledge policy

The past two decades have seen unprecedented new forms of collaboration in the creation and sharing of knowledge. This paper describes how the commons perspective, as a new framework for understanding knowledge, can contribute to some important, long-overdue EU policy discussions.

March 2014Publication: TTIP and the Big Pharma Wish List

A report by Commons Network and civil society partners shows that the pharmaceutical industry’s wish list for the TTIP is detrimental to public health, will increase the cost of medicines and undermine democratic processes.