IASCP Europe Regional Meeting
Building the European Commons: from Open Fields to Open Source
Brescia - Italy - March 23-25, 2006

- Deadline: 1st of October 2005 -

The regional meeting of the European branch of the IASCP will focus primarily on the European commons, however within the global context. The goal is to foster more discussion and collaboration among especially European researchers working on commons from an interdisciplinary point of view.

The social, economic and technological changes of the last three centuries have seriously challenged the long tradition in common property, the use and management of common pool resources (CPRs). Nevertheless, many resources in the European region are still managed in common by user-associations or by community institutions. Examples include pastures, forests, irrigation systems, and other natural or man-made resources. Moreover, a number of new common resources have been formed in the course of the industrial and post-industrial development. These include transportation and communication infrastructures, public urban areas, green leisure areas and several other fundamental resources. Finally, a new, fundamental class of goods shows strong common pool resources characters: the environmental services, which are furnished by ecosystems from the local to the global level. Common pool resources are, although politics and the media often consider them as a residue of the past, essential for supporting human life and for the welfare of every living being on Earth.

The conference is interdisciplinary and open to any individual interested in common-pool resources and common property issues. It is aimed at encouraging the discussion on the conference topics among researchers and practitioners living in Europe or elsewhere. This should result in a stronger research network and an enhanced exchange of experiences primarily among European researchers and students working on CPRs and also with scholars elsewhere.

Elinor Ostrom (Indiana University) will, on the 23rd of March, open the conference with a keynote address entitled "Multiple Methods for Studying Collective Action". The conference will start with a pre-conference workshop by Elinor Ostrom on "Comparing the Knowledge Commons with Resource Commons" in the morning of the 23rd.

1. Call for papers

The conference organizers welcome papers in one of the following three sub-themes. Broader papers covering topics that cut across more than one of these themes are also welcome.

Conference themes are
1. Long-enduring Common Pool Resources on the European continent
2. New common-pool resources
3. Non-European commons

For a full description of the conference themes, see http://iascpeurope.eco.unibs.it/.

Both full panel sessions (a maximum of four papers, one discussant and one chair) and separate papers can be submitted. Abstracts of maximum 500 words should be in English and submitted by the 1st of October 2005. Complete papers will have to be submitted by the 15th of February 2006. Funding will be available for a limited number of participants. Those interested should contact the conference organizers.

All applications in electronic format (.doc, .pdf or .rtf files are all acceptable) should be sent to . Please, send along the following information:

Surname
First name
Affiliation
Mailing Address
Country
Email
Phone number
Fax Number

2. Call for preconference workshops

The conference organisers would like to invite participants to organise pre-conference workshops focussing on particular themes that will be discussed during the conference. The organisers would like to encourage in particular research networks to organise a pre-conference workshop. The pre-conference workshops will take place on the Thursday 23rd morning. The conference schedule can be found on http://iascpeurope.eco.unibs.it/. Submissions of proposals for pre-conference workshops should be send to iascpeurope@eco.unibs.it before the 1st of October 2005.

The registration process for the conference will start in October 2005. Further practical details will also be made available at that time. The conference organisers would like to point out that for a limited number of participants funding will be made available. Applications for funding should be send together with the abstract to iascpeurope@eco.unibs.it.