Global Human Commons
What about us?

Elinora Olström

Global Union for the baseline needs for Life and Wealth

Coalitions and cooperations:
- All Win Network
- Antroposphere Inst.
- ARINA
- Be Commons
- Centre for Global Negotiations
- COMMONS CAMPUS
- Development4all
- E2Us
- Essence Admin
- Essence Sum
- Global Commons Trust
- Inst. for Planetary Synthesis 
- Kosmos Journal
- Nature College
- One Childs Village
- On the Commons
- P2P Foundation
- Recyclus
- Share the World’s Resources
- StarrPort
- SUM Foundation
- Summit Speak,
- Trees Have Rights Too
- URSULA
- VipCure
- Wiser Earth
- World Citizens Action
- Association of World Citizens
- Yours to? Mail us your URL!

People and commons: global partnership missing links                                     (also in pdf)
    The environment, the economy and social relationships are interrelated aspects of sustainable development and what are increasingly being referred to as commons.

    Commons are shared resources that naturally belong to collectives and provide the natural and social capital upon which all life depends. Therefore, where people have the jurisdiction to do so, they tend to be highly motivated to sustain their commons, and these commoners have developed countless initiatives to achieve this. A rights-based approach to sustainable development — based upon environmental protection and restoration, economic prosperity and social justice to benefit all people and the planet as a whole — would recognize the value of various local, regional, national and global commons. This would motivate people and form the strongest possible foundation for a global partnership for development.

    Governments need the support of the people to equitably and sustainably manage various commons and undo their unsustainable patterns of production and consumption at local through global scales. Where Governments support people to take greater responsibility for their vital resources, they will:
(a) motivate citizens and businesses to support commitments to sustainability; (b) engage citizens and
businesses in being proactive about sustainability;
(c) educate citizens and
businesses about their consumption patterns and costs to the environment; and
(d) generate equitable funding that reinforces healthy patterns of production and consumption through improved protection of various commons.

   The incorporation of people and their commons in actions that benefit all people and the planet as a whole is the strongest possible foundation for global partnerships for sustainable development. It integrates sustainable local, regional, national and international development because all parties and initiatives reinforce one another.

    Here are a few structural changes inspired by a commons approach:
(a) achieving the internalization of environmental costs;
(b) establishing rules and
guidelines for the use and management of common resources;
(c) creating incentives for sustainable development;
(d) setting rents or surcharges on the use of common resources;
(e) developing economic instruments that increase as the sustainability of the commons increase, with benefits accruing to people of the given commons.
Thousands of initiatives can be found on the many websites dedicated to local to global commons (including www.onthecommons.org) and in the work of Nobel Prize winner Elinor Oström.

   Because they are dedicated to preserving the global commons for all people and the world as a whole, global commoners can integrate global partnerships for development.

   We request Governments to create a panel of experts within the United Nations Secretariat to explore with experts on the commons ways to incorporate a commons approach into global strategies for sustainable development. The panel would report back to the preparatory committee for the Rio+20 conference to inform the
preparations for that summit.

Global Human Commons likes to add new Human Rights that ensure habitat, sources of living, economy, and sustainability.

Nature is our source of life. However: In our daily battle to survive the “grosso modo” of humanity is only connected by economy. In my point of view we can find our evolved way to nature by overcoming the effects of the dark millennium  – years 1000 to 2000 – by learning form it and shifting to primarily sharing and owning instead of owning by (economically) battle. This is possible by layering our rights and sources in a more clever way:

• First the basement of (human and all) life must be granted  by common nature;
  
  
• Then man needs from birth right to owns an own place to live and to harvest so s/he will have a valuable crib;
  
  
• On the third layer comes the right to take care for nature and neighbors as well to get care by inability and age;
  
  
• The fourth layer will grand education and entrepreneurship in free economy based on green technology;
  
  
• From those four layers mankind will be able to live in peace and harmony with nature by finding the right proportions for this by becoming aware of interrelationships as population, food, rich natural environment, and spiritual emotional balance.

So the power of this shift is to get people back in connection with nature as well out of the economical battle by commons and birth right on land and harvest.

This we can call THE BRONNING RIGHTS. In 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights. It contains 30 rights. Up to ten additional rights will grand the bronning rights. So the new Human Rights “2012” will be 40 in number. To add:

31.   A part of the global land and water will be common wealth to ensure
        sustainability of nature and species.

32.   Everyone has the right to visit (parts of) common nature.

33.   Everyone gets (for instance) 1000 m2 of fertile land on which enough sun
        and water enters to produce good food and a healthy living.

34.   Everyone gets the right and duty to get and give care to the commons and
        peoples with inabilities and at age as a local service – part of lifetime
        activity.

35.   Everyone gets free energy in an reasonable amount to has good light,
        heating and cooling, cleaning, internet, and telephone.

36.   Everyone gets a pollution quote and the right on healthy air and
        surrounding.

37.   Everyone has the right on correct information and sufficient education.

38.   Everyone has the right to work on four levels – based on green
        technology:

                On his own land;
                On community services;
                On social services;
                On commercial services.

39.   Everyone has the right to (let) labor his land, build a house on it and to
        exchange with others. After dying the land may stay for five year in the
        family. Then it will be free for giving it away to the community which will
        give it to a new born child.

40.   Mankind has the right to live in peace and harmony with nature by finding
        together the right proportions for the above by becoming aware of
        interrelationships as population, food, rich natural environment, and the
        needed spiritual emotional balance.

This BRONNING RIGHTS were presented on July 15th, 2010 to the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by emailing it in a letter to his Speech writers. Letter to the S-G, 64/196, U.N. GA 65 session, HQ, 14 September 2010, at 3 p.m., Agenda point 20(i).

The Point Zero:

In 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights. It contains 30 rights. In short it handles:

1.  FREEDOM AND EQUALTY
2.  RECOGNITION AND LAW
3.  FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND NATIONALITY
4.  MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
5.  PROPERTY, THOUGHT, ASSOCIATION AND GOVERNMENT
6.  SOCIAL SECURITY, EMPLOIMENT AND REMUNERATION
7.  STANDARD LIVING AND EDUCATION
8.  CULTURAL PARTICIPATION AND CREATIVE OWNERSHIP
9.  SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY DUTIES
10. BRONNING RIGHTS (Additive 2012 ?)

In some more detail:

FREE AND EQUAL
1. All human beings are born free and equal;
2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration;
3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person;
4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude;
5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel;

RECOGNITION AND LAW
6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law;
7. All are equal before the law;
8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals;
9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile;
10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal;
11. 1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty.
12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence;

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND NATIONALITY
13. 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. 
2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country;
14. 1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution;
15. 1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality;

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
16. 1. Men and women of full age, have the right to marry and to found a family.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society;

PROPERTY, THOUGHT, ASSOCIATION AND GOVERNMENT
17. 1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property;
18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
20. 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
21. 1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. 
3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government;

SOCIAL SECURITY, EMPLOIMENT AND REMUNERATION
22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization;
23. 1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions;
2. Everyone has the right to equal pay for equal work.
3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an
existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

STANDARD LIVING AND EDUCATION
25. 1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family,
including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services;
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
26. 1. Everyone has the right to education.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

CULTURAL PARTICIPATION AND CREATIVE OWNERSHIP
27. 1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community,
to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific,
literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY DUTIES
28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedom can be fully realized.
29. 1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. 
30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State.

BRONNING RIGHTS (Additve 2012 ?)
31.   A part of the global land and water will be common wealth to ensure
        sustainability of nature and species.
32.   Everyone has the right to visit (parts of) common nature.
33.   Everyone gets (for instance) 1000 m2 of fertile land on which enough sun
        and water enters to produce good food and a healthy living.
34.   Everyone gets the right and duty to get and give care to the commons and
        peoples with inabilities and at age as a local service – part of lifetime activity.
35.   Everyone gets free energy in an reasonable amount to has good light,
        heating and cooling, cleaning, internet, and telephone.
36.   Everyone gets a pollution quote and the right on healthy air and surrounding.
37.   Everyone has the right on correct information and sufficient education.
38.   Everyone has the right to work on four levels – based on green technology:
                On his own land;
                On community services;
                On social services;
                On commercial services.
39.   Everyone has the right to (let) labor his land, build a house on it and to
        exchange with others. After dying the land may stay for five year in the
        family. Then it will be free for giving it away to the community which will
        give it to a new born child.
40.   Mankind has the right to live in peace and harmony with nature by finding
        together the right proportions for the above by becoming aware of
        interrelationships as population, food, rich natural environment, and the
        needed spiritual emotional balance.

For the full Universal Declaration of Human Rights see: www.un.org/en/documents/udhr

U.N. Human Rights org.: www.un.org/en/rights.

Dear Friends,

Here is an overview of the actions agreed upon at the Strategy Meeting on March 20th.

I was unable to find anyone to make a report on the meeting. I regret that I have therefore had to limit my notes to the main agreements. These are outlined in shortened form below and in more detail in the attachment. If you attended the meeting, please check that they are accurate and do let me know any changes that should be made.

If you did not attend the Strategy Meeting, you are heartily invited to join any actions listed below or suggest others.

Anyone who would like to share aspects of our inspiring discussion at the Strategy Meeting with the whole group is most welcome to do so. Thanks to Anthony, we now have an easy way to communicate important information relating to our Commons Action with all participants. (Kathleen Quain is on the list, but unfortunately having email problems. Kathleen, good luck in getting these sorted out!).Rob, you have already promised to share the report you made and your wealth of suggestions for additional actions.

Here's how our new communication method works:

Address the email to yourself and place the following three groups in the BCC section. All answers will then be directed to you personally.

group1@becommons.org, group2@becommons.org, group3@becommons.org

If you would like comments from all participants to be shared with the whole group, you can use the CC option. It would be good to use the CC option judiciously to limit the volume of email we all receive.

Strategy  Meeting,  3-20-10 

Agreements and Time Frames in Brief

The final version will also be posted on the Wiser Earth web site and later on the Global Commons Trust web site. The agreed actions will also be added to the table of actions agreed on Feb. 15th under the heading Action List and Time Frames.

Participating in the Strategy meeting on May 20, 2010: Anthony Robinson, Emile van Essen, James Quilligan, Jan Inglis, Jay Bender, Jelle Troelstra, Ken --(for David Pratt), Lisinka Ulatowska, Mary Beth Steissslinger, Max Tran, Rob Wheeler, Sara Nora Ross.

Jan Inglis:
Jay Bender: 856 366 3820
Lisinka Ulatowska: 011 31 35 691 9275
Mary Beth Steisslinger: 412 6614925
Rob Wheeler:
Sara Nora Ross: 513 734 7996

2 UN Team
The following have volunteered to be on the team:

Anthony Robinson (needs a pass)
Jay Bender (needs a pass)
Kathleen Quain (please reconfirm, Kathleen. Elinor, can you pass this email on to Kathleen?)
Lisinka Ulatowska
Mary Beth Steisslinger (needs a pass)
Quisia Gonzales (Please reconfirm, Quisia)
Rob Wheeler

 Action:
I suggest that we create a joint first meeting with the letter writing team (See Action under 1 above) Most are on both teams anyway. Many of the items to be dealt with as a first step are the same.

 3.Partnerships
To create a value based economy by 2030, we must create a tipping point in the consciousness of humanity. We can do this by building synergistic partnerships with like-minded organizations. Our initial goal is to be working closely with 1000 people by the end of May, this year, and with 8-10,000 by the end of 2012. We invite everyone to join in this action and to attend the meeting mentioned under 1 and 2 above to develop ways of talking about the commons in an effective and engaging way.

Action:
If you attended the Strategy Meeting, please check the list under Partnerships for any agreements you made.

4. Think tanks and action groups working from afar
These will hopefully be formed by organizations we partner with

5. The Climate Change Conference in Mexico.

Actions:
1.Most of the input will be given at meetings which precede the meeting in Mexico (not officially prepcoms)—one will begin in Bonn on March 22. Is there anyone who can attend either this one or the one in Japan?
2.Rob will be chairing the group organizing the civil society forum that will run simultaneously with the Governmental Meeting. He will suggest ways in which we can participate. Who would be able to go to this conference?

6. Action: Deep listening workshop.
Maritza and Mary Beth are offering a workshop on Deep Listening.

 Action: Mary Beth will decide on a date and let us know.

Action Group Innovative Business Practices
Emile van Essen will join the Business Action Group.
Lisinka will be in touch with that group to see in how far the above actions can be streamlined to benefit their work.

Dr. Lisinka Ulatowska
UN Rep. Association of World Citizens;
Institute for Planetary Synthesis
www.worldcitizensaction.com
www.allwinnetwork.org
www.development4all.org

Michael Jackson - Heal The World - On YouTube

4 papers by Mary Beth Steisslinger:
- Commons and Climate Change;
- Multilateral Systems;
- Paradigm Comparison;
- Reclaiming the commons.

GLOBAL RESOURCE AGENCY (extra 13MB pdf)

In HARMONY with NATURE Request of the Sec. Gen. for letter writing

INSPIRE

- UNPA Campaign
- 1We
- THE EARTH CHARTER

- WORLD CITIZENS OF AMSTERDAM - JUNE 6:

Chambers of Commerce