Commons – management, governance and sustainability distance learning programme

We are confident you will enjoy this online course — Defending the Commons: Strategies for Action.

Courses will be run by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) at Gloucestershire University and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico. It is the second in a series of online short courses focusing on different aspects of global commons in the widest sense—land, air, water, forests, fisheries, the internet. It will teach those defending the commons* how to devise and run a campaign. Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook, who has practical experience of campaigning, is one of the tutors.

Click here for a video on Berkhamsted Common created in 2014 for the CCRI on-line course on ‘Managing our common resources’ (video produced by Ryan Powell).

Key attributes of the courses
• On-line ‘distance learning’ programmes aimed specifically at raising awareness and sharing experiences of commons issues around the globe

• Joint delivery in Spanish and English by the University of Gloucestershire in the UK and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

• Benefits for practitioners and policy makers working in a wide variety of locations, enabling access to the course materials at times most suited to your personal situation

• Access to a wide range of materials on commons, and opportunities for discussing issues with tutors and wide range of others involved with commons management

• No need to worry about time differences between the UK and your location, on-line discussions are managed over a period of days to allow you to engage with questions and respond to comments – wherever you happen to live and work

• On-line delivery reduces the costs of participation

There are no special IT requirements in order to be able to access the learning materials, other than a basic internet connection.

To sign up for the course – or for more details please go to the CCRI web pages at the University of Gloucestershire:here or contact Carol Markey, email: here or tel +44 1242 714122

The commons course series is sponsored by the International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC), and has been made possible by a development grant from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

 

*By commons we mean resources that are shared in some way by different individuals, communities, or groups, and can be present at local, regional or global scales. Commons can include shared grazing pasture, forests and their produce, marine resources such as fisheries, and at a larger scale biodiversity, and the global atmosphere.

Improving the management of ‘commons’ is vital to addressing the challenge of climate change and the International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC) has sponsored this distance learning programme – the first of its kind – aimed at raising awareness and improving the management of common resources.

The six courses in the programme, which can be taken as individual courses, will be delivered jointly by the CCRI and the Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (IIS-UNAM), in both English and Spanish, under the auspices of the IASC.

The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) is the largest specialist rural research centre in the UK, with over 25 years of experience in all aspects of research in policy and planning for communities and the environment of the UK, Europe and further afield.