Building alternative skills and competences through Commons
how to enhance Common Spaces as contexts of learning and professional training?
sharing stories
Discover
A journey through Commons
in Europe

The evolution of European cities is marked by increasing competition over the use of space, old and new forms of inaccessibility and inequality. Unsustainable land consumption continues, despite an impressive number of empty spaces.

We think that Commons are laboratories of alternatives. They redefine public spaces, renovate activism and participation in community life, build solidarity networks and circular economy circuits, spread a care-based culture and research green solutions.

This section is dedicated to share the practices, the stories and the values of different collective experiences in Europe.

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Featured
Featured content
L’Asilo and the birth of urban Civic and Collective use in Naples
L’Asilo is born within the path of ‘emerging commons’ (Micciarelli, 2014). These ones are experiences that grow from the initiative of a community who identifies given resources as commons — because they are necessary for fundamental rights — and self-governs them in cooperative and mutualistic forms. Emerging commons also exist as a critic of austerity: […]
Viskali, a community in search of a new quality of life
Located at the intersection of 5 districts of Riga, Viskaļi opened the doors in 2019. After some fundamental renovation work, the building, which had previously housed the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Transport and Aeronautics of Riga Technical University, was reborn to new life. Nowadays Viskaļi is the largest creative community in Latvia, bringing together more than 200 […]
5 years of Coco Velten
Coco Velten is the story of a challenge taken up in 2017 by the members of Lab Zéro (a public policy innovation laboratory within the Bouches du Rhône Prefecture that brought together members of civil society and public institutions). They set themselves the goal of zero homelessness in Marseilles by 2027, which at the time […]
sharing know-how
Learn
How to run a Common in Europe
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From the collaboration between Commons, VET organizations and Universities comes a collection of
in-depth resources on theories and practices of the Commons, together with an e-learning platform, aimed
to develop new skills and competences for commoners.

This short reflection stems from a collective conversation held in Riga during the BASICC project and identifies four recurring pitfalls that many commons face in their everyday life. Rather than offering solutions, the text invites readers to reflect on how conflict, participation, power and economy are navigated in common spaces—and how they can quietly undermine […]
This short tool is designed to help commons and third places reflect on their transformative potential. Rather than measuring performance, it asks a more radical question: Are we changing the system, or helping it adapt?By introducing the concept of corrosiveness, the authors invite collectives to assess whether their actions challenge the roots of inequality and […]
A resource developed as part of the BASICC project, based on the article published by Dixit and authored by Rosalie Moreau, following an immersive field visit to Riga with Free Riga and the French University Certificate on Common Spaces.
co-creat[ed] is a popular science journal designed as a platform that combines research, practice and innovative approaches. Its goal and vision is to promote discussions on sustainable urban development, community building and alternative forms of economy. This initiative combines FREE RIGA’s experience in activating cultural space, using abandoned places as a platform for various creative […]
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E-learning

Are you up for some
E-Learning?

Access innovative materials designed to support your training path in the Commons universe. Go to our E-learning section!

Documentaries
5 documentaries from Commons in Europe
Naples, Rennes, Paris, Riga, Kiel.
The documentary mini-series takes you on a visit of five spaces in different cities, contexts, moments of their collective life
The films have been realised by SMK Factory over the 2 years of the project, observing the daily life of communities and questioning their members about the present and future of their experiences.

We can define the status of Commons in Europe only through a prism of narratives, made of different forms of organisation, different needs and perspectives.

What are the challenges of today and the expectations for the future?

We asked ourselves... How we got here? What are we building? Why doing it together?