Commons, commons, common goods: a new notion – not that new, in fact! – has appeared under different names for several years in the politico-administrative jargon of public services and is slowly spreading in French communities, which view it with a mixture of interest and mistrust. It is however very old, it goes back to the Middle Ages, where the right of use of the ground took precedence over that of property, and allowed the peasants to graze their cattle and to glean on land not belonging to them, common spaces.
From free software to temporary town planning
The concept was brought up to date by the American economist Elinor Ostrom, Nobel Prize winner in 2009, and was first translated into the digital field, with the concepts of knowledge and data sharing, free software, the creation of Wikipedia … The commons then developed in other sectors, for example that of town planning with the management and sharing of public space in different forms, that of culture with libraries as a place of sharing knowledge.
For the “purists” of the commons, we can define these by three elements: a resource, material or immaterial, such as a field, a place or data; management by an open community of inhabitants, users, called “commoners”; and operation according to transparent rules chosen by the community, or agreed to, which aim at sharing and preserving the resource in order to avoid its overexploitation. For its promoters, the notion of commons opens up a new approach to the management of public services, which involves users and residents more.
“We realize that we are all faced with the same logic: the great verticality of public action. However, a step aside from all the actors would allow a better network of the general interest ”, judge Xavier Perrin, director of the“ commons ”project at the town hall of Grenoble (see p. 39).
A need to do with the inhabitants
“This is a subject that still remains confidential, but there is renewed interest due to the conclusive European experiences, and also the research in the communities for better interaction with the inhabitants. We are in a context where we can no longer do without them ”, explains Elisabeth Dau, co-president of the collective Action commune !, which supports citizens’ lists in France.
In Italy, Spain, Belgium, Great Britain and the Netherlands, among others, many cities have rubbed shoulders with the commons for several years, with structured actions, public – common pacts… (see p. 42- 43). But France has more trouble getting started because the notion is still seen in a very militant and politicized way. “France is an ultra-centralized state compared to other European countries, it is he who defines the general interest and what comes from the field is scary. The second reason is the tendency of elected officials to fear the notion of community, which would defend its only private, particular interests, which would monopolize spaces, analyzes Cécile Diguet, town planner at the Institut Paris region and author of several works on the town planning of the commons. If the subject is more scrutinized today, it is because the State and the communities have less financial resources: we must find other solutions, trust the citizens. “
“Public services are well delegated to the private sector so why not to citizens? »Thus pointed out Rémy Seillier, now responsible for development within the France Tiers-Lieux association during a day on the subject of the commons organized in November 2019 in Paris by La 27e Région, an association which carries a project of general interest in terms of public innovations, by promoting convergence between the State and local communities.
Pioneering communities
Some communities are starting to get into the hard part of the matter, in a more or less experimental way. The local associative network and its vitality are often one of the incentives to join the process. “Basically, the history of the commons in Grenoble is a political request from an elected official. In 2018, a mission was created with a clear roadmap: to draw up a diagnosis of what the commons are in the territory and how the agents understand them. From this diagnosis, we wondered how to develop management and legal tools … to develop the commons and how this issue could be highlighted, relates Xavier Perrin. For our work, we have been able to count on a network of very active “commoners”. “
New momentum with the green wave?
At the urban community (CA) Valence Romans agglo (54 municipalities, 216,000 inhabitants), it is in the network of libraries that we approach the commons. “We are wondering how public authorities can guarantee free access to knowledge and how they can become an actor in this community,” indicates Lionel Dujol, responsible for digital development and foresight for the CA media library network. The library is a place of knowledge and know-how, it must ask itself the question of becoming a place of commons. “
Interco is therefore working on a heritage portal project, “L’Empreinte”, with a free license, in open data and high definition download possible. “To enrich this content and develop its use, we approached communities interested in this heritage. They gave us what they had, which greatly supplemented the fund of our platform ”, he adds (see also p. 40).
“The Covid-19 health crisis has shaken up the mode of production of public services and demonstrated the need for public-joint collaborations. We have seen private initiatives flourish everywhere, and even public, in a hurry, because the technicians could not adapt, observed Xavier Perrin. This is indicative of the shift in progress: we are moving from participation to co-construction. We are in a good time, however, it remains to be deconfined! We are going to go through periods of heatwave, health crises… How can we make this an opportunity? “
The green wave in municipal governments could also give new impetus to the commons, insofar as environmental programs insist on the co-construction of public policies with citizens. But it is essential to make agents and residents understand that this is not a question of abandoning public service, but a form of co-production. Users of the public service have to evolve from consumers to actors. “I do not have the solution for the promotion of the commons, but it is necessary that a lucidity of the territorial dialogue develop, including with the citizens, which will allow us to move forward, estimates Bruno Paulmier, director general of the services of Niort. [58 700 hab., Deux-Sèvres]. The citizens’ convention is a successful example. This maturity must develop on the scale of each territory. »A small cultural revolution which will also surely involve a broader right to experimentation in communities.
“Work on collaboration and budgetary modalities”
– Myriam Limpens, director of research and development at the European metropolis of Lille (95 municipalities, 1.17 million inhabitants)
“The metropolis was one of the first communities to integrate, in 2015, a“ commons ”component in its“ social and solidarity economy ”program by supporting the production of commons through the emergence of alternative economic models. The subject was also brought up internally by the Directorate-General for Services. At the beginning, we approached it in a theoretical and prospective way thanks, in particular, to the European program “Enacting The Commons” [lire p. 42]. The theme encountered other challenges, such as the need to do public action differently, to work on citizen collaboration, and that of new budgetary methods. We saw that the commons were one of the possible solutions. The metropolitan public data service, under construction, which relies on supporting the use of data rather than on licensing, is a good example. “
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“When we help them think up projects, the inhabitants put their energy into it”
– Franck Quéré, head of the “public space” service
and citizenship ”to the city of Grenoble (160,200 inhab.)
“Public space is a common that we have forgotten. This is why we have developed the involvement of residents in the transformation and improvement of their living environment. During construction sites open to the public, we let the inhabitants tell us what they want to do and we provide them with the materials. Thus, we entrusted them with the redevelopment of an abandoned square where they have provided play areas, tables and benches. They sometimes find it difficult, for lack of habit, to dream of their city. But once you help them think up projects and tell them that they can do whatever they want, they put all their energy into it. As for the agents, everything is validated upstream, in particular by a control office so that the standards are respected, and we note that the technicians are very proud to pass on their know-how. “
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“We have created a mapping of the commons and soon a charter”
– Mathilde Sergot, director of proximity at the town hall
and in the metropolis of Brest (8 municipalities, 209,700 inhab.)
“In Brest, there is a long tradition of working on the issue of the commons through the appropriation of digital technology by the inhabitants. It is within this framework that, in 2009, the “Brest in common goods” festival was created, with the associative sector. Then the reflection extended, with shared gardens and donation boxes, and we created a mapping of the commons. To keep this dynamic going, a “Brest en communes” logo has been launched, which can be used by associations. The municipal team which has just been elected has included in its program the writing of a charter of commons. We make the link between the notions of commons and participation: it is a question of recognizing the capacity of citizens’ initiative, by putting in place an adapted framework. This implies disseminating this principle within the services, which is not necessarily obvious. We want to address topics such as energy and natural goods. “
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This article is related to the dossier
This article is part of the Dossier
The public action of tomorrow is shaped in the commons
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