Governing Knowledge Commons: A Short History and Update

This webinar will review the history and character of the knowledge commons research project, a multi-year, multi-work program launched and managed by three researchers: Michael Madison, at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; Brett Frischmann, at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, and Katherine Strandburg, at New York University School of Law.

The knowledge commons research project builds on some of the key insights of the Ostrom School: the viability of commons governance as an institutional solution to resource governance dilemmas; the complex character of commons governance systems; and the need for careful empirical investigation of commons to determine why commons governance succeeds and why it fails. Knowledge commons research adds important distinctions so that it does not simply apply to knowledge and information resources existing insights about commons governance in natural resource systems. It is inspired by Ostrom, but it seeks to build and apply its research framework and to draw its own set of conclusions and, eventually, to produce its own set of recommendations for system design and management.

The project, its affiliated researchers, its results to date, and its research in progress are described at http://knowledge-commons.net.