‘Mahatma Gandhi is still relevant for understanding commons’

Nobel Laureate and proponent of the polycentric approach to management of common pool resources Dr Elinor Ostrom on Wednesday said Mahatma Gandhi was “important and relevant” in understanding of commons. “

If we go into historical contexts and philosophy,” she said, “Gandhi is still important.”

The market economy of consumption for consumption’s sake is a key part of problem in the way we manage our commons, 77-year-old professor in ecological economics said in an interaction with media persons here on the sidelines of the 13th biennial conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons.

“We need to develop mechanism of communities and learn from the successful institutions that manage their commons,” she said.

“Officials got to learn from the hard work of the people all over,” she said, rejecting the theory that either the state or private players were best institutions to manage commons. There are communities, she elucidated, that have enhanced the commons - such as forests - they live in, so Gandhi still remains very important (in developing an understanding of our commons). Global climate change commons is extremely important, she said.

The risks are huge.