Preserving Common Goods

Common goods, whether they are natural as water, air, woods or oceans, or material as culture and knowledge, are essential items to social cohesion and to the sustainability of our planet. However, the privatization or the overexploitation of these resources prompt us to rethink our gestion models to avoid their exhaustion or their monopolization by a few at the expense. In this context, the market is not sufficient to coordinate “for the best” the behaviours of the economic agents which are consumers, companies and institutes, and the question of the role of the public power to build an incentive framework and an appropriate governance becomes central. This governance must allow for cooperation, or at least some form of coordinated behavior, since private appropriation of the commons destroys value for the community.