Great Lakes Commons Alexa Bradley, Program Director at On The Commons
- "In our work we have come to connect it (stewardship) deeply to this idea of shared responsibility. In fact at times we are using that language more than stewardship because we want to make sure it is really understood that stewardship is something that is embedded in a set of relationships."
- " one point is to activate citizenship in an ecological citizenship, citizenship in that commons. In that way we have this great lakes commons charter which we are getting people to sign and discuss in their communities about what should be the principles of the care of the water. We are also doing in some of our pilot cities forums. So in Milwaukee last summer we had a water city town forum where we invited a broad cross section of the city to come and talk about what we felt it meant to be a water city, a city that take responsibility and cares for its water."
- "And in each of those areas we are trying to bring eduction in to that and science into that and in some cases art into that. Because we really want to break what I would say is the current paradigm of stewardship is very professionalized. So you have your infrastructure people and you have your professional environmentalists but most average people do not see themselves in that picture at all. So we are really trying to build the social structures and the political spaces where people can see themselves and act as commoners."
Video 13:24 sorry video is low res and audio a bit rough as I had to record in bathroom as samba band was playing in work space and wifi was a bit weak-- any suggestions on way to record from google hangout or skype let me know!
The Great Lakes Commons Charter is:
• A way to spark bold conversation about the future of the Great Lakes
• A way to learn from one another across cultures and communities about the thinking, teachings, and principles that can guide the care of these precious waters
• A way to build a collaborative network of Great Lakes Commoners active on behalf of their water commons
• A way to build public involvement and momentum for commons based water stewardship and governance
Read and Sign the Charter Declaration