LOCAL DEVELOPMENT, UNDERSTOOD AS THAT WHICH IS DRIVEN BY INITIATIVES THAT ARISE, MATURE, AND CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO POLICIES AND PROJECTS FROM WITHIN THE COMMUNITIES THEMSELVES, SHOULD PREFERABLY BE GROUNDED IN PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE, BOTH OF THE PROJECTS AND OF THE RESOURCES AT STAKE.
STUDIES ON THE GOVERNANCE OF COMMON-POOL RESOURCES CONDUCTED IN THE 1980S BY VARIOUS GROUPS OF RESEARCHERS, MOST OF THEM INSPIRED BY THE WORK OF DR. ELINOR OSTROM –THE FIRST WOMAN TO RECEIVE THE NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS (2009), THANKS TO HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF COLLECTIVE ACTION INSTITUTIONS– REVEAL A NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES AROUND THE WORLD AND, OF COURSE, IN LATIN AMERICA, WHICH CALL INTO QUESTION THE THEN-DOMINANT IDEA PUT FORWARD BY HARDIN (1968) REGARDING THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF MANAGING COMMON-POOL RESOURCES WITHOUT NECESSARILY DEPLETING THEM, OUTSIDE OF A CENTRALIZED POWER (THE STATE, IN THIS CASE) OR THE MARKET MECHANISM.
MOST OF THE EXPERIENCES STUDIED BY OSTROM AND OTHER RESEARCHERS (MORE THAN 5,000) SHOW THAT, UNDER APPROPRIATE PRINCIPLES OF INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN–SUCH AS RULES DEFINING LIMITS ON RESOURCE USE, MONITORING PLANS AND/OR STRATEGIES REGARDING ITS USE, CONFLICT-RESOLUTION MECHANISMS, AND GRADUATED SANCTION SYSTEMS, AMONG OTHERS–IT IS POSSIBLE TO GUARANTEE THE SUCCESS OF COLLECTIVE MODELS OF GOVERNANCE AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION WITH HIGH LEVELS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND LONG-TERM VIABILITY, THUS AVOIDING THE “TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS.”
WITHIN THIS FRAMEWORK, THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS SYMPOSIUM IS TO OPEN A SPACE FOR THE ANALYSIS, DEBATE, AND SHARING OF COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES OF COMMON-POOL RESOURCE GOVERNANCE ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT AND IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
