by gideongalizzi | Dec 19, 2025 | Commons Press, Event, News
With the 2030 deadline approaching and persistent gaps in trust and social legitimacy hindering sustainability transitions, a recent JRC (European Commission) report by Christian F. Iaione and Cecilia Bertozzi examines how commons-based co-governance and joint management of common goods can facilitate and accelerate the localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within urban environments.
The report identifies three principal findings: co-governance extends beyond the conventional top-down versus bottom-up dichotomy; it offers evidence-based recommendations that support SDG localization across EU territories, noting that most SDG targets require local action, and contributes to the development of a shared, consensual framework through imposed directives aimed solely at achieving uniformity.
The report grounds its analysis in five case studies ranging from Reggio Emilia to Amsterdam, which demonstrate the use of legal and financial instruments, the role of institutional facilitators such as city science offices, and the common challenges faced across regions, including bureaucratic silos, long-term funding constraints, and the need for inclusive co-design.
A key takeaway is well documented: co-governance can serve as a significant accelerator of sustainability transformations in urban contexts. However, further scaling is required to understand better the contexts in which these models are effective and to assess the long-term sustainability of the supporting institutional capacities.
Read full report:
https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2760/1245774
by winnielaw | Dec 9, 2024 | Commons Press, HK 2024
Jessica M. Williams, Vivian H. Y. Chu, Wai Fung Lam, Winnie W. Y. Law
Our recent publication in the International Journal of the Commons (IJC) discusses how problems arising from nested social and ecological systems in the peri-urban setting can be addressed through nested institutions, which were designed to support commoning across spatial and governance levels. While we drew on examples of agricultural commoning developed and implemented by the Centre for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG), HKU, and collaborating organisations to substantiate our arguments, the paper identifies favourable designs of commoning that could be useful when solving other types of nested problems.
The paper’s premise is that conventional governance approaches struggle to effectively manage problems that cross spatial scales and sit at the intersection of ecological and social systems. However, these characteristics are embedded in sustainability problems. Therefore, we adopt a social-ecological systems perspective to understand influences across systems. In the case of managing problems in peri-urban areas, interconnected process across social and ecological subsystems at different levels, e.g. influences from urban areas, have created substantial challenges for the sustainable revitalisation of these areas, preventing them from creating value to both rural and urban areas. For example, due to rural-urban disconnect, challenges are encountered in re-establishing management systems for natural and cultural resources in desolate villages. Key strategies to overcome such challenges include incubating communities of interests to draw upon manpower from the wider community and developing multiple co-management platforms, which enhance open participation and enable self-governance (Diagram 1). The better management of such resources in the longer term contributes to the resilience of the broader society. [Access the full paper on IJC]
Diagram 1: Overview of the interconnections and challenges between the different levels and the commoning approaches undertaken.
Diagram 2: Incubating communities of interest to revive urban-rural integration
by Alberica Aquili | Nov 28, 2024 | Commons Press
LabGov ETS conducts research on financial and policy issues critical to MFIs/DFIs//MDBs including sustainable investments, impact investing, climate finance, sustainable governance, innovation and emerging technologies. LabGov ETS is looking for a full-time pre-doctoral research assistant who could start immediately before or after graduation. The contract will be for one year with the possibility of extending it for a second year.
The selected candidate should have an interest or background in Communication/Open Social Innovation/Experience and Platform Design (Strong Academic Performance Preferred). S/he should have some prior experience and demonstrate excellent track record on platforms, data visualization, social media & communication management skills (e.g. Web Development/Programming experience; Backend/Frontend/Database management/UX/UI; social media management for SEO, Market Research, Knowledge Sharing, Public Communication) and a research interest in emerging technologies and communication studies.
The RA position requires full-time commitment (i.e. minimum 3 days in presence to participate to classes, carry out project management and executive tasks, give presentations, participate to projects development activities; 1 day from remote or in presence depending on the need; 1 day dedicated to pure research in libraries, training courses, conferences and seminars, academic writing activities).
Past candidates selected for this position have gone on to pursue PhD and research programs in prestigious universities in the U.S., the UK and the EU, including NYU, Georgetown, Columbia, LSE, Sciences Po Paris, Luiss. LabGov ETS offers visa status as well as fair remuneration and benefits.
If interested in the position, please send your CV and an academic transcript to staff@labgov.it by December 15th.
Also, it is mandatory that a reference include at least one letter of recommendation to the same email and by the same date. Recommenders should be able to assess candidates’ ability.
All applicants will be expected to complete a test and / or give an interview within a few days after their application.
by Pier Paolo Zitti | Nov 15, 2024 | Commons Press, Event, News
LabGov conducts research on financial and policy issues critical to the MFIs/DFIs//MDBs including sustainable investments, impact investing, sustainable impact finance, financial inclusion, climate finance, fintech and digital money. LabGov is looking for a full-time pre-doctoral research assistant who could start immediately before or after graduation. The contract will be for one year with the possibility of extending it for a second year.
The selected candidate should have a graduate degree in economics, finance, or policy, preferably with a strong GPA. S/he should have some prior academic research experience and demonstrate excellent data management skills (significant programming experience in standard software such as Stata, R, Python, etc., familiarity with computer systems, and the ability to handle large databases) and a good understanding of basic economics, finance, and policy. The RA should already have or be able to quickly develop the ability to work with various sources of financial information and data used by MFIs/DFIs/MDBs (e.g. Morning Star, Worldscope, Datastream, Orbis, Fitch Connect, and Bloomberg). The RA position requires full-time commitment (i.e. minimum 3 days in presence to participate to classes, carry out project management and executive tasks, give presentations, participate to projects development activities; 1 day from remote or in presence depending on the need; 1 day dedicated to pure research in libraries, training courses, conferences and seminars, academic writing activities).
Past candidates selected for this position have gone on to pursue PhD and research programs in prestigious universities in the U.S., the UK and the EU, including NYU, Georgetown, Columbia, LSE, Sciences Po Paris, Luiss. LabGov offers visa status as well as fair remuneration and benefits.
If interested in the position, please send your CV and transcript to staff@labgov.it by December 6th.
Also, it is mandatory that a reference send us a letter of recommendation to the same email and by the same date.
Recommenders should be able to assess candidates’ ability to assist with empirical analysis in economics, finance, policy or related quantitative/qualitative social sciences.
All applicants will be expected to complete a test within a few days after their application.
by Valeria Lembo | Oct 29, 2024 | Commons Press
Today, Oct. 29, 2024, on “Il Sole24Ore,” an article by Mario Manna, PhD in Law and Business and Post-doc Researcher Luiss Guido Carli: “Partnerariato Ampio per Internet nelle Aree Bianche”.
This article condenses the trajectories and conclusions of his doctoral research on the digital divide and areas of high digital vulnerability.
Read the full article at the link here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:eu:973bcc28-6243-48bf-a796-6ccecb416ae4
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by Valeria Lembo | Jul 12, 2024 | Commons Press, Event, News
We are excited to announce that researchers from the LabGov ETS research team, led by Professor Christian Iaione, have contributed to writing articles for the issue 1/2024 of the legal journal on public services, MUNUS, titled “PARTNERSHIPS FOR INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY”.
The full journal has just been released! You can find it at this link: https://www.rivistamunus.it/munus-rivista-giuridica-dei-servizi-pubblici-1-2024/
