Radical Environmentalism and “Commoning”: Synergies Between Ecosystem Regeneration and Social Governance at Tamera Ecovillage, Portugal

Abstract

This article explores the scope and limitations of Radical Environmentalism as a source of practices of "commoning". The application of the radical environmental "Healing Biotope" model in Tamera, an ecovillage located in southern Portugal, further expands the understanding of "commoning" as a social process, as well as of Radical Environmentalism as a cognitive framework. This article distinguishes between the technical and political dimensions of "commoning". It also identifies two structuring dimensions of Radical Environmentalism, hereby called integrative rationality and the experiential action research and learning methodology. These dimensions support the technical aspect of "commoning" in Tamera by promoting epistemic and methodological coherence between social and environmental technologies. Despite their contested scientific validity, they contribute to the sustainability of the project by promoting synergies between ecological regeneration and social governance. However, they have limited capacity to address the political dimension of "commoning", related with rank and socio-economic inequalities among members.

The superior effect of nature based solutions in land management for enhancing ecosystem services

“…Increasingly these solutions are adopted in a holistic approach to landscape management, including adapting montado tree cover, using shrubs for erosion control in steep slopes, rainwater harvesting, restoration of riparian vegetation and other measures; Campos et al (2016) describes an example of how vegetation management can increase the resilience towards land abandonment and climate change impact. These solutions are implemented and supported by a network of sustainable communities which also promote the systematization and dissemination of these nature-based solutions through bottom-up approaches (Campos et al, 2016;Esteves, 2017).…”

Towards a sharing economy – Innovating ecologies of business models

“…For the social environment, it is interesting how the concept of commoning resonates with autonomy (Esteves, 2016). This suggests a separation of the initiative from other parts of the community of BMs, or the creation of a self-sufficient community.…”

A Systemic Approach to Sustainability - The Interconnection of Its Dimensions in Ecovillage Practices

“…When the structure is of the landlord/tenant type, there is an obvious imbalance of power as Ergas (2010) has observed. Even when land ownership is shared, hierarchies are often established; they might favor longer-standing members, for example (MEIJERING; HUIGEN; VAN HOVEN, 2007;CHRISTIAN, 2003;ESTEVES, 2017), or those who are more active in the community (CHRISTIAN, 2003) or even be gender-based hierarchies (ERGAS, 2010). The formation of hierarchies can eventually lead to massive exoduses of members as Cunningham and Wearing (2013) have reported.…”