The Future is in Our Hands: Building Our Resilience in The Commons
Narration by Darby Weaver
Election Escalations
The presidential general election falls squarely in stick season here in Northern Vermont and the newly barren hillsides offer an openness that seems capable of holding all the uncertain feelings. On November 5, 2024, I submitted my carefully studied ballot, got the sticker, and hurried back home to continue sorting through this season’s harvest. The farm has never been a place where a TV plays busily in the background, and I did my best to avoid the frenzied commentary of this year’s big show. When my husband told me the election results the following morning, I wasn’t surprised. This country’s two-party system has been a divisive tool that has drawn our focus to the assumed faults we see in each other over the systemic issues that plague us all.
While both dominant parties continue to serve big business over citizens, prioritizing the needs of the rich and elite, the working class, people of color, women, and our fractured natural world continue to bear the brunt of policies designed to prop up the patriarchal, material hierarchy of our country. Coming up on the end of the warmest year on record, the commodification of our planet has reached a fever pitch and the agenda of the 47th president and his administration seems to leave little room for hope. As communities across the United States brace for sweeping changes to healthcare, civil liberties, and EPA regulations, the shared resources of our living world have never felt more finite and fragile.
Moments like these remind me of reading history books and tracing the linear path of events leading up to catastrophic events and conflict, each isolated incident contributing to a momentum that leads to an unstoppable outcome. Looking around the world today at the war machines that rage, the escalated occurrence of natural disasters, and the vulnerability of human rights at home and abroad, we seem to find ourselves set adrift within a sea of causes that will eventually lead to some kind of calamitous effect. Holding the weight of this burden is overwhelming and the solutions to these large, interconnected issues can feel completely out of reach. When it comes down to it, our greatest hope lies in the actions we are willing to take at home in our local communities and on the prosperous, life-giving lands we know and love.
What Is Our Legacy?
At times like these, we must ask ourselves what do we want our legacy to be? As the “Tragedy of the Commons” seems to be playing out unceasingly throughout the Gardens of Eden that dot the globe as a result of private and capitalist interests, we are being called to acknowledge how our participation in capitalism funds systems of oppression that exploit and extract from human communities and our natural world. This accountability has become increasingly hard to face, or even notice, as we spend more time glued to our phones and screens. These devices generously feed us endless, curated content, while we are being mined for data, and surrendering our precious time on Earth to this insatiable form of consumption. With the introduction of generative AI, our time online has become almost futuristic and the toll on our living planet grows.
The adage from 1971, “Think globally, act locally,” rings just as true today and is a reminder of our essential role in building the world we want through our actions at home and in our rural, suburban, and urban communities. We have the opportunity to take our reactive online persona and root it back into the active participant we were born to be. Building a new legacy for this time period on our planet is possible, but it cannot be born from the designs of the dominant systems of our globalized marketplace. To set us on a different path, we need to reimagine our relationship with resources and ownership and re-identify with the unique and artful contributions we can bring to our small corners of the world.
Living Inspiration
At The Farmers Land Trust (TFLT), we know that there are already so many people on farms, in communities, and involved with local-level and national organizations that are dedicated to empowering people to return to the land to reclaim their productive and symbiotic relationship with nature. To reimagine land tenure and ownership in the United States may feel like a big barrier to becoming the change we seek, but the truth is, there are communities all over the world that have already made this shift and others still whose existence has been a harmonious one with the people and natural resources of their region. The work of Nobel Prize-winning political economist and professor Elinor Ostrom has highlighted some of these inspiring community-regulated systems in Spain, Nepal, Switzerland, Japan and even here in the U.S.
Elinor Ostrom was a champion of The Commons, a concept with roots in the idea that human beings can manage common resources responsibly through cooperation. She believed that Garrett Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons,” that suggested human beings will inevitably overuse and spoil a resource, was false and not an inevitable outcome. Ostrom’s book Governing the Commons explored resource issues faced by communities around the globe and offered solutions that relied on self-governance over statist or power-over systems and focused on problem resolutions that were not reliant on the capitalist marketplace.
A lot of our work at The Farmers Land Trust is inspired by professor Elinor Ostrom’s studies and we have incorporated many of her concepts into the foundation of our guiding principles and into our open-source Farmland Commons template documents. To introduce some of her models for Common Pool Resource (CPR) management and how TFLT utilizes them in our own work, I will outline Ostrom’s Eight Design Principles for a Successful Commons and highlight how they have informed our processes and frameworks.
Eight Principles of The Commons
1. Clearly defined boundaries
It can seem counterintuitive that the first rule of sharing resources as a community is to set clear boundaries, but it is an essential part of building the framework for cooperative use. It is important to decide who is allowed access to the CPR in question, when they have access, and what the expectations for the individual’s management of that resource may be.
The creation of our Farmland Commons template documents is an effort to set firm boundaries and assign appropriate rights and roles for all participants involved in the Farmland Commons model. Boundaries are clearly spelled out in our lease agreements, bylaws, and farm management plan documents within the Farmland Commons. The lease agreements can go to one or multiple individuals or entities (nonprofit, LLC, etc.,). They can be layered over the same shared land to address collective use. They can also be used to section land off in pieces to give different individuals rights to different portions of the divvied-up acreage.Additionally, the 501(c)(2) and/or 501(c)(25) combined with 501(c)(3) with the real estate title held at (c)(2) and/or (c)(25) level create far more boundaries than a 501(c)(3) would generate on its own. This provides independence for the leaseholder and allows agreements to more descriptively and discriminatorily focus on regenerative agriculture, food production, and the rights of nature. The title-holding entity is able to participate in creating the language and framing of the agreements but is unable to interject in the operations of the leaseholders.
2. Congruence between appropriation and provision rules and local conditions
Put simply, this principle states that the rules that govern how the CPR is managed must be made to fit local realities. Every place is different, and each small community will have different needs and challenges, both socially and ecologically. The rules created need to work for the local people, work within the regeneration potential of their local landscape, and also abide by all current zoning and property laws mandated by local governance.
Our Farmland Commons template documents are open source and written in a way that they can be used anywhere in the United States for the highest accessibility and usability. From there, each lease and farm management plan is intended to evolve with local input to reflect the unique needs and circumstances of each community. Centering this place-based system of cooperation allows each Farmland Commons location to be formed and incorporated, acting independently while still adhering to the shared, universal values and principles described in our Farmland Commons Template Documents.
3. Collective-choice arrangements
In order to have true cooperation among many individuals with different perspectives, it is essential to involve them in the rulemaking process. When it comes to following rules, those who have had a say in what the rules state and how they are enforced are much more likely to follow them. At the decision-making stage of the management of the CPR, it is important to involve as many people who are connected to the resource as possible to ensure that all needs are met and all boundaries are agreed upon and clear.
Our Farmland Commons template documents were created through the hard work of a committee of individuals living in unique locations across the country and globe. They were created using frameworks devised from an even broader collection of individuals. These templates have the embedded wisdom of close to 100 people from most states and at least 10 countries. These individuals have years of lived experience with land management, real estate, community organizing, food production, financial expertise, legal expertise, and more.
These templates are intended to be the starting point for a local community that is creating its own Farmland Commons that will then engage in long processes of participatory, co-creation of a final set of rules and agreements over months to years. The rules established for the land-holding entity, the owner of the land, are spelled out in the bylaws. The rules for the use of the land are spelled out in the lease and management plan. Both of which, the leaseholder is part of creating, as the leaseholder is also a member of the board.
4. Monitoring
After the rules have been established, it is important to ensure they are being followed. The Commons is most effective when participants are held accountable for their participation. It is also important that those who are monitoring the management of the CPR answer to the appropriators of the shared resource or are appropriators of that resource themselves. This ensures there is deep investment in the cooperative use of the resource and insight into what that means for all involved.
The Farmland Commons is a unique model because it does not rely on top-down monitoring or a power-over structure. The Farmland Commons is a bottom-up system of reporting and sharing starting at the level of the leaseholder and the land. Where many land trusts and similar organizations put a lot of emphasis on oversight and control, the Farmland Commons model is built on relationship and support. While we acknowledge that accountability is an important part of any community, we put our focus on building reciprocity rather than establishing systems of control.
Written into our Farmland Commons template documents are annual and bi-annual check-ins that occur through on-site farm visits, virtual meetings, and through the sharing of videos and photos. In the Farmland Commons model, the leaseholder holds support (oversight) of the land, the Farmland Commons Board has support (oversight) of the leaseholder, and the parent nonprofits have support (oversight) of the Farmland Commons Board.
The Farmland Commons use of bylaws, lease agreements, and farm management plans instead of conservation easements is in part to allow all roles and responsibilities to be held by directly involved parties. Conservation easements and their reporting, monitoring, and enforcement are more defined and regulated by the IRS. The established rules and roles of the Farmland Commons are only folded into outside, disconnected parties in:
The Lease: As this document is recorded as a “cloud on title” with the deed, making it a publicly known encumbrance on the deed known in its title history.
The c2/c25/c3 Nonprofit Status: As nonprofits, they are bound to their mission and nonprofit operations by the IRS and state attorney general.
5. Graduated sanctions
Even though most involved in the community have the intention of following the rules, the human experience is often wrought with unforeseen circumstances and challenges. There will be times that corners may be cut or rules broken as each individual navigates their personal journey. Ostrom saw that it was important that The Commons made space for accidents, mistakes, and rule breaking from the appropriators of the CPR. Instead of banning their participation when rules were violated, graduated sanctions would be used to offer a grace period for undesirable behavior. Warnings, fines, and other consequences offer the rule-breaking party the chance to change behavior and regain harmony with the whole without losing their access to the resource permanently.
The Farmland Commons template documents have graduated sanctions worked into their fabric to ensure that individuals are given the chance to change their behavior. Meditation is offered as an option in the event that the violations are occurring as a result of personal dynamics or internal strife. The terms of these graduated sanctions are ultimately determined by and agreed upon by the local Farmland Commons community. At TFLT, we understand that people need chances. It can take time to learn to work together and build trust and the development of supportive relationships with opportunities to grow is valued over punitive actions.
6. Conflict-resolution mechanisms
Taking the last principle a step further, it is important that conflict resolution is simple, informal, affordable, and uncomplicated. Everyone involved in the shared resource should feel as though they have a voice and that their concerns are taken seriously. Lingering and unresolved problems can result in more serious issues involving outside parties and legal fees. Resolving issues as they arise and promoting internal mediation allows the community to ebb and flow as human dynamics within shift without sinking the whole ship.
As stated above, conflict resolution and mediation are both concepts worked into the Farmland Commons template documents. In addition, TFLT can serve as a non-party (not baked into the legal formation,) who can hold a distanced but connected and neutral role to support initial mediation between the people and organizations involved.
7. Minimal recognition of rights to organize
It is essential that the rules of The Commons are recognized and legitimized by higher local authorities. This means that the rights and roles of the individuals associated with the CPR are congruent with the realities of local laws and, even more importantly, not in opposition to any of these local laws.
At TFLT, we have spent a lot of time ensuring that the framework of the Farmland Commons model is acceptable and legal throughout the United States. By using tested legal structures such as 501(c)(2)s, 501(c)(3)s, and 501(c)(25)s, we are ensuring the success of the individual Farmland Commons by securing their legitimacy with the local and federal government. The structure of the Farmland Commons model, in its pure sense, is simply nonprofit ownership of real estate that leases out all rights and uses to the leaseholder. This basic structure is well known, widely used, and accepted in the United States.
Additional layers of congruency can be found in our template documents. When the lease is recorded with the deed as a “cloud on title” it solidifies the rights within the real estate laws that we are tasked with following. The farm management plan encapsulates all existing plans including easements, rights, restrictions and other legal considerations for the land and its use. The fact that The Farmers Land Trust is incorporated and operating as a land trust allows us to benefit from the 120+ years of operational land trust history in the United States.
8. Nested enterprises
While it is important to ensure that the community using the CPR is directly managing the resource, sometimes that resource impacts a wider population outside of the local community. It is important that the actions of the community are nested into the wider regional community, allowing for additional layers of accountability and support.
The Farmland Commons model was built with this broader view in mind. Just as the natural world is dynamic, symbiotic, and filled with organisms and systems nested into one another, our organization’s mission is to create structures where the local community and farmland is nested within a supportive framework of regional members and national support. Each individual Farmland Commons is a unique entity that is tied into the national network of Farmland Commons. Where each individual experience may differ, the shared experiences of all involved in the network can benefit each other and the whole. Within each Farmland Commons are nested nonprofit entities and the nesting of several parcels of community-held real estate, assets, and shared resources.
The Future Is in Our Hands
Elinor Ostrom’s principles and her greater work are an offering of hope to a deeply commodified world. It is a reminder that though the real estate market has taken a certain shape in the United States today, there are alternative paths and collective opportunities to take action. It may feel as though the chaos of our modern world is out of our hands, but each individual farm secured is strength offered to that local community, that region, and by extension, our country as a whole. When individuals study the history books recounting the events of 2024 and 2025, what do you want them to read? That we ignored the writing on the wall and surrendered the well-being of our living planet to the whims of materialism, inequity, and greed? Or that we took the uncertainty of the future in our hands and built a new legacy for our beautiful landscapes and people.
The outcome of this election aside, we are ready to do this work with you. There’s never been a better time to get started. The world we know is possible is waiting for us to create it. Shall we begin?
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