Selezionata come relatrice (con V. Torre) su Commons and the European Union. Fostering commoners’ participation in EU projects and networks alla International Conference of Urban Commons (Torino, giugno 2021), organizzata dall’Università di Torino nell’ambito del progetto Horizon 2020 gE.CO Living Lab (https://generative-commons.eu/).

The paper addresses the problematic relationship between commons and EU institutions. It investigates effective measures to support commons while countering exclusionary dynamics that now hinder the direct participation of commoners as key players in EU projects. Commons have demonstrated to be outstanding examples of democratic innovation, given their proneness to inclusion, horizontal governance, and mutualism (De Angelis 2017), as well as autonomous participation in both local democracies and networks of local communities advocating for social justice (Soja 2010) at the European level. We argue that these experiences can benefit from EU policies supporting local practices (Gielen, 2020). However, commons are often caught in unjust dynamics with EU institutions, as decision-making at the EU level often only includes intermediaries well established in EU projects and networks, such as experts and stronger stakeholders. Overall, while commons translate claims and vindications from grassroots movements (Stavrides 2015), ‘commons’ is sometimes distorted as a label for top-down decisions and risks being reduced to ‘commons washing’. These problems are examined through the case study of Hablarenarte (Madrid), in the EU project “Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities”. The case is emblematic because Hablarenarte’s grassroots actions struggled to gain autonomous and direct dialogue with the EU, because of the encumbering presence of stronger stakeholders in the project, made necessary by the match funding required by the EU Program. Drawing from this lesson, the paper addresses how the EU can democratize its institutions by interacting with commoners directly and by supporting their participation in EU projects and networks.