Cultural non-profit association (ETS)
Communities, culture and places for a shared happiness.
Living Commons was born from a desire to test, in real places, how decades of thinking, research and practice in the civil and social economy can turn into concrete action, shared knowledge and new ways of caring for the commons.
About us
For centuries, communities lived music, traditions, squares, nature and relationships as shared commons. Today many of these practices risk disappearing, or being reduced to mere entertainment.
Living Commons wants to help bring these commons back to life: culture, public spaces, traditions, nature and community. We do this through cultural, social and place-based projects that bring together the arts, traditions, community economies and practices of good living.
Our aim is to play our part, however small, in building communities that are more alive, more caring and happier, where culture, relationships and places become part of everyday life again.
Mission and vision
The association exists to foster living, caring and happy communities by giving value to culture, relationships and the commons.
Through cultural, social and place-based projects, the association supports community participation, the passing on of traditions, the care of public spaces and good living across local areas.
The association promotes forms of civil and community economy that put the dignity of people, the beauty of places and the quality of relationships at the centre.
We imagine communities where the happiness of people grows out of the quality of their relationships, the beauty of their places and the vitality of a culture they share.
We believe music, art, traditions, nature and public spaces can become living commons, able to generate communities that are more caring, more creative and happier.
Values
Seven principles that shape every project we choose to build.
Relationships between people are the foundation of well-living.
Public spaces, nature, culture and traditions are a shared inheritance to look after together.
Art, music, creativity and landscape are an essential part of quality of life.
Individual happiness grows when it is tied to the well-being of others.
We promote economic models that put the person, the community and the local area at the centre.
Communities are the protagonists of the cultural and social life of their places.
We believe the happiness of people and communities is a legitimate and central goal of social and economic policy.
Areas of work
Our areas of action
Giving value to musical, artistic and cultural traditions as an expression of community life.
Project areas
Promoting public and natural spaces as places of encounter, sociability and creativity.
Project areas
Promoting models of civil, solidarity and community economy oriented towards the well-being of people.
Project areas
Promoting beauty, art and nature as fundamental elements of quality of life.
Project areas
Observatory
Study to understand. Tell stories to inspire.
Alongside its projects, Living Commons runs a permanent observatory dedicated to studying communities, the commons and the practices that generate well-being, participation and shared happiness.
We believe communities are not only places where problems are faced, but spaces where experiences are born every day that strengthen relationships, give value to culture and take care of places. That is why we observe, document and tell what makes communities come alive, so that these experiences can be understood, shared and replicated.
The observatory brings together social research, fieldwork and storytelling, turning the experience of people and places into knowledge that is useful for those who design, govern and animate communities.
What we study
How relationships of trust, collaboration and participation are born and grow stronger.
The role of culture, public spaces, nature and intangible heritage in community life.
Experiences of civil economy, cooperation and social innovation that generate shared value.
The practices that improve quality of life, sense of belonging and people's well-being.
The cultural expressions that keep building identity, memory and bonds between generations.
How we work
Manifesto
We believe the happiness of people and communities is a legitimate goal of social, cultural and economic life.
Communities are places of relationship, mutual care and sharing. When communities are alive, their places thrive.
Public spaces, culture, traditions, landscapes and nature are commons that truly exist only when communities live them and look after them.
Music, the arts, traditions and creativity are not entertainment: they are an authentic expression of community life.
The future is born where the memory of elders meets the energy of the young.
We promote economic models that put the person, solidarity and the quality of relationships at the centre.
Squares, neighbourhoods, landscapes and natural spaces are community places, where a sense of belonging is built.
The beauty of places, of art and of relationships is a vital resource for the well-living of people.
The Mediterranean is a network of cultures, traditions and communities that can learn and grow together.
We believe in a society where people can live the commons (culture, nature, relationships) as part of their everyday life.
Contact
If you work with communities, culture or local development, if you have an idea to share, or if you simply want to say hello, write to us. Good things start with a conversation.
Send us an email