So, my name is Johannes Euler and I live close to Bonn in the Western part of Germany. I started to get involved with the whole commons-thing in 2012 - at first mainly out of an intellectual interest but I very soon realized that there is so much more to it. So I participated in the
first German-speaking commons summer school out of which the Commons-Institut was founded. That is what I am still an active part of.
I took this energy to first write my Thesis (M.Sc. Politics, Economics and Philosophy) about the commons and now I am writing on my PhD in Economics about conflicts in water management and the possibilities of commoning. I am arguing that through the shift in paradigms and societal structures that commoning may initiate conflicts can be tackled in new ways. So, you already see that I am really convinced of the transformative potential of commoning.
But the commons is not only something that I think write and talk about but something that I practice. For example in our commons housing project and the community-supported agriculture project that I am part of. In my view the transition can only be done through commoning which is why I am convinced that we should also take the commons assemblies as spaces of commoning. Only if we practice commoning among ourselves the processes that we create can carry ourselves as well as develop enough strength so that an actual transformation can take place.
