Tactical Chartering Manifesto

This document is a overencompassing guide that explains how to properly create the foundation of a charter written with the objective to assist in the self-governance of an urban green commons. The document provides a series of chapters explaining general and specific objectives of a charter, relevant players in the charter development, and key tasts for following the tactical chartering guidelines for urban commons. People interested in being involved in the commons can determine their role in the development of the charter by carefully going over each chapter of this document. With that said, this document can be viewed and used in different perspectives. While this document is supposed to provide general guidelines, there are specific tasks or components of the document that pertain to specific goals of each commons. The format is supposed to allow linkages between each component and each commons. Such components come from key concepts found in the Remix of the Commons website and from other sources of scientific and academic literature. In addition, documented experiences of tactical chartering are highlighted here to review lessons learned on charters that were created in the past. The document is intended to be open, so interested peoples can review, modify, and provide feedback and support for this document.

Documentation

• Engaging in Dialogue
• Social and Physical Space Assessment
• 10 Definitions
• Actors and stakeholders
• Making sure the urban commons is space that is to stay
• Objectives to Tactical Chartering
• Putting a label
• Understanding the neighborhood

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3. Assessing the social aspect of the space (perhaps through mental mapping)

 

Assessing the social aspect of the space involves observing the communication between people who use the space. It also involved what people see within the space, and how they use it. The best way to show this is by having people draw a mental map of the neighborhood the shared space is in, and perhaps asking them to detail the shared space itself. People who draw more objects or personal matters will feel very closely to the space, and they may have a better idea on what to do best for the neighborhood. Also, we can use statistical measurements to see what objects people draw the most, and then there could be a focus around that specific aspect of the shared space. 

 

• Stanley Milgram’s theory of mental mapping - where people can emphasize what they find most important in their neighborhood, and what is important to them about this neighborhood

 

• Determining the boundaries of the neighborhood or what people see are the boundaries (important in accessing who will use this urban commons space)

 

• Determining what this urban commons will be used for - for example, if people in a mental map show food places, the urban commons must facilitate places where people can sit down, eat their food, and recycle it properly (that commons should have bench tables and recycling resources). 

 

 

4. Finding the Stakeholders/Making decisions that benefit the grand pool of stakeholders, particularly the people

 

The stakeholders include everyone interested in being part of the planning of an urban commons. One has to find interested participants to give a project some friction. Neighborhood locals can be very vehement about participating in the urban common development, and these people will have a myriad of ideas to share and put forth in the planning. In order to find these people, signs can be posted around recreational centers that explain what is going on and how people can get involved. The use of social media will also attract people into becoming participants. The organization around meeting these participants must be fair (so everyone must be heard), and people should be able to share some ideas with one another. Once the participants have been received, there can be discussion about the kind of decisions that need to be taken, and how each decision process will affect an urban space. It is particularly hard to move forward on any decisions when many people have completely different opinions on what is right for the space. That is why the dialogue has to be set in an organized matter, meaning that the forum will have a certain schedule that will allow each individual group to present their case. There should also be a moderator who can identify similarities of what people say (problems, specific objects that they relate to and note them down. 

 

• Collective Action - the process in which individuals who are pursuing collective interests by gaining any form of value from them within a group, and working collectively with other individuals to agree upon decisions that are harder to make in a group (Gillbert 2006)

 

• Roles of Responsibility - Each stakeholder must have a responsibility that helps nurture the charter of the urban commons. More organization means the the process of the charter can be more clearly defined, more efficient, and it will incentivize people to participate and adhere to their responsiblities, which will benefit the public around an urban commons. 

 

• Democratic approach to decision making - Where active participants vote on 'common' decision in an environment where each vote is counted as same value. This democratic approach helps active participants agree upon a decision that will effect everyone active in an urban commons. 

 

5. Understanding the character of the neighborhood (through history, and present times)

 

Each neighborhood has a distinct character because it has been shaped by its history. Understanding what that history is will give a superior knowledge to what this neighborhood and its people represent. The history is what brings out the character in a neighborhood, and any addition to that neighborhood must consider the past in order to keep its character alive. Commons especially must embody that character, so that the neighborhood can keep being a place that is properly represented by the people. In order to do that, one has to talk to the people of the neighborhood who have been there for a long time, and are watching the place evolve for many years. Some people will give you historical accounts of major social events, protests, movements, and leaders, all of which shape the identity of a neighborhood. Understanding that will allow the formation of the commons to highlight these historical accounts, and the people will feel more connected to the commons as a major part of this neighborhood (character). Story sharing is a key tactic in the chartering process. The best way to do that in the chartering process is by asking locals in the neighborhood what the past was like, and what stories they will share that should be distributed to everyone involved in the neighborhood.

 

• Tactical Story-Sharing - Inhabitants have a long relationship with the neighborhood they live in. Sharing these stories and instilling them in a shared space can enrich the presence and function of these urban commons

 

• Cultural Awareness - Each neighborhood has a story of people moving in and out, and placing their culture within the neighborhood. It is important for a shared space to enhance the culture of a neighborhood, and this can be done by working with inhabitants and small businesses and see how a shared space can become a part of their quotidian life. 

 

6. Understanding the qualities of the neighborhood to further highlight and improve them in the urban commons

 

It is important to find out how people relate to their neighborhood, and what qualities they share that make this place a pleasant and fun place to live. Bringing out the positivities in a neighborhood will entice people to feel a strong connection, like the place, and be driven to maintain it so that it is preserved and not degraded. When people are reminded what they like about their neighborhood, they will participate in the chartering process to make sure people understanding these qualities. Detecting of qualities makes people proud. The urban commons should be a place that encapsulates these qualities, so that people in the neighborhood can use this space to take advantage of these qualities. The best way to do that in the chartering process is to ask residents what qualities they find when living here. 

 

7. Communication/Dialogue between and within the people

 

Once it is decided who will participate as a resident and as an organization, a dialogue can take place where people get their needs heard, and organizations document them so that they are ready to present it to people involved in the development of the urban commons. It is important for people to set up networks so that there could be as much reach as possible. The more people participate, the more value this commons could potentially hold. The communication has to be fluid and organized, but also getting as many voices heard as possible. 

 

• Group Creation, Division of Responsibility - Making groups that have succinct responsibilities, taking care of specific problems, holding on certain forms of communication

 

• Community conversation (this is similar to the townhall meeting approach)

 

• Network establishment - people should be trained to reach out to as many people as possible when recruiting for urban commons involved. That network must be officialized, established, documented, and expandable. People meeting people should give out recommendations on who to talk to, if a problem is heard from two different people and from two different location within that neighborhood, they should be able to meet, relate, and start a sub-movement within community conversation

 

8. Communication/Dialogue with a capable government, perhaps a municipality

There must be a certain level of organization in order to approach a government about future development plans in a neighborhood. Governments are often subject to regulatory slippage when managing shared green spaces in a city, so communities can assume the role setting up rules and surveillance mechanisms to protect and preserve an urban commons. Governments in return should officially recognize these commons as independent and functioning institutions in order to protect and enrich the commons. Government back-up will protect the commons from become a parcel of private property and will become prioritized to received government protection and funding that is key for the permancy of urban green commons. In other words, governments might create and enforce de jure rights for commoners in urban green commons, and recognize and support de facto rights between and within commoners who wish to create, manage, and maintain within the urban commons site. De Jure rights will provide adequate and reliable protection, while de facto rights, in conjunction of de Jure rights, will create collective action and several guidelines for commoners to use and mantain the urban commons.  

 

• Implementing De Jure Rights - Enforcements by governments in the form of formal and legal instrumentalities explicitly granting rights to specific individual resource users. This implies that any conflicts within property rights can be settled in a judicial setting. 

 

• Supporting De Facto Rights - Informal institutional set of arrangements determining resource use organized or enforced by individual users who are not officially recognized by government bodies

 

9. Putting a label to what this urban commons is and how it will be used.

It is important to recognize that each commons serves a different purpose for a specific area or region. This means that each urban commons is different from one another, with a different objective. Having general classifications and labelled types of commons will help determine the differences and similarities within each commons. This will create transparancy between commoners and governments. Most importantly, it will help commoners share and distribute infromation on one another based on relevancy and experience. In other words, commons with a specific goal and within a specific biological region can communicate with another commons that is labelled in the same way, making the information transfer focused, reliable, and efficient. This type of focused infomation distribution will help create the networks necessary to keep this commons movement growing. The labels that may be used can also be found under the 'Key Concepts' of the "Remix the Commons" website. 

 

Each commons

• concepts "résultats" ?

• to be discussed... Im not sure how to organize these last 3 parts... because clearly they come after the charter is proposed

• I will also need to develop them in the same way as the other 7 parts.

• I need to run, Ill be back on the hackpad in 45 minutes

 

10. Making sure the urban commons is space that is to stay

In order to keep the general commons movement relevant and growing. Urban commons that are created, shared, and preserved must be considered permanent establishments. Often enough these community gardens are temporary set ups before the vacant lots are under construction by a private developer. The permanency of these community gardens depends on well-organized collective action and strong local governance to develop a strong appearance or aesthetic that adds to the character of the neighborhood. That permanency is key to developing lessons learned, documenting experiences, and delivering a higher-level quality of lifestyle for urban residents in the long run. As people use an urban common more frequently, they will be incentivized to manage, improve, and protect it. The more active and norm-abiding users there are within a commons, the more residents, municipalities, and other actors will see such a commons as an entity to stay. 

 

• Permanency - The process designed to protect a community garden that is only temporary set up until the vacant lot it sits on is under construction. This process is based on collective action and strong local governance in developing a strong appearance or aesthetic that adds to the character of the neighborhood.  (Barthel 2013)

 

• Cognitive Resilience Building - a mental process of human perception, memory, and reasoning that people acquire from interacting frequently with local ecosystems, shaping peoples’ experience, world views, values towards local ecosystems and ultimately towards the biosphere. (Barthel 2013)

 

• Vocabulary :

 

 

• Note : Resources and bibliography

How to make a Community Charter.docx

Tactical_urbanism_vol_2

• Wouah !! c'est génial ce bouquin !