Commons lab, Antwerp
Commons Lab Antwerp was founded in 2018 as a citizen collective, but can draw on strong commitment from the previous initiative 'Antwerpen aan 't woord'. Commons Lab propagates the idea of the 'commons' within a fragmented multitude of initiatives, goals, visions and actions: from a divided to a shared city. Therefore, the city lab challenges the people of Antwerp to regard the city as a common good and to actively care for it from this perspective.
In the meantime, the portfolio of the city lab counts a wide range of projects and strategies, of which 'Garden Streets' is one of the better known ones. The tuinstraten.be website can be viewed as a common; it collects and shares information and experiences from various actors and serves as a 'manual' for people to get started. Commons Lab also launched a project relating to school streets in Antwerp.
From an experimental perspective a change in culture is fostered in which the street is a shared responsibility, with regard to its management, ownership and the choices and agreements made. And what started from the bottom up is being picked up by urban policy: facilitating opportunities for all to rise above a business as usual approach, at the democratic, social, economic and ecological level.
management, biodiversity, energy, housing, mobility, water, care, production
ownership, financing, organisational form, good citizenship, solidarity, cultural change
street, district
commonslab.be
Initiatives of Commons Lab in the spotlight
Initiatives of Commons Lab in the spotlight
Commons Lab has been involved in several experiments, pilot projects and collaborations since its inception in 2018. The commons humanise and increase the sustainability of domains such as care, mobility, food, housing, social relations, economy, energy, consumption and designing the public space.photo: Commons Lab Antwerpen, Antwerpen
Commons
According to Koen Wijnants, commons consist of three aspects: a group of people, the collective use of shared resources and a shared framework of agreements.
photo: Commons Lab Antwerpen, 2020