Public-Commons Partnerships (PCPs) are collective associations of state, community and private interests that manage and develop assets and investments in a local community, with that community’s interests and voice driving economic development.
Name of Method
Brief description
PCPs are processes and principles implemented on a case-by-case basis. They consider the most equitable and responsive institutional processes that facilitate acting in the commons.
PCPs are models of shared ownership and governance where there are two key parties, the state (municipal council) and a Common Association (cooperative). In many PCPs cases, the Common Association are members of the board of directors of a joint enterprise with representatives of the local authorities.
Another aspect of PCPs is the distributed control of surplus value. Any surplus (of money/shares) retained by this joint enterprise are reinvested toward its operation. This means that the surplus is under the control of the board of directors. In many cases, the surplus value has been transferred directly to the Common Aossciation which then redistributes it.
Type/Level of Method
Challenges
Problem, Purpose and Needs
Relevance to Climate Neutrality
Challenges
Thematic Areas
Impact Goals
Issue Complexity
Issue Polarisation
Enabling Condition
Essential Considerations for Commissioning Authorities
PCPs are not commissioned by authorities but they are a partnership approach that democratises economic relationships, rooted in the principles of cooperatives and commons. Governments must be open to reimagining economic relationships with local communities as partners and co-owners. The state still plays a key role as one of two main partners; the other main partners is a common association structured like a cooperative. Governments also need to be able to play an active role in supporting the development of new PCPs.
Engagement Journey
Governance Models and Approaches
Enabling Conditions
Democratic Purpose
Spectrum of participation
Communication Channels
Actors and Stakeholder Relationships
PCPs require the active involvement and advocacy of politicians and other decisionmakers. Government are one of two main partners in the joint enterprise, the other being a common association representing community interests. Jointly they ‘own’ the asset or project.
Other groups are involved in the PCP and might include trade unions, social movements, and other stakeholders. They are involved in the governance through a cooperative, democratic governance structure of the PCP. Citizens and the general public are important because they can drive the creation of a PCP, in response to failed development plans, and can form the foundations of public values for the PCP.
Participant Numbers
Actors and Stakeholders
Participant Recruitment
Interaction between participants
Format
Social Innovation Development Stage
Scope
Time commitment
PCPs are continuing, long term partnerships.
Resources and Investments
Typical duration
Resources and Investments
In-house
Step by Step
PCPs are described not as a set process, but as continuously evolving and unique processes that will vary across cases. In London, two PCPs were set up when community groups bought buildings in areas that had suffered from years of failed development plans and developed them into community-centred districts. In Germany, a PCP was set up for a co-owned energy company.
Despite the variation in practice, Common Wealth describe three core features that tend to be consistent in PCPs:
- Joint enterprise: the body that governs the partnership is made up by the local authority and an common association, which might be established specifically and could be a cooperative, where citizens can also join. This joint enterprise makes up two thirds of the board of directors, with another third reserved for other local associations and stakeholders.
- Distributed democratic control of surplus value: profits are fed back into the PCP, whose member then decide democratically how they will be used and spent. One ambition of this approach is that it leads to the development of further PCPs set up with the gains from another.
- Joint capitalisation: both the local authority and the common association invest into the PCP
Evaluation
Connecting Methods
Cooperative Management
Participatory Impact Investing
Microfinance
Deliberative Processes
Flexibility and Adaptability
As mentioned above, the precise process a PCP follows will vary greatly according to context. At its core, it a model of shared ownership and democratised asset control, and these core features should not be compromised.
Existing Guidelines and Best Practice
References and Further Resources
BEG Wolfhagen (n.d.) Ihre persönliche Energiewende. http://www.beg-wolfhagen.de/index.php/wir-ueber-uns
Bauwens, M., & Kostakis, V. (2015). Towards a New Reconfiguration Among the State, Civil Society and the Market. Journal of Peer Production. http://www.p2plab.gr/en/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Journal-of-Peer-Production.pdf
Heron, K. et al (2019). Public-Common
Partnerships: Democratising ownership and urban development. Common Wealth. https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5e1b5c6919c05c76379535f9/6151b9838c11fe74e0b66882_CW_PCP-Democratising%20ownership%20and%20urban%20development.pdf
Milburn, K. & Russell, B. (2019). Public-Common PartnershipsBuilding New Circuits of Collective Ownership. Common Wealth. https://www.common-wealth.co.uk/reports/public-common-partnerships-building-new-circuits-of-collective-ownership#chapter-4
Milburn, K. & Russell, B. (2019). Building the new left economics: public-commons partnerships and new circuits of ownership. Open Democracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/building-new-left-economics-public-commons-partnerships-and-new-circuits-ownership/
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