Do you collectively manage forests, pastures, water or irrigation networks, swamps, ponds, ovens or other buildings?

Everywhere in France, village communities are keeping alive shared resources, passed down from generation to generation. In 2026, these practices and knowledge will be honored at a Forum in Paris, at the UNESCO headquarters. This meeting aims to recognize land commons as contemporary systems of territorial governance, social cohesion and intergenerational transmission and as solution providers for the ecological transition.

This call is addressed to communities involved in the management or recovery of land commons, inviting them to participate in the development of the Forum. Whether you are a rights-holder, local elected official or member of a community (section de commune, consortage, bourgeoisie, cayolar, Union des prud’homies de pêche… amongst others, names vary from country to country), your experience matters. Come share your story, your knowledge and meet other communities living the same realities.

This call is also addressed to researchers wishing to be part of the dialogue with these communities engaged in managing commons and keen to expand or intensify scientific collaboration on the topic.

Come participate! To express your interest, please write to : contact.valcom@univ-smb.fr

Expressions of interest should specify, for information purposes :

  • The type of common concerned,
  • The territory and collective involved,
  • The form of contribution envisaged (testimony, story, visual support, etc.).

These groups have already committed (regularly updated list) : Sections de commune (Lozère : Cheylard-L’Evèque, Haute-Loire: Saint-Paul-de-Tartas, Chanaleilles, Retournac, Afasc, Puy-de-Dôme : Brousse, Auzelles…), Consortages and ancestral land-owning societies (Haute-Savoie : Chamonix valley, Bellevaux, Saint-Gingolph), Mediterranean coastline: Union des Prud’homies de pêche.

More details – Call for expressions of interest

At a time when contemporary societies are seeking ways to cope with democratic, social, economic and ecological crises, certain experiences and ancient collective practices demonstrate remarkable modernity. Commons – whether they are linked to forest, agropastoral, hydraulic or maritime systems or are part of  infrastructure and built property – are forms of collective governance. They are living organisms based on long-term, connected shared use and creativity in adaptation of local needs and intergenerational responsibility.

This Forum is dedicate to those rights-holder who bring to life these legacies, cultures, identities, experiences, and knowledges. The Forum will be held at the UNESCO headquarters, in Paris, in 2026, as part of  the VALCOM Chair [1] in partnership with UNESCO’s Program LINKS (Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems).

Recognizing the importance of rural commons for today and tomorrow

This Forum aims to shift the focus from questioning the resurgent commons “from a distance” , it rather aims to create a space where the concerned communities – often rural, but not exclusively – speak up, participate, and demonstrate their practices, lifestyle and land stewardship, including : landscape maintenance, mountain pastures, meadows, footpaths, forests,  firewood collection, springs and irrigation systems,  and hunting and gathering, restoration and shared use of small heritage buildings (e.g. ovens, guest houses, meeting houses, chapels, etc.). In doing so, these practices inform us about the many ways of making decisions together and on the diversity of services these systems offer to territories and their inhabitants (democratic, social, ecnomic and ecological).

This Forum aims especially to bring together rights-holders engaged in the management of these commons in France in order to unify the often scattered experiences, which remain largely invisible in national or international fora. These commons, due to their long-term history, can teach us a lot. Despite the diverse contexts, local histories and legal frameworks in which these practices occur, cross-cutting approaches emerge. These approaches are based on a strong attachment to territories, shared resource use, forms of regulation and collective decision-making, as well as a constant focus on transmission of knowledge and responsibilities between generations. Far from being relics of the past, today these principles constitute an essential resource for thinking about the future.

Through this Call, we aim to give a central place to communities and invite them to collaborate by expressing their interest, as they see fit. Expected contributions may take many forms (reporting about their experiences, presentation of governance mechanisms, photographic or audiovisual media…). The variety of situations, languages and ways of expression constitute the very essence of the approach. This initiative therefore aims to promote mutual recognition between members, foster exchanges with institutional stakeholders and researchers, and open up an international space for shared reflections on the sustainability of the commons in the face of current pressures (legal, economic, environmental, symbolic). The involvement of UNESCO’s LINKS Program allows these French experiences to be placed in an international perspective, in dialogue with other local knowledge and Indigenous systems facing similar challenges of transmission, governance and contemporary pressures.

Special attention will also be paid to the methods of intergenerational transmission, including the involvement of young people in the continuity and renewal of commons.

Please Note – This call is also addressed to researchers wishing to be part of the dialogue with these communities engaged in managing commons and keen to expand or intensify scientific collaboration on the topic while keeping local actors at the center.

Please express your interest by writing to: contact.valcom@univ-smb.fr

Organizing Committee: VALCOM Chair (Promoting land commons) and its partners, including the University of Lausanne, Convergence (Platform for reflection, mobilization, and advocacy), LINKS Program (UNESCO).

[1] Foundation of the Savoie Mont Blanc University: https://projetvalcom.fr