Welcome to Growing the Commons
Growing the Commons is a collaboration between people from various projects and organisations that are developing tools, ideas and practices to grow the commons movement.
Alongside this blog, we also curate a wiki-based knowledge base and a forum for comments, discussions, and queries.
About this blog
On this Substack, we post articles, interviews and news from commons projects and like-minded groups and individuals.
This blog has three main objectives:
Introduce the Commons as a viable, bottom-up response to our polycrisis.
Show it in action through stories of real people and communities.
Grow the movement by inviting broader participation and connecting existing practitioners.
Curious to learn more? We wrote the article below to offer a deeper look at what we’re trying to achieve with Growing the Commons.
Why We’re Launching Growing Commons
Originally published on LowImpact.org (August 20, 2025), with minor edits.
Please contact us if you’d like to contribute an article, suggest a reblog, or if you’re involved in commons work and would like to be interviewed.
GtC founding members
Below are the founding members behind this initiative and the projects they’re involved with.
Sue Bell of the Credit Commons Society.
Dave Darby of Stroud Commons and Lowimpact.org.
Katja Durrani of Bristol Commons.
Simon Grant of the P2P Foundation.
Dil Green of Mutual Credit Services (MCS) and Local Loop Merseyside (LLM).
Michel Rauchs of Commons Lab.
Amrit Sachar of the Festival of Commoning.
Chikara Shimasaki of Stroud Commons and Commons Lab
Matthew Slater of the Credit Commons Protocol and Community Forge.
Nick Weir of the Open Food Network.
Tom Woodroof of Mutual Credit Services (MCS) and Local Loop Merseyside (LLM).
The projects represented within Growing the Commons span a wide range of sectors, tools, and practices. These include financial and economic infrastructure for the Commons (such as credit clearing and mutual credit systems, the Credit Commons Protocol, and use-credit obligations for raising aligned capital); platforms that enable coordination between producers, consumers, and local actors (such as food distribution networks and local provisioning systems); knowledge hubs, research initiatives, and convening spaces (such as festivals and online discussion forums); as well as practical experiments in commons-based housing, leisure, and “model towns”.
Editorial team
Growing the Commons is curated by a small editorial team currently made up of Dave Darby, Katja Durrani, Simon Grant, Otto Hague, and Michel Rauchs. If you’re interested in helping shape this publication by becoming an editor, please contact us – we’re always open to expanding the team.
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