Postcapitalism, commons thinking and environmental resilience (2018-2020)

Research under this umbrella covers tracing the roots of the current environmental crisis and questioning the models of development that have led to it. Commons thinking, circular economy and community-based solutions for environmental resilience inform the activities taking place under it.

Elena Blanco has been working on projects on ‘Commons Thinking’ from 2018, which include roundtable international commons writer and activist David Bollier, keynote speaker for The Future of the Commons, and taking part in the two-day international workshop on 'Toward a new onto-shift commons’ funded by the Open Society with Anna Grear and David Bollier.

Elena Blanco is also part of the international network, Repair Acts, an international and multidisciplinary network of people working on topics relating to repair, care and maintenance cultures. The network questions the lexicon of the ‘smart’ and globally connected, repair, care and maintenance cultures addresses everyday consumption by revealing the geopolitical struggles, labour systems and consequences of our material lives on the environment and other species.

The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) UK, under the Network grant scheme and led by artist and Professor of City Futures, Teresa Dillon (Principal Investigator) from the School of Arts (College of Arts, Technology and Environment) at UWE Bristol, and Associate Professor of Cultural Geography, Caitlin Desilvey ,from the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter.