Health and law-making: collectively re-creating narratives

On April 28 2022, from 13:30 to 15:00 CET, an online workshop will be organized by the International Association for the Study of the Commons.

This event is part of a colloquia series "dedicated to the policy issues related to the commons and importance of bringing the commons discussion to policy makers' attention in Europe & CIS and for engaging our community in a wider policy dialogue."

Blurb
Since childhood, we learn that knowledge does not come from ourselves (schoolchildren), but from 'an omniscient 'master'.

When a crisis happens – a disease, a change in our environment – we similarly rely on external authorities, who are usually prompt to provide us with directives.

But is this really the most effective way to take care of our very needs, to overcome complex challenges? Can a few really be more knowledgeable than the multitude?

Is the centralization of power during an emergency still legitimate when Internet enables thousands of people to put in commons their resources (online hackathons), and to reach decisions within hours (digital democracy)?

During this participatory discussion, we will explore the narratives behind 'health' and 'law' policy-making centralization. We will explore how people can reclaim ownership of themselves, control over their medical journey and medical information (e.g. health commons, critical public health ). We will also discuss how individuals and communities can reclaim the right to elaborate rules that affect them and their coordination (legal commons, democratic constitutionalism   ).

Finally, we will reflect on Elinor Ostrom's statement that "a core goal of public policy should  be to facilitate the development of institutions that bring out the best in humans," and will introduce the work done in other fields such as by legal scholars working on indigenous law (Canada, Switzerland), and on changing the law regarding propriety (Italy) with reflections on how this can inspire health commons policy development.

Facilitators

 * Fabio Balli, coordinator, citizens festival 'taking care together', Geneva + researcher on Healing Commons and Law-Making, IUC Turin, Italy
 * Pascal Carpentier, Head of Information Systems, DNDi + researcher on Innovation and Knowledge Commons governance, Erasmus University, Netherlands

Content (draft)

 * Worldviews about the Law
 * a book of rules to comply to → Napoleon civil code (post-positivism, universalism)
 * a process of collectively agreeing on the rules that bring out the best of society → indigenous customs (social constructivism, contextual)
 * Origins in Education
 * Knowledge owned by third-party experts → hierarchy, state vs market
 * Knowledge emerging from the group → self-organization, commons
 * Narratives about the Social Contract
 * Innovation requires private resources → intellectual property, exclusion
 * Access to resources is a fundamental right → participatory governance, pluralism (Rodotà, Italy Supreme Court)

Approach

 * Emergence of participants' knowledge on the topic enriched by inputs from experts.

Participants




Series hosts

 * Tobias Haller, University of Bern, Switzerland
 * Ilkhom Soliev, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany