The idea of the University of Commons was seeded in ‘Cambium’, in Mindtree, Bangalore, where many big ideas take shape. ‘I Got Garbage’, ‘I Got Crops’ and ‘I Got Skills’ are potent models of cutting edge technology products for social change that paved the way for the University of Commons. We understand that with a little but right support, people can empower, govern, and determine a sustainable, mostly satisfying future for themselves.

In early 2014, some of us shared a common purpose, beyond the modern & urban way of living. And along with our own work with farmers, weavers, and waste pickers, we constantly questioned the obliviousness around us, esp. that of middle and upper class. These discussions and reflections exposed the inadequacies of the functioning society, which upheld our culture and reasoning.

We knew that something needed to be done.

Some of us got together and designed an immersion curriculum that could make others feel the way we did. The tribe grew and soon after we saw ourselves on a journey to having conversations in bigger circles. A circle where everyone had chosen their own path of commoning. Knowingly, unknowingly, we created this space for learning and sharing. Space where the community is at the center of experience!

We called ourselves the University of Commons.

More and more commoners and aspiring commoners are joining the university. The collective has grown from humble beginnings, and over the years developed our own understanding of social change, or ‘commoning’ as we call it.

In our conversations, we keep referring how the university will evolve in ‘300 years’! Everything we do, we try and see through the long-term view. Above all we have learnt, is that Life can only be lived – now!