Priscilla Claeys

Bio

"I am a researcher at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience of Coventry University (UK). I am based in Brussels. My interest in the commons is quite recent but growing.

I have done research on the creation of new human rights - right to land, biodiversity and seeds - by transnational peasant movements (such as La Via Campesina) and am now involved in negotiations at the UN on a new Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other people working in rural areas. In that context, the issue of the "traditional" commons (land, other natural resources but also seeds) has come up quite strongly, and in particular the need to recognize and protect those spaces and associated collective management practices in international law. My personal interest is in documenting natural commons practices in the European context and in exploring the legal frameworks that we need to support and defend them.

I am particularly interested in the policy proposals around ecovillages, land in Galicia, natural commons and solidarity economy." (http://wiki.remixthecommons.org/index.php/CLAEYS_Priscilla/BIO)