The University as a common pool resource

Fernando Solórzano (Compiler) This book contains information from Universidad Politecnica Salesiana’s Commons Research Group, created in 2016 to deepen as well as identify the implication and the possibilities of imagining the university as a “common pool resource”. This alternative must be explained because the connection of the use of commons – as explained by Elionor Ostrom in the book Governing the Commons. The evolution of institutions for Collective Action (201) – with the possibility of reconsidering the university in all areas is not immediate nor casual and, at first, such connection seems odd in a time when we value belonging based an evidence accessible at first sight. In fact, what does a proposal which analyzes community and local government decision making methods regarding common resources have to do with university life? The aim of this preface is to answer this question and explain the connection that encourages and gives meaning to several contributions of this book. Each contribution deepens its derivation in the field of management, decision making and knowledge production.