Commons Archives

Commons Sensing: Ep 05 – Urban Commons in India: Cities, Inequality and Shared Spaces | Shweta Wagh & Swati Janu

In this episode of Commons Sensing, Shweta Wagh and Swati Janu explore how urban spaces, rivers, coasts, housing, and everyday infrastructures can be understood as Commons shaped by planning, power, and inequality.

Drawing from research and lived experience, the conversation examines how access to and control over shared spaces in cities is constantly negotiated. It reflects on how these dynamics shape everyday urban life, especially for communities navigating exclusion, displacement, and precarious access to resources.

The episode also asks a pressing question, can urban areas be reimagined as shared spaces in a time of migration, privatisation, climate stress, and rapid urbanisation?

Commons Sensing is a conversation podcast hosted by Kanchi Kohli and produced by Asar and the Common Ground Initiative. The series brings the idea of Commons out of policy discussions and academic debates into lived, everyday realities.

This is the fifth and final episode of the first phase of the series, which explores how shared resources shape livelihoods, governance, and ecological futures.

Commons Sensing: Ep 04 – Climate Change, Conflict & the Commons | Siddhartha Krishnan & Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava

What does climate change look like when experienced through nature, livelihoods, and their disruptions?

In this episode of Commons Sensing, Siddhartha Krishnan and Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava explore the intersections of climate change, ecology, and conflict across India’s shared landscapes.

Drawing from long-term research and grounded reporting, the conversation connects climate impacts with land use conflicts, rivers, renewable energy transitions, and the shifting governance of Commons. It reveals how climate change is not just an environmental challenge, but one that is deeply tied to questions of access, control, and justice.

Across diverse contexts, the episode reflects on how climate disruptions often intensify existing vulnerabilities, especially for communities whose livelihoods depend on shared natural resources.

At the centre of the discussion lies a critical question, can Commons-based approaches offer pathways to climate resilience that more centralised responses often overlook?

Commons Sensing is a conversation podcast hosted by Kanchi Kohli and produced by the Common Ground Initiative. The series brings the idea of Commons out of policy documents and academic debates into lived, everyday realities.

This is the fourth episode of a five-part series exploring how shared resources shape livelihoods, governance, and ecological futures.

Commons Sensing: Ep 03 – Who Owns the Commons? Law, Policy & Power | Johnson Topno & Shalini Bhutani

In this episode of Commons Sensing, legal and policy researcher Shalini Bhutani and community practitioner Johnson Topno explore how laws, court judgments, and institutional frameworks shape access to land, forests, water, seeds and knowledge across India.

Drawing from national laws, policies, customary norms, international treaties and commitments, and lived experience, the conversation probes a central tension: Can legal systems protect the commons and community oriented governance of the commons?

Subscribe for more conversations on climate, governance, and collective action.

This podcast is dedicated to the custodians of India’s Commons… past, present and future.

CREDITS:

Created and hosted by: Kanchi Kohli

Produced by: Asar and Common Ground

Project coordinator: Prayag Arora-Desai

Team Audiomatic: Avadhoot Khanolkar, Abhinav Nathani, Nitesh Juvale.

Commons Sensing: Ep 02 – Can Markets Align With Commons? | Raghu N & Vinuta Gopal

Can markets ever work in service of the commons without hollowing them out?

In this episode of Commons Sensing, Raghu N (Vrutti) and Vinuta Gopal (Asar Social Impact Advisors) examine the uneasy relationship between market systems and collective ownership, drawing on their work across value chains, climate finance, and community-led models.

Through real-world dilemmas and lived practice, the conversation asks a difficult question: Is it possible to bridge markets and commons without sacrificing equity, ecology, and community agency?

Share this episode with anyone working at the intersection of climate, markets, and policy. This podcast is dedicated to the custodians of India’s Commons… past, present and future.

CREDITS:

Created and hosted by: Kanchi Kohli

Produced by: Asar and Common Ground

Project coordinator: Prayag Arora-Desai T

eam Audiomatic: Avadhoot Khanolkar, Abhinav Nathani, Nitesh Juvale.

Recorded at Winterfox Podcast Studio, Bengaluru

Commons Sensing: Ep 01 – Grounding Commons Through Practice | Jagdeesh Rao Puppala & Huda Jaffer

What does “Commons” really mean, and why should this matter in our everyday lives?

In this opening episode of Commons Sensing, two of India’s leading practitioners – Jagdeesh Rao Puppala, CEO, Living Landscapes and convener, Common Ground Initiative, and Huda Jaffer, Director, SELCO Foundation, unpack the concept of the Commons and link them to the decades of work across forests, pastures, land tenure, energy access, and community institutions.

Through stories, failures, and hard-won insights, this conversation asks a vital question: Can commons-led approaches offer solutions where markets and states fall short? Subscribe for more conversations on climate, governance, and collective action.

This podcast is dedicated to the custodians of India’s Commons… past, present and future.

Podcast Trailer | CommonsSensing with Kanchi Kohli

What are “commons”? Why do they matter to our everyday lives?

Commons Sensing is a conversation podcast that brings the idea of Commons out of policy documents and academic debates, and into lived reality. From forests, water bodies, and grazing lands to energy, cities, and community spaces, Commons shape how people live, work, and survive.

In this five-part series, practitioners — who have through their work deepened the interconnections between communities, natural resources and collective action — reflect on their personal journeys with the Commons.

Through stories, practical experience, and grounded insight, we will explore how collective action, local knowledge, and community stewardship are central to addressing today’s biggest challenges: from land degradation to climate change, biodiversity loss, market complexities and livelihood insecurity. These conversations treat Commons not only as a challenge, but as solutions in the making: spaces where cooperation, shared responsibility, and innovative governance offer alternatives to extractive models of development.

Whether you’re new to the idea of Commons or work closely with them, we invite you to listen, reflect, and rethink how shared resources shape our lives. This podcast is dedicated to the custodians of India’s Commons… past, present and future.

Created and hosted by: Kanchi Kohli

Produced by: Asar and Common Ground

Project coordinator: Prayag Arora-Desai

Team Audiomatic: Avadhoot Khanolkar, Abhinav Nathani, Nitesh Juvale.

Recorded at Winterfox Podcast Studio, Bengaluru.

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