Common Land,
Common Lives
Cambridge MA, US
2022
The region of Galicia is located in the northwestern Atlantic corner of Spain. Approximately one-quarter of its territory is covered by more than 3,000 Common Lands, involving over half a million inhabitants, twenty percent of the population. These collectively owned and managed productive landscapes have provided rural communities with timber, firewood, cereals, lax, fertilizer, and many other resources for centuries. Today, Common Lands are undergoing a radical transformation by incorporating novel functions, such as sustainable-certified wood production, carbon sequestration for offset markets, renewable energy generation through wind farms, and a wide range of sustainable practices related to high-quality gastronomic products. By examining five parallel stories through five different methodologies, this research explores the role that Common Lands have played—and will continue to play—in shaping an ecological and multifunctional resource for rural communities and territories in Galicia.
Author & Editor:
Manuel Bouzas
Advisor:
Chris Reed
Program:
Proseminar in Ecologies. Harvard GSD
Sponsors:
La Caixa Fellowship
Dimensions:
160 pages, 20x13 cm
