'Land Commons' organizes a meeting to focus on the power of the commons

In January 2023, the project 'Land Commons' was launched, to dream with the community members of Montes de Couso about their future, following the traces of their past.

Through a participatory process, guided by the mediator Natalia Balseiro, a dialogue has been opened to define the collective desire which will inspire an artistic intervention that will make known the forms of management of the communal forests; will strengthen the sense of belonging to this community; and will ensure the perpetuation of this legacy.

After this intense year of mediation, research, listening and negotiation, 'Land Commons' reaches the halfway point of its journey, and does so by celebrating the public activity 'Communal Mountains. How much of the past is in the future', which will take place on Saturday, 16th December, at the Casa Vecinal de Couso (Gondomar, Pontevedra).

From an ecofeminist point of view, we seek to deepen our knowledge of community forests and their management from a historical, present and future perspective, all of this crossed with an analysis, from artistic perspectives, of the tradition and knowledge of the forest communities.

The session will begin with the historian, Lara Barros, who will talk about the contrast between the past and the future in rural areas; the USC lecturer, Mar Pérez Fra, will explore the powers and challenges facing local woodlands today; while the member of the Reboreda woodland community in Redondela, María Belén Cascada Couñago, will try to respond to the possibilities of generational change in this context. The morning will be rounded off with a talk on local woodlands by the doctor of architecture, María Novas Ferradás, and the researcher Cristina Botana.

After lunch, the film 'O monte é Noso', by Llorenç Soler, will be screened. Afterwards, the artist, Asunción Molinos Gordo, who has been invited to initiate the artistic process with the community of Couso, will be introduced. Through a conversation with the mediator of 'Land Commons', Natalia Balseiro, the artist and researcher will talk about her professional career, delving into her way of working and sharing her experience with some of her most relevant projects, both at national and international level, which will inspire the process she is initiating in Couso and whose results will see the light of day in autumn 2024.

The day will close with the intervention of the artist and researcher, Mercedes Peón, who will talk about traditions and artistic creation; and with a party enlivened by the project 'Somos Pandereteiras'.

The whole activity will feature by the artist Carla Boserman, who will be generating a narrative of the ideas and conclusions that are drawn from the interventions.

The full content of the programme is: 

11.00hrs. Presentation of the day 

- Luis López, President of the Provincial Council of Pontevedra.

- Fran Quiroga, mediator and general coordinator of Concomitentes.

- Xosé Antón Araúxo, president of the Community of Montes de Couso.

- Natalia Balseiro, researcher, curator and mediator of 'Land Commons'.

11.30hrs. How much of the past is in the future 

- Lara Barros, historian specializing in rural societies.

12.00hrs. The neighborhood woodland today, powers and risks

- Mar Pérez Fra, lecturer in 'Applied Economics' at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC).

12.30hrs. Neighborhood forests as life systems: where is the generational relief?

- María Belén Cascada Couñago, Community of the Reboreda woodlands in Redondela.

13.00hrs. Neighborhood forests from an ecofeminist perspective

- Conversation between María Novas Ferradás, PhD in architecture, and Cristina Botana, researcher.

14.00hrs. Lunch

16.00hrs. Screening of the film 'O monte é Noso', by Llorenç Soler

16.30hrs. Art for the common

- Conversation with Asunción Molinos Gordo and the project's mediator, Natalia Balseiro.

17.10hrs. Tradition and collective creation 

- Mercedes Peón, multidisciplinary artist, composer, researcher.

17.30hrs. Party with 'Somos Pandereteras

'Land Commons' is part of the European project 'Art Living Lab for Sustainability', funded by the European Union's Creative Europe programme and coordinated by Concomitentes together with De Nieuwe Opdrachtgevers, La Société des Nouveaux Commanditaires and the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC).

The aim of this project is to address three community management mechanisms: that of the forest with 'Land Commons' (Monte Vecinal de Couso, Galicia, Spain); clay with 'Clay Commons' (Boom, Flanders, Belgium); and water with 'Water Commons' (Parc Naturel Régional du Haut-Jura, France).