New climate commons: land practices within ecosystems at risk
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This essay examines vulnerable riverine landscapes under the accelerating pressures of the climate crisis, focusing on how land ownership, ecological cycles, and community-based practices can be reconfigured to reshape life in these regions. Using the Ahr Valley in Germany as a key case study, it critiques conventional flood protection strategies that prioritise capital-intensive infrastructures over long-term ecological adaptation. Drawing on historical commons, new land policies such as cooperative land trusts, and nature-based, low-tech interventions the text explores how traditional and innovative practices can be integrated to restore ecosystems while strengthening local economies and social cohesion. Legal approaches, including the recognition of rivers’ rights or land redistribution, are discussed to re-establishing the relationship between landscapes and communities. Emphasising care as a practice, the essay advocates for a post-capitalist, communitycentred governance of risk zones, aiming to transform crisis-ridden landscapes into interdependent socio-ecological systems.
Source: UIA World Congress of Architects
Author: Leonie Hartung
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7221830375