Governing landraces and associated knowledge as a commons. From theory to practice

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552We examine the governance of landraces and associated knowledge in Spain focusing on actions to maintain them in the public domain and to manage them as commons. We first examine the international mechanisms promoting conservation of landraces and associated knowledge in the public domain and the actions by the Spanish state to apply such regulations. We then explore the efforts of the Spanish seed network and a group of scientists to manage them as commons. The analysis of the interactions between the public and the commons regimes led us to conclude that landraces and associated knowledge would be better managed under a combination of governance regimes