The UNFSS Dialogue on Women, Work and Food Systems identified a game-changing solution on Management of commons: Water Management Solutions, Barren Waste Lands, Forest and Grasslands. The commons support food systems through direct production and providing water, fodder, pollination, and other key ecosystem services, as well as important sources of resilience for communities. Yet the commons are under pressure from encroachment and overuse.

This UNFSS Science Days side event will present evidence from a new study of the value of ecosystem services from the commons in India, as well as how strengthening governance of the commons can support equitable food systems.

Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI (Presentation) 

The Promise of Commons

• Pratiti Priyadarshini, Head of the Studies group, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) (Presentation) 

The Values of the Commons Report on Quantifying Ecosystem Services Provided by Land Commons in India

• Harpinder Sandhu, Associate Director, Centre for Markets, Values and Inclusion, University of South Australia (Presentation) 

Discussants

• Harini Nagendra, Director of Research Center, Azim Premji University
• Insa Theesfeld, Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy, Martin Luther Universitat-Halle and President, International Association for the Study of the Commons

Moderator

• Charlotte Hebebrand, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, IFPRI