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In democratic societies, the power of governing belongs to the people. The extent of this power and processes underlying self-governance, however, widely vary from place to place, from culture to culture, manifesting as dynamic and multidimensional. In North-Atlantic systems, liberal democracies combine principles of individual rights and civil liberties that allow individuals to participate in governance by casting votes for representatives in a multi-tier governmental structure—which stands as one among many within the broader constellation of governance strategies. Collective governance has happened in many forms throughout history and around the world today. In our workplaces, in cyberspace, and in any other social setting, there are implicit or explicit protocols that organize how decisions are made, who is responsible for them, and how accountability is maintained. Assuming we want to practice democracy across different spheres of life, where can we turn for inspiration to develop governance systems for both the present and the future?

In 2021, we began gathering data from historical communities compiling hundreds of communities, institutions, mechanisms, and cultural values in a database we called “.” In the same year, we hosted "Excavations: Governance Archaeology for the Future of the Internet," an online exhibition bringing together international artists to reimagine internet governance through the lens of historical self-governance practices, exploring indigenous practices, intersectionality, and media archaeology. Displayed at the 2021 UN Internet Governance Forum in Poland, the exhibition created dialogue between multimedia artists and policy spaces, centering underrepresented voices to envision more inclusive internet governance. A couple of years later, the Governance Archaeology project produced its first academic publication, "," co-authored by Nathan Schneider and Federica Carugati in Daedalus. The paper presented preliminary insights about designing more moral political economies at different scales.��

Over time, we realized that parts of the world, especially the Global South, were underrepresented in our research, though there is much to learn from contemporary communities that have mastered collective governance in diverse contexts. Inspired by groundbreaking anthropological research on how Indigenous peoples of the Americas influenced the development of equality, liberty, and solidarity values, we recognized the need to expand our approach and reframe the project to include a broader range of living communities. Therefore, the Media Economies Design Lab at the ��������, in partnership with King's College London, is evolving the framework into "Governance Ecologies," broadening the repository of governance practices to include contemporary groups. The goal of Governance Ecologies is to enrich our governance repertoire beyond contemporary North-Atlantic political traditions, creating a diverse, global commons of collective governance practices across different historical periods and geographies. We seek to grow our understanding of the tools available for self-governance and how communities organize themselves to achieve shared goals.

The project's architecture is framed under three domains: sources, repositories, and interfaces. Sources include archival and secondary sources, multimedia, and oral histories collection through partnership building. These sources feed two main repositories: the Governance Archaeology database, compiling governance practices from historical communities—which are mainly cataloged by partner researchers affiliated with King's College London under Professor Federica Carugati's leadership; and the repository for contemporary communities, gathering governance traditions from existing groups (especially indigenous and small local communities), member-governed firms, and decentralized peer or user-managed digital communities—the latter primarily carried by MEDLab. Finally, expected outcomes or "interfaces" include (but are not limited to) projects such as a rethinking of governance in cooperative business and MEDLab’s platform experiments such as�� and a new effort to support protocols for disputes.

Next, we're building bridges with institutional partners and community leaders across South America to learn about their governance journeys. These conversations are creating a rich dialogue about how communities can take control of their own futures. We'd love to connect with more universities, civil society groups, nonprofits, and community organizers to join Governance Ecologies and share their unique stories. Our vision extends beyond South America—we hope to soon include voices from Africa and Asia, enriching our understanding with diverse cultural perspectives and geographical contexts.

If you are interested in learning more about Governance Ecologies and explore potential collaborations, reach out to me at julia.mr@colorado.edu.