Teaching the commons through the game of musical chairs

Abstract

In an attempt to reinforce the role of education on the commons, this article proposes the use of non-formal education activities and experiential learning. Exploring new ways to talk to non-expert audiences about the commons, I developed an experiential education workshop called “Musical chairs as a commons” by hacking the classic musical chairs game. I have delivered this workshop to diverse audiences during the last five years, from activists for the commons and NGO members to university masters students and scholars. This article presents the stages, the form, the content and the educational approach of the three-hour workshop and discusses further steps based on participants’ reflections and criticism.