Tuesday, June 12, 2012

We've lost a great one: Elinor Ostrom has died

I just read that Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009, has died at age 78.  She was a hero of mine because of her work discussing solutions to common property management and her magnificent book, Governing the Commons, changed how I think about solutions.

Turns out her life story (written about elsewhere) was also great and as a UCLA alum (before she moved to Indiana, she studied and worked at UCLA), she won a UCLA medal. We met one fine evening at the event where she was being awarded the medal.

Her insights and positive attitude towards solving common-property problems are profound and, if more people read and internalize her messages, she will have left a priceless legacy.

Today, the day she died, she published her last work--a call for action at Rio+20 called Green from the Grassroots.  Read it, and discuss it with your friends, neighbors, and family.

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