This Thursday brings the IEA’s Annual Hayek Memorial Lecture with Professor Elinor Ostrom, speaking on the “Future of the Commons: Beyond Market Failure and Government Regulation.”

Wikipedia summarises her work thusly:

Ostrom is considered one of the leading scholars in the study of common pool resources (CPR). In particular, Ostrom’s work emphasizes how humans interact with ecosystems to maintain long-term sustainable resource yields. Common pool resources include many forests, fisheries, oil fields, grazing lands, and irrigation systems. She conducted her field studies on the management of pasture by locals in Africa and irrigation systems management in villages of western Nepal (e.g. Dang). Ostrom’s work has considered how societies have developed diverse institutional arrangements for managing natural resources and avoiding ecosystem collapse in many cases, even though some arrangements have failed to prevent resource exhaustion. Her current work emphasizes the multifaceted nature of human–ecosystem interaction and argues against any singular “panacea” for individual social-ecological system problems

Which all sounds a bit off-the-beaten-track for a lecture in memory of libertarianism’s darling economist. Should be interesting!

The event begins at 6:30pm and is followed by a reception, both at Church House Conference Centre, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ.