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Preprint version Fuchs, Christian. 2017. Sustainability and community networks. Telematics and Informatics 34 (2): 628-639. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2016.10.003 Full article available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736585316303203 Sustainability and Community Networks Christian Fuchs University of Westminster London, UK Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies (WIAS) & Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) http://fuchs.uti.at c.fuchs@westminster.ac.uk Abstract Community networks are IP-based computer networks that are operated by a community as a common good. In Europe, the most well-known community networks are Guifi in Catalonia, Freifunk in Berlin, Ninux in Italy, Funkfeuer in Vienna and the Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network in Greece. This paper deals with community networks as alternative forms of Internet access and alternative infrastructures and asks: What does sustainability and unsustainability mean in the context of community networks? What advantages do such networks have over conventional forms of Internet access and infrastructure provided by large telecommunications corporations? In addition what disadvantages do they face at the same time? This article provides a framework for thinking dialectically about the un/sustainability of community networks. It provides a framework of practical questions that can be asked when assessing power structures in the context of Internet infrastructures and access. It presents an overview of environmental, economic, political and cultural contradictions that community networks may face as well as a typology of questions that can be asked in order to identify such contradictions. Acknowledgement: The research presented in this paper was conducted with funding provided by the EU Horizon 2020 project netCommons: Network Infrastructure as Commons, http://netcommons.eu/, grant agreement number: 688768 ; Acknowledgement: The research presented in this paper was conducted with funding provided by the EU Horizon ...

The goal of this deliverable on Community Networks and Political Advocacy is the identification of how Community Networks (CNs) gain leverage on regulators and policy-makers: What are the appropriate organizational modes to engage in political advocacy in order to foster the growth of community networks as cooperative plat-forms? What are the successful mediation of their interactions with other actors in the telecom sector and the local, national and European policy environments? In short, how can a CN build political advocacy capacities? With "advocacy capacity-building" we identify the process by which CNs can upgrade the collective skills on which they rely to influence policy development, but also to develop and upgrade the procedures and organizational designs devoted to these activities.

The goal of this deliverable on Community Networks and Political Advocacy is the identification of how Community Networks (CNs) gain leverage on regulators and policy-makers: What are the appropriate organizational modes to engage in political advocacy in order to foster the growth of community networks as cooperative plat-forms? What are the successful mediation of their interactions with other actors in the telecom sector and the local, national and European policy environments? In short, how can a CN build political advocacy capacities? With "advocacy capacity-building" we identify the process by which CNs can upgrade the collective skills on which they rely to influence policy development, but also to develop and upgrade the procedures and organizational designs devoted to these activities.

How do consumers and farmers organize credence food transactions? This paper discusses this issue through the concept of Food Community Network (FCN). A FCN is defined as an organization where consumers and farmers integrate their goals organizing a network. FCN is based on pooling specific resources and using membership-based contracts, to assign decision and property rights. It implies an organization based on a combination of several democratic and communitarian elements, with few market-like and bureaucratic ones. Based on those concepts this paper proposes a research to analyse the FCN governance mechanisms. Real case studies collected through an internet-based investigation on Community Supported Agriculture in North America have been found. Applying (i) new institutional economics and (ii) organizational science arguments, the case studies were used to determine features that are useful to describe how FCN governance works. On one hand we used (i) new institutional economics based features such as pooling resources and contracting; (ii) on the other hand market-like, bureaucratic, communitarian and democratic elements represent the organizational science approach. The results indicate a great variety of FCN organizational forms emerging in North America.

European society, with its steadily increased welfare levels, is not only concerned about food (safety, prices), but also on other aspects such as biodiversity loss, landscape degradation, pollution of water, soil and atmosphere. To a large extent these concerns can be translated into a wider concept named sustainable development defined as a normative concept by Morgan and Sonnino (2008). Sustainability in the food chain means approaching a new emerging vision of a sustainable agro-food system introducing an institutional dimension to take into account. Among different attempts to conjugate such concepts, there is one that is taking place in many Regions of Italy. In the last years spontaneous aggregations of consumers are developing. They are named Solidarity Purchase Group (SPG). In short, they are characterized by an economy, not necessarily local, ethical and equitable, where social and economic territorial relations tend to develop districts and networks. One of the main characteristics of a SPG is the direct relations between small farms, and their customers with a high content of participation and specialization. The study means to tackle issues related to organizational frameworks, at farm and chain level, and to assess those elements that mark consumer's choices and satisfaction.

European society, with its steadily increased welfare levels, is not only concerned about food (safety, prices), but also on other aspects such as biodiversity loss, landscape degradation, pollution of water, soil and atmosphere. To a large extent these concerns can be translated into a wider concept named sustainable development defined as a normative concept by Morgan and Sonnino (2008). Sustainability in the food chain means, in other words, approaching a new emerging vision of a sustainable agro-food system introducing a prism, instead of a triangle, of sustainability (J. Spangerberg, 2002) in which an institutional dimension is also taken into account.Sustainability can be defined as a normative concept and, therefore, completely conditioned by the institutional settings in which is performed (Hagedorn, 2008). Institutions are key-factors in determining sustainable resources allocation in every human society. Key issue on consumers and sustainability address consumers ability to manage a complex amount of information, complex transactions and biased perception of risk. A new equitable economic development is taking place in the real world promoting a model of interconnected and participatory communities with individual autonomy and involvement as well as integrating environmental considerations into economic developments. The concept of sustainable development calls for compatible institutions for enhancing sustainability at the di erent levels of economic, social and environmental human activities. For all the above reasons, we believe that scope exists for looking inside the newest form of organization that are growing, and are observable, in the real world economics. Among di erent attempts to conjugate such concepts, there is one that is taking place in many Region of Italy. In the last years spontaneous aggregations of consumers are developing. They are named Equitable Purchase Group (EPG). In short, they are characterised by an economy, not necessarily local, ethical and equitable, where social and economic territorial relations tend to develop districts and networks. One of the main characteristics of a EPG is the 1 direct relations between small farms, mainly producing organic products, and their customers with a high content of participation and specialization. In this paper we go into EPGs in Sicily. In this southern region of Italy there are about 1,200 nucleus distributed in 32 EPG (a nucleus is a family partecipating at an EPG). The study means to tackle issues related to organizational frameworks, at farm and chain level, and to assess those elements that mark consumers choices and their customer satisfaction. A representative sample of EPG (about 300 nucleus) was directly interviewed by means of an ad hoc questionnaire. A multinomial logit model was also implemented to verify what variables better explain the reason of a (un)successful EPG.