This technical guide on Governing Tenure Rights to Commons provides strategic guidance and suggested practices for proactively implementing the standards and recommendations of the Guidelines, with the aim of recognizing and protecting tenure rights to commons and community-based governance structures. The guide was prepared by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) whose research on sustainability and land governance is based on a transdisciplinary approach. This aims to achieve the cogeneration of knowledge by actors from civil society, government and science, in order to create viable strategies for responsible and sustainable land governance. In accordance with this approach and objective, the guide was developed through a comprehensive multi-stakeholder process: the deliberation of relevant strategy recommendations took place via an international Sounding Board of commons experts, and a series of deliberation and consultation workshops with actors from various constituencies around the world.

This guide on Governing Tenure Rights to Commons aims to support states, communitybased organizations, civil society organizations, the private sector and other relevant actors, to take proactive measures to implement the standards and recommendations of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (the Guidelines). The goal is to achieve legal recognition and protection of tenure rights to commons and community-based governance structures.