Ostrom identified eight “design principles” of stable local common pool resource

Ostrom identified eight “design principles” of stable local common pool resource management:

1. Clearly defined (clear definition of the contents of the common pool resource and effective exclusion of external un-entitled parties);

2. The appropriation and provision of common resources that are adapted to local conditions;

3. Collective-choice arrangements that allow most resource appropriators to participate in the decision-making process;

4. Effective monitoring by monitors who are part of or accountable to the appropriators;

5. A scale of graduated sanctions for resource appropriators who violate community rules;

6. Mechanisms of conflict resolution that are cheap and of easy access;

7. Self-determination of the community recognized by higher-level authorities; and

8. In the case of larger common-pool resources, organization in the form of multiple layers of nested enterprises, with small local CPRs at the base level.

via Oliver Westcott