Build Lighthouses
Patterns come alive when they are built. Lighthouses are real-world systems that embody these patterns — beacons that guide the way for others.
Organizations
Organizations that have built living, self-governing systems — often without knowing they were applying commons patterns.
Buurtzorg
A neighborhood nursing organization of 15,000 professionals in self-managing teams. No managers, no hierarchy — just nurses caring for patients.
Mondragon Corporation
The world's largest worker cooperative — 80,000 worker-owners across 95 cooperatives, proving that democratic governance scales.
Patagonia
A company that gave itself to the Earth. Purpose-driven governance, radical transparency, and a business model designed to regenerate rather than extract.
Cities
Cities that are cultivating commons-based infrastructure, participatory governance, and resilient urban systems.
Barcelona
A city that declared data sovereignty, built participatory platforms, and is pioneering digital commons at municipal scale.
Oslo
Europe's Green Capital, integrating climate budgeting into city governance and transforming its waterfront into a living public commons.
Vienna
A century of social housing as commons. 60% of residents live in subsidized housing, creating one of the world's most livable cities.
Know a Lighthouse?
If you know an organization, city, or community that embodies these patterns, we would love to hear about it.
Suggest a Lighthouse →