Manuel Lopes Rodrigues

Manuel Lopes Rodrigues

Biography

Manuel Lopes Rodrigues is a professional firefighter for the City Hall of Vigo.

In 1997 he became involved in the social movement to respond to and push back against the construction of a highway through the Common Land of Teis (Vigo), and in 1998 at the age of 26 he became the first president of the newly constituted “Comunidade de Montes de Teis.”

Since that time, Manuel has been continuously involved in the trajectory of the Common Land of Teis, serving in various positions for the Comunidade, most recently as secretary.

As a spokesperson for the Comunidade, Manuel has appeared in national and international documentaries. He has been interviewed on a range of topics including the value of Commons in times of a global economic crisis, environmental restoration, invasive species, and forest fires in the context of tree monocultures (for example, eucalyptus).

He has also written several magazine articles and book chapters about the Comunidade de Montes de Teis, with a focus on how environmental restoration is indeed possible through collaborative work.

As an invited speaker at multiple national and international events, Manuel has delivered speeches on activism in general and the case of Teis in particular. A recent focus of his speeches has been the experience of getting the community involved in an environmental restoration project to eliminate or at least control the Black Acacia (Acacia Melanoxylon) to allow native forest to regrow.

Manuel remains active in associations of Commons in Galicia and north Portugal. His current focus is on identifying and nurturing new relationships between civil society, Commons, and the ecological movement and developing and searching on creating projects that engage younger generations in the Commons way of life.

All sessions by Manuel Lopes Rodrigues

Recognition and defence of the commons from the local community perspective

09 Dec 2024
10:00-11:00
Geneva - John Knox International Center