Living Landscapes anchors the Common Ground initiative, a collaborative platform working to strengthen India's commons - forests, water, and grazing lands - by bringing together civil society, government, and market actors to enable systems-level change. India's commons support over 350 million people but are rapidly degrading due to fragmented governance, weak incentives, and limited coordination, disproportionately impacting rural and marginalised communities by reducing incomes, weakening climate resilience, and limiting access to ecosystem services. At the same time, efforts remain siloed, with limited shared infrastructure, data systems, and financing models to enable scale.
Common Ground Initiative works on ecosystem restoration by building strong grassroots organisations, influencing government policy and creating market opportunities. Its approach focuses on:
LGT Venture Philanthropy supports Living Landscapes to build and scale the Common Ground initiative by:
This support helps establish the backbone required to drive ecosystem-wide collaboration and long-term systems change.
Since 2022, the initiative has grown from 22 founding co-signatories to a network of 90+ partner organisations, working across landscapes and thematic areas. The initiative is designed to create non-linear impact by strengthening the ecosystem, aligning actors, unlocking capital, and enabling scalable models rather than scaling a single intervention.
LGT VP offers the steadfast foundation that allows Living Landscapes to breathe life back into our shared ecosystems: restoring the natural surroundings while simultaneously nurturing the ecosystem of actors essential for sustained conservation.
Learn more about how Living Landscapes (The Common Ground Initiative) works in the field.