Paper on the assets and challenges of a social economy-based embedding of the circular economy

The paper “Embedding circularity: Theorizing the social economy, its potential, and its challenges” is published online in the Ecological Economics journal. The authors, Thomas Bauwens, Rafael Ziegler, Michael Roy, Simon Teasdale, Ambre Fourrier, and Emmanuel Raufflet, theorize about an alternative, social economy-based embedding of circularity.

The paper begins with a critique of the dominant conception of the circular economy and its shortcomings in relation to allocation, justice, and sustainable scale. Second, the authors theorize how the social economy embeds circularity through: (1) business models reflecting the needs and interests of their stakeholders and, with them, a primacy of social value creation; (2) production and consumption based on active citizen involvement in deliberation and decision-making; (3) an approach to technology that seeks to empower technology users; and (4) the promotion of regional economies and circular value chains based on a sense of place.

Access the paper here

Research on crowdsourcing: how to attract and engage volunteers online?

Crowdsourcing, or harnessing the power of volunteers online, has become increasingly popular. Especially among public libraries, museums, archives and research institutions. However, attracting volunteers and keeping them engaged is often challenging for project managers.

The article “Behind the Crowdsourcing Platform: Assessing Volunteer Recruitment and Engagement Instruments” analyzes the effectiveness of recruiting and engagement instruments on volunteers’ activity. The article by Montserrat Prats López, Auke Rijpma, Tine De Moor, and Jolien Reijerink is published in the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly and can be found here.

Continue reading →

Daniel Petrovics joins SCENSUS project

Research group Social Enterprises & Institutions for Collective Actions welcomes postdoctoral researcher Daniel Petrovics. He will join the SCENSUS project team. Daniel has a keen interest in urban sustainability issues, cooperative-based energy governance and organisational transparency. He is currently finishing his PhD on the scalability of energy communities. His research is based on polycentric governance thinking and the strategic niche management approach.

Welcome! See his profile page for more information.

Open Seminar Talk: David Soto-Oñate (UVIGO)

On November 28, 2023 as part of our Open Seminar Series, visiting fellow dr. David Soto-Oñate from the University of Vigo presented a work in progress called “A polycentric approach for a post-growth social order”. This project attempts to elaborate a theoretical framework on the intersection between the post-growth universe and polycentric governance. He invited the attendees to a collective deliberation on what this intersection could be and how to approach it theoretically.

Continue reading →

PhD Candidate: Shreya Paudel

Research group Social Enterprises & Institutions for Collective Actions welcomes, once more, Shreya Paudel. After an internship with SEICA and completing her Erasmus Mundus Master, she now joins the team as a PhD candidate within the UNICA-VICI project, supervised by Tine De Moor. Her previous experience includes research on the short-term evolution and adaptation of institutions for collective action, policy analysis, and political economy analysis in contexts of South Asia and Africa.

“I am thrilled to join the research team, and RSM for the diversity of ideas and expertise. I see this as a great platform to build on my research interest and direct the outcomes towards actionable initiatives.”

Welcome back! See her profile page for more information.

PhD candidate: Daniel Aguilar Viňas

Research group Social Enterprises & Institutions for Collective Actions welcomes Daniel Aguilar Viňas as a PhD candidate within the SCENSUS project, supervised by Thomas Bauwens. His experience includes a bachelor in International Relations, an Erasmus Mundus master in Global Development Policy, and roles within organizations such as the Conservation International Costa Rica and Red Cross Spain.

“I am intrigued and fuelled in particular by the interconnections between socio-political and economic factors. This new phase at RSM is an incredible opportunity to keep growing personally and academically.”

Welcome! See his profile page for more information.

Next step for researcher Véronique De Herde

Postdoctoral researcher Véronique De Herde is taking her next step after working with Social Enterprises & Institutions for Collective Action for 1,5 years. She starts a three-year postdoctoral mandate at the University of Liège, Center for Social Economy, with professor Frédéric Dufays. The research will focus on cooperative models of value chain organization in the agri-food sector. The objective is to disentangle the complex factors contributing to their strategic relevance for sustainable transitions.

Continue reading →

Open Seminar Talk: Max Harleman (GCSU)

On October 31, 2023 as part of our Open Seminar Series, Dr. Max Harleman from Georgia College & State University presented an early draft of his paper entitled Can Collective Action Institutions Outperform the State? Evidence from Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage. The paper is motivated by the fact that relatively few studies examine how collective action institutions perform relative to the state at providing public goods, and they fail to account for the possibility that the state might self-select into providing public goods in the most challenging contexts. If this were the case, finding that the state performs worse than collective institutions could reflect its more challenging context rather than differences in knowledge, skill, or motivation.

Continue reading →

Encyclopedia of Social Innovation

The Encyclopedia of Social Innovation offers an interdisciplinary and comprehensive overview of the field of social innovation, providing an insightful view into potential future developments both practically and theoretically.

The 77 entries by prominent international scholars cover a variety of key themes including social innovation ecosystems, co-creation, new technologies and methods, education, governance and policies. One of the chapters focuses on the revival of the commons. It is written by professor Tine De Moor from the Rotterdam School of Management. Find more information on the book here.