A study published in the Journal of Economic Geography suggests that fostering strong local networks could be a strategic focus for municipalities looking to encourage the emergence of renewable energy cooperatives.

Thomas Bauwens, Stefan Geskus, Matthijs Punt, Rense Corten and Koen Frenken published their study, titled ‘Does social capital foster renewable energy cooperatives?’ They measured social capital from social media data within and across municipalities, overcoming the usual limitations of using proxies. They also used data on Dutch energy cooperatives from the Lokale Energie Monitor by HIER .

The researchers expected both bonding and bridging social capital to boost cooperatives, but found that the real game-changer is local community ties (bonding social capital). This finding challenges the commonly held view that only bridging social capital is beneficial for innovation and cross-pollination of ideas. In the case of collective, community-driven entrepreneurship initiatives, they find that the benefits of strong, internal community bonds outweigh the need for connections to more distant groups.