European Network for Housing Research invites Tine De Moor as speaker

How can cooperative housing be part of the solution to social, affordability and environmental challenges? On August 28, professor Tine De Moor from the Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University) shares her insights during the ENHR Conference 2024.

Tine De Moor is invited as a speaker alongside Jardar Sørvoll, Research professor, University of Oslo, and guest editor of the forthcoming special issue on Housing Cooperatives in Housing Studies. The moderator of this plenary session is Darinka Czischke, Associate Professor Housing and Social Sustainability, TU Delft, and co-founder of the ENHR WG Collaborative Housing.

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Study explores if energy transitions reproduce economic inequalities

A study by Paola Velasco-Herrejón (University of Oslo) and Thomas Bauwens (Erasmus University Rotterdam) investigates how wind energy developments in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, may perpetuate economic inequalities. The authors reveal that local resistance is often framed around health and environmental concerns to mask deeper economic grievances. The paper highlights the importance of equitable distribution of economic benefits for socially just energy transitions.

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The paper, titled “Are energy transitions reproducing inequalities? Power, social stigma and distributive (in)justice in Mexico“, is published in the Global Environmental Change Journal.

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Paper on collective resource management in a cooperative facing external shocks

How are regulative institutions used to curb members’ opportunism in a heterogeneous cooperative while facing external shocks? This question is posed in a paper by Damion Bunders and Tine De Moor from the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The paper, titled “Using the institutional grammar to understand collective resource management in a heterogenous cooperative facing external shocks”, is published in the Journal of Regulation & Governance and can be found here.

The study explores how Smart, a Belgian worker cooperative for freelancers, adapted its rules between 2017 and 2022, covering two external shock events: the COVID-19 pandemic and a new cooperative law. Building on the institutional grammar methodology, Bunders & De Moor analyze 412 rules of Smart. The study shows, amongst others, that external shocks with sudden resource scarcity (like COVID-19) do not necessarily motivate rule changes, while external shocks without an effect on collective resources (new national legislation) can motivate rule changes. Additionally, the study provides support for the notion that cooperatives with a heterogeneous membership design rules to prevent members from overusing or under-contributing to collective resources. This paper also develops the institutional grammar’s ability to measure institutional meaning.

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Affiliate researcher: Íñigo Ena Sanjuán

We are happy to announce that Íñigo Ena Sanjuán has aligned with the research group Social Enterprises and Institutions for Collective Action as an affiliate researcher. He is a Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at the Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany) and Associate Researcher in the ERC Consolidator Grant ‘IberLAND‘. For the latter, Íñigo Ena Sanjuán organizes the summer lecture series ‘Between Eden and Fall: Common Land in Early Modern and Modern Western Europe‘. Find more information here.

“The SEICA network presents a valuable opportunity to connect with colleagues who are addressing collective action issues and share perspectives, methodologies, and findings. SEICA offers a platform for scholars from diverse fields to collaborate in addressing social, economic, and ecological challenges.”

Rotterdamlezing by Tine De Moor – How value becomes resilient: building the community economy in Rotterdam

On May 13, Tine De Moor, professor of Social Enterprises and Institutions for Collective Action at Rotterdam School of Management, explored the value of citizen collectives during this year’s Rotterdamlezing. Are they the missing link between citizens and government? In the ever inspiring Arminiuskerk, Tine De Moor takes you on a journey through Rotterdam’s past to a distant future, which may become even more local than before. The recording of the lecture is now available with English subtitles.

“Rotterdam citizen collectives differ in some ways from the rest of the country. For instance, in our city there is a much greater emphasis on collectives targeting lower income categories and providing a solution in the social sector.”

Read more about the 20th edition of the Rotterdamlezing.

Lecture series ‘Between Eden and the Fall’

Between April 23 and June 18, the project IberLAND hosts the lecture series ‘Between Eden and Fall: Common Land in Early Modern and Modern Western Europe‘. This series aims to provide an overview of common land in the early modern and modern ages in several Western European regions through the work of five senior researchers in the field, who will deliver their lectures every two weeks, followed by discussions.

The lectures take place every other week, between 18:00 and 20:00 CEST and will be broadcast via Zoom. Prior registration is required through this link.

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Join our department as a PhD candidate

If you hope to become a researcher in the field of Sustainability and Management, then this is your chance! Apply now for a fully funded PhD position with our department Business-Society Management. The application deadline is May 15, so be sure to act quickly.

We welcome those who are eager to learn how organizations and businesses can be key drivers of social change and sustainable development. Are you, for example, interested in institutions for collective action and alternative organizational and governance forms? Do you have a master’s degree in business studies, management studies, sociology, economics, psychology, or a related discipline?

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Affiliate researcher: Taneli Vaskelainen

We are happy to announce that dr. Taneli Vaskelainen has aligned with the research group Social Enterprises and Institutions for Collective Action as an affiliate researcher. 

Dr. Taneli Vaskelainen is a university researcher of Sustainable Economy and Cooperatives at Ruralia Institute, University of Helsinki (Finland).

“I am delighted to join SEICA as an affiliate because its researchers share my enthusiasm to examine and empower communities as they try to provide solutions to grand challenges that vex humankind. I also appreciate highly the methodological ambition and wide historical perspective that is characteristic of the research group.”