How does social cohesion foster the development of care collectives in the Netherlands?

This question is answered in the paper ‘The Emergence of Citizen Collectives for Care: The Role of Social Cohesion‘ (BMC Public Health, vol. 24) by Kevin Wittenberg, Rense Corten, Tanja van der Lippe, and Tine De Moor. Using Dutch data from 2020, they find that stronger community ties correlate with the emergence of care collectives, particularly in areas with greater care needs, though longitudinal evidence is less conclusive. These findings highlight the potential for care collectives to address healthcare gaps.

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In an open-access study, Thomas Bauwens (Rotterdam School of Management), Robert Wade (Eindhoven University of Technology) and Matthew Burke (University of Vermont) argue that while renewable energy sources are crucial, more systemic changes are needed.

“Energy commons offer a more democratic and sustainable pathway, moving beyond market and state-led models.”

The paper, published in the journal Energy Research and Social Science, takes as a starting point the failure of market-driven approaches to tackle the climate crisis at the necessary scale and speed.

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A research article by Damion Bunders and Tine De Moor from the Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University) has been published in the Journal of Management and Inquiry. The article is titled: ‘Paradoxical Tensions as a Double-Edged Sword: Analysing the Development of Platform Cooperatives in the European Gig Economy‘.

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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 .

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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.

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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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.

On 8 March, drs. Pieter Steenbergen presented his book ‘Van ons, voor ons’ (By us, for us. Subtitle: 150 years of resilience of consumer cooperative Coop). The book presentation marks the end of a research project at the SEICA research group to the history of consumer cooperatives in the Netherlands. It also heralds the disappearance of the name Coop from the Dutch cityscapes, because of the merger between the Plus and Coop supermarkets into the new cooperative Plus U.A. The book is available online.

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Members of energy cooperatives take on the role of prosumers: both consumer and producer by setting up and joining these cooperatives as investors, shareholders and clients. To work towards becoming a resilient institution, it is important that cooperatives preserve their support base by understanding the motives of their members.

The Energy, Sustainability and Society Journal published a study on this topic titled ‘Ecological, financial, social and societal motives for cooperative energy prosumerism: measuring preference heterogeneity in a Belgian energy cooperative‘. The authors, Fijnanda van Klingeren and Tine De Moor from Erasmus University, investigate the preference heterogeneity and motivations of members of a large energy cooperative in Belgium. It uses stated-choice data from a Discrete Choice Experiment in combination with self-reported membership motives.

It turns out that ecological motives seem to be most important for members of this energy cooperative. The article concludes by raising awareness with cooperatives that their legal form may not be the only factor that drives membership. Rather, keeping high levels of renewable energy, competitive pricing and being an interesting investment opportunity may be key to cooperatives’ resilience and further development on the energy market.’

Scaling local initiatives, such as energy communities, can have global impact. It can contribute to climate mitigation, for example. But there need to be some mechanisms in place for energy communities to flourish. This is addressed in the article ‘Scaling mechanisms of energy communities: A comparison of 28 initiatives’, which was published in the journal Global Environmental Change.

An analysis by postdoctoral researcher Daniel Petrovics (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University) and his co-authors Dave Huitema, Mendel Giezen and Barbara Vis, identifies eight necessary (combinations of) conditions to scaling energy communities.

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