Leibniz University Hannover invites Tine De Moor for lecture series ‘Between Eden and the Fall’

On April 23, Professor Tine De Moor from the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) gives  a lecture titled: ‘The commons as a form of institution for collective action, in longitudinal perspective‘. This seminar is part of Leibniz University Hannover’s summer semester lecture series ‘Between Eden and the Fall: Common Land in Early Modern and Modern Western Europe’.

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Open Seminar Talk: Enrique Santamaría (EUR)

On February 27, 2024 as part of our Open Seminar Series, dr. Enrique Santamaría Echeverría from the Erasmus School of Law gave a presentation titled ‘Our common body? Biological Materials, Data and Knowledge Commons for Research & Development.’ He discussed, amongst others, different theories on the (human body) commons, the legal architecture, the imbalance between provider and recipient, commodification, and (health) data altruism. The presentation led to a lively discussion where participants shared additional insights.

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Publication on motives for cooperative energy prosumerism

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.’

Non-rivalrous, non-excludable: an interdisciplinary workshop on the evolution of public goods in history

The Oxford Centre for Economic and Social History organizes a workshop about public goods in history. It explores the evolution of public goods and how their provision is shaped by institutions and norms over time. You can find more information about the workshop here.

Professor Tine De Moor from the Rotterdam School of Management will give a lecture during this workshop, titled: “How common were/are the commons? On the semantics and conceptualization of collective resources in history and today”. Other contributors are Avner Offer, Sheila Pugh, David Gawkrdoger, Cesare Vagge, Joost Haddinga, Louis Henderson, and Victoria Gierok.

Jason Roncancio joins research group

Research group Social Enterprises & Institutions for Collective Actions welcomes postdoctoral researcher Jason Roncancio Marin. He will join the SCENSUS project under the supervision of Dr Thomas Bauwens.

Jason is a scholar with a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His research interests are centered around the creation of social value and the positive social impact derived from entrepreneurship and innovation outcomes. Jason holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, complemented by studies in Innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Welcome! See his profile page for more information.

Publication on scaling mechanisms of energy communities

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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Pouya Janghorban joins SCENSUS project

Research group Social Enterprises & Institutions for Collective Actions welcomes PhD candidate Pouya Janghorban. He will join the SCENSUS project under the supervision of Dr Thomas Bauwens. In this role, he will be studying the influence of social network structures on the scaling process of community enterprises.

Pouya is an Erasmus Mundus graduate of MSc. Transition, Innovation, and Sustainability Environments (TISE) and has a BSc in Physics from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. He has previous experience in EU policy consulting during an internship in Brussels. Prior to joining RSM, Pouya worked as a student research assistant at Reiner Lemoine Institut (RLI) in Berlin where he worked on the PeopleSuN development research project for Nigeria.

Welcome! See his profile page for more information.