Paper on the value of social bonding capital for renewable energy cooperatives

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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Grant for project on data memory of citizen collectives’ movement

Professor Tine De Moor (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University) has obtained additional funding from the NWO Impact Explorer. This gives us the opportunity to take a big step in building the memory of citizen collectives.

Many network organizations lack the resources (time, manpower, finances) to manage data effectively, which hinders collaboration with scientists. That’s unfortunate, because research can lead to valuable insights that allow us to better understand this movement. It can help civil servants to formulate more targeted policies and citizen collectives to improve their working methods and use resources more efficiently.

Through knowledge exchange platform CollectieveKracht, we will deploy a knowledge broker who will identify relevant information and develop data structures to support citizen collectives in data collection and management. In this way, the knowledge broker strengthens the position of citizen collectives and lays a solid foundation for future research and policy.

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Open Seminar Talk – Nicolas Jager (WUR)

On September 24, dr. Nicolas Jager opened the new season of our SEICA Open Seminar Talks. Dr. Jager is Assistant Professor for the governance of sustainability transformations with the Public Administration and Policy group at Wageningen University & Research. He gave a presentation titled ‘Does public participation improve environmental governance and foster collective action? What works, when, and how?’

He discussed a meta-analysis of 305 case studies, which provides insights into how ‘more’ participatory decision-making processes compare against ‘less’ participatory ones in fostering – or hindering – strong environmental governance outputs. The presentation was based on the study “Does stakeholder participation improve environmental governance? Evidence from a meta-analysis of 305 case studies”. Find it here.

Thomas Bauwens shares insights during RIODD Congress 2024

On September 28, Assistant Professor Thomas Bauwens (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University) participates in a plenary session during the RIODD Congress 2024 in Brussels. This years Réseau International de recherche sur les Organisations et le Développement Durable (RIODD) explores the theme ‘Imagining, experimenting, and perpetuating strong sustainability’.

The plenary session will shed new light on long-term sustainability issues and their implications for societies. Thomas Bauwens will be accompanied by Philippe Pochet, a political scientist, director general of the European Trade Union Institute and professor at UCLouvain, Emmanuelle Maire, Head of Unit at the European Commission, DG Environment, and Amandine Orsini, professor of political science at UCLouvain Saint-Louis.

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.