CoCon’s empirical shift is from organisations as bounded entities to the institutional repertoires through which their cooperative systems are organised. The SICADE (Strategies of Institutions for Collective Action in Development)-framework (De Moor, 2021) provides the complementary framework for identifying and comparing the defining features of ICAs across otherwise heterogeneous organisational forms, while Longitudinal IG reconstructs how their institutional rules persist, change and relate over time. Formal rules nevertheless provide a uniquely durable and systematically comparable historical record of how cooperation is institutionally organized (Crawford & Ostrom, 1995). SICADE therefore prevents continuity in formal arrangements from being equated automatically with continuity in cooperative capacity.
The SICADE approach represents three dimensions that play a role in the resilient development of citizen collectives. The approach also shows three underlying principles.
Resilience is at the heart of the model. This is the ability of a collective to develop in an active and balanced way. Resilience is needed as long as a collective wants to keep pursuing its goals, be it healthcare, sustainable agriculture or green energy.
To be resilient, three elements need to be in balance. These are the three spheres in the diagram: the members, the resources, and the institutions. In practice, these elements in a collective can change all the time. Therefore, it is important that the other elements change with them, so that a new balance is created.
At the interface between the spheres are the three success factors that help collectives find their balance.
- Utility: members must see the need of the products and services offered. If the need becomes less urgent for collective participants, their enthusiasm to participate decreases. As a result, their involvement drops and they may drop out.
- Social equity among members is the basis for a successful organisation and long-term governability. When different members are treated differently, it can lead to conflict or a growing distance between the board and a group of members.
- Efficiency is the efficient and effective use of resources to achieve the goals of the collective. When members feel that their contributions are not being used efficiently their commitment decreases and they may even consider no longer participating.
Of course, there are also external factors that affect the collective. Consider, for instance, time and place, weather and climate, legislation, demographics and technical facilities. All these factors combined ensure that collectives must constantly adapt, always looking for a new balance.
De Moor, T., (2021). Three waves of cooperation. A millennium of institutions for collective action in historical perspective (Case-study: The Netherlands). In: Oxford Handbook on International Economic Governance, eds E. Brousseau and I. Bellaci. Oxford University Press.