Cooperative model and circular economy

Key global sustainability assessments show continuing unsustainability tendencies and suggest that beyond the tackling of direct drivers of unsustainability, indirect drivers also need to be addressed, i.e., the systems of production and consumption and associated ideas of governance and values (Díaz et al., 2019). An alternative system of production and consumption for transformation in direction of sustainability is circular economy.

Circularity is increasingly researched, and circular economy has become the subject of action plans around the globe. So far, however, de facto circularity rates, which track the share of cycled materials in relation to total material consumption, remain below 10% (Haigh, 2021). Beyond the improvement of technologies for more extended and efficient circular value chains, there is a need to analyze the conception of the economy, actors, and values, i.e., the indirect drivers of unsustainability. Thus, this partnership specifically addresses the intersection of circular economy and social and solidarity economy. The latter refers to “cooperatives, associations, mutual societies, foundations, social enterprises, self-help groups” with “social or public purposes, engaged in economic activities based on voluntary cooperation, democratic and participatory governance, autonomy and independence, the rules of which prohibit or limit the distribution of profit” (ILO, 2022). So, what is the role and potential of social and solidarity economy and its actors for circular economy?

Since there is neither an established network nor comprehensive database at the social and solidarity economy-circular economy intersection, the partnership establishes between 2023-2026 an international, cross-sector, co-creation network to advance knowledge of the role and potential of social economy for circular economy. The academic partners will establish an interdisciplinary research partnership drawing on management, sociology, economics, and ethics to cocreate knowledge in collaboration with support organizations federating and organizing social economy actors, and to develop tools for training and education.

The partnership seeks to make a significant contribution to knowledge and education in three ways:

1. Creation of the first, digital and open access database on business models, governance, and policies at the intersection of circular economy and social economy.
2. Development of a conceptual and empirically grounded research agenda on the specific ways in which social economy embeds circular economy.
3. Development of training modules and tools to empower social economy actors seeking to innovate or improve circular business models and value chains.

The partnership will also inform and accompany policy processes at the intersection of circular economy and social economy, including with a White Paper.

The partnership brings together scholars and practitioners from 11 countries of the Americas and Europe, who discussed objectives and research questions of the partnership during a preparatory workshop in May 2022. Further countries and partners are invited to join as we go along.

Partners will be involved in three central ways:

a) Drawing on the respective contextual knowledge, they will identify organizations and policies in their countries and provinces for the creation of the database.
b) They will bring in their expertise for the development of the research agenda along four thematic axes: business models, governance, technology and social innovation, as well as policy and power.
c) They will participate in the training and tools development to nurture and diffuse competencies of social economy actors interested in circular economy.

Contact: Eléonore Compère, Partnership Coordinator – eleonore.compere@hec.ca

Key links and publications:

• Access to the circular economy collection – database on PortailCoop: tools, knowledge and examples, click here
• Ziegler, Rafael, Bauwens, Thomas, Roy, Michael J., Teasdale, Simon, Fourrier, Ambre, Raufflet, Emmanuel Benoit; « Embedding circularity: Theorizing the social economy, its potential, and its challenges », Ecological Economics, vol. 214, 2023, p. 1-12.
• The IICADD, with the support of the partnership, hosted the Global Innovation Coop Summit in Montreal 2023. In the spirit of the circular-coop partnership, the international conference was organized as an eco-cooperative event. To find out more, read the article in Coop News.

The partners:

Academic co-applicants

Rafael Ziegler – HEC Montréal, Canada
– Principal investigator and co-leader policy and power axis

María Inmaculada Buendía Martínez – Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
– Co-leader business models axis

Emmanuel Raufflet – HEC Montréal, Canada
– Co-leader business models axis

Sonja Novkovic – Saint Mary’s University, Canada
– Co-leader governance axis

Martine Vézina – HEC Montréal, Canada
– Co-leader governance axis

Justine Ballon – HEC Montréal, Canada
– Co-leader technology and social innovation axis

Simon Teasdale – Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom
– Co-leader policy and power axis

Michael Roy – Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom
– Leader education and training of graduate students

Mario Pansera – University of Vigo, Spain
– Co-leader technology and social innovation axis

Partners of practice

• Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité (CQCM), Canada
• International cooperative alliance – Committee on cooperative research (ICACCR)
• Réseau de recherche en économie circulaire du Québec (RRECQ), Canada
• Territoires innovants en économie sociale et solidaire (TIESS), Canada

Academic collaborators

Ambre Fourrier – HEC Montréal, Canada
Amélie Artis – Institut d’études politiques de Grenoble, France
Anu Puusa – University of Eastern Finland
Asia Guerreschi – University of Ferrara, Italy
Diana María Lopera Montoya – University of Antioquia, Columbia
Flor Avelino – Utrecht University, Netherlands
Frédéric Dufays – Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Giovanni Ferri – Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta, Italy
Jürgen Howaldt – Dortmund University of Technology, Germany
Karen Flamand – Saint Mary’s University, Canada
Karina Maldonado-Mariscal – Dortmund University of Technology, Germany
Maria Odette Lobatto Calleros – Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México
Monica de Carvalho – Fundação Dom Cabral, Brazil
Nazik Beishenaly – Hertie School of Governance, Germany
Rick Hölsgens – Dortmund University of Technology, Germany
Thomas Bauwens – Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Netherlands

Funding: SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council), Government of Canada, project number 890-2022-0023, May 2023 until April 2026.

Seed-project in preparation of the partnership: Roles, potentials and limits of the social economy for transition towards the circular economy in a comparative perspective

The main objective of this research project is to examine the roles, potential and limits of the social economy (cooperatives, mutuals, social enterprises and informal networks) for the transition to the circular economy. The project will develop a framework for comparative analysis of the intersection between social economy and circular economy in different national contexts. This new project is based on the lessons learned from two previous projects: the research project on the circular economy, the social economy and social innovation carried out by the TIESS (Territoires innovants en Économie sociale et solidaire) in Quebec and the project of research on social innovations CRESSI (Creating Economic Space for Social Innovation) in Europe. The project serves to prepare an international network of researchers at the intersection of the circular economy and the social economy, as well as a database on the circular economy and cooperatives for PortailCoop.

Publications:

• Ziegler, R., Poirier, C., Lacasse, M. and Murray, E. (2023, January 31). Circular economy and cooperatives: An exploratory survey. Sustainability, 15(3).
• Ziegler, R., Compère, E., Raufflet, E. and Vézina, M. (forthcoming). Between green economy and reformism – An exploration of circular economy and social economy policy convergences in Quebec. Dans S. Sinclair et S. Baglioni (eds),  Handbook on Social Innovation and Social Policy. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar. 
• Ziegler, R., Bellemare, M.F., Behrang, K., Poirier, C. et Raufflet, E. (2021). Who owns the circular economy? An exploration of the intersection of social economy and circular economy in Quebec. Dans E. Chiappero-Martinetti (ed), Social justice in a global society: Toward new forms of economic democracy for a sustainable development (p. 291-314). Annale 2021. Milano : Fondazione Feltrinelli.

Funding: HEC Montréal