The factors that influence the choice to volunteer for a Local Sustainability Collective : a case study of Dutch citizens in North-Holland

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The factors that influence the choice to volunteer for a Local Sustainability Collective

A case study of Dutch citizens in North-Holland

Master of Science thesis

Author: Eddo Willem Meeken Student number: 10411798 Email: eddomee@gmail.com Supervisor: Doctor J.K. Maiyo Second reader: Doctor J. Scholtens Submission date: 15th_{of August 2018}

University of Amsterdam

Graduate School of Social Sciences Master Human Geography

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Abstract

Sustainability is moving up the agenda, the importance of sustainable development is penetrating national governments. Ideas on how to reduce GHG-emissions and increase our sustainable energy production is being recorded in regulations. The Netherlands needs to take big steps in its sustainable energy production and reduce its fossil fuel energy production if they do not wish to lag behind the other UN and EU member states. A great opportunity for increased sustainability in the Netherlands lies with Local Sustainability Collectives (LSCs). These collectives are grassroots organizations that offer citizens knowledge on the benefits of sustainability and offer the purchase of solar panels and other sustainable domestic equipment at a low price. The local character of these LSCs is like no other organization able to provide locally appropriate solutions for sustainability. Thanks to the increased attention that sustainable development receives from governments and the improved profitability of sustainable domestic equipment citizens are very interested to join the LSCs. New collective energy production projects, such as collective solar roofs, are very popular. These collective solar projects are set up by LSCs, which are mostly run by volunteers. The commitment of these volunteers is the key to the success of the LSC. For this research 6 volunteers at several LSCs, 4 members of an LSC that do not volunteer for it and 4 stakeholders at LSCs were interviewed. The indicators that were used for this research are rooted in the concept of volunteerism. A literature review was combined with the concept of volunteerism which resulted in six dimensions; quality of governance, characteristics of the LSC, self-regarding motives, social or moral forms, environmental considerations and personal characteristics. Volunteers seem to be less incentivised by self-regarding motives and are more driven by their desire to decrease their environmental impact. Volunteers are front-runners, they have been investing in sustainability for a longer time than others so in fact they are changing the social and moral forms of sustainability and are influencing others to decrease their environmental impact. The personal characteristics age and gender of volunteers do not differ so much from members. The characteristic in which they differ is their occupational and educations background, since sustainable equipment is a technical matter volunteers tend to have a technical background more often than members. This technical background also gives the volunteers more knowledge of sustainability, volunteers know about the profitability of sustainable investments and volunteers have more

knowledge of the impact that we have on our environment than members. By sharing this knowledge with its members, volunteers help increase sustainability in their municipality. Good governance of different levels of governments is able to reduce the costs of sustainable investments and needs to provide reliable policies for the future. LSCs can also reduce the costs of sustainable investments by aiming to keep the prices as low as possible by keeping out private parties that aim for profit. LSCs also need to keep connecting to the community by giving informative evenings and meetups. This research recommends more research into the role of social and moral forms in the Netherlands and the role of gender of single person households. It is also recommended to do more qualitative and

quantitative research into what ‘good municipal governance’ is.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter outlines the research topic (1.1), the written literature and research gap (1.2), my personal motivation for this topic, the justification and the societal relevance (1.3), a brief outline of the used research methods and the structure of this thesis (1.4).

1.1 Research topic

1.1.1 Sustainability initiatives and the energy sector

Sustainability is an increasingly important topic and the outcome of the 21st_{session of the Conference} of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris has shown the commitment to sustainability of the many countries on our planet (FCCC, 2015). The Netherlands has recently (June 2018) presented their new Climate Law (Besselink & Zuidervaart, 2018). With this ambitious law the Dutch Government aims at obliging itself to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the Netherlands by 95% by 2050 relative to 1990. The Climate Law itself is full of checking points for the Government to make sure that sustainable development will become an important priority for the coming 32 years. The Climate Law states that the Netherlands will receive a Climate Day once per year where the climate progressions of the Netherlands are presented. The Dutch Government will also present a Climate Plan every 5 years in which it will present its actions to reduce GHG emissions for the next 5-year period. With this law the opposition will be able to hold the government accountable for its GHG emissions (GroenLinks, 2018).

This ambitious law will have effects on the energy market. The Netherlands aims at producing its full energy consumption in a 100% GHG-neutral manner. This ambiguous term doesn’t mean that the total energy production in the Netherlands will be GHG neutral by 2050, but it means that every GHG that is emitted during the energy production will need to be captured and stored (most likely underground). But still, this GHG-neutral energy ambition does mean that the main part of our energy consumption must come from renewable energy production methods by 2050.

1.1.2 Local Sustainability Collectives

In the Netherlands this change in attitude is reflected in the increase of Local Sustainable Collectives (LSCs) in the past years (Hier opgewekt, 2018). These LSCs all have a common purpose, increasing sustainability at the local level, but their way of achieving this goal differs. How the LSCs aim at achieving this goal will be elaborated at chapter 5.1. These LSC’s can be supported by the local municipality, but are mainly grassroots initiatives (initiatives by citizens) in collaboration with or without collaboration of local authorities or businesses (Kooij, et al., 2018). LSCs are open and dynamic (mostly) bottom-up initiatives that are able to connect local interests with sustainable solutions. Research on the different form of Local Sustainability Collectives has been done. The importance of the contribution of LSC’s to an energy transition has been proven because of its ability to trigger a wider audience by becoming part of the community identity (Bergman & Eyre, 2011; Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016; Hasanov & Zuidema, 2018). Besides collectively producing renewable energy, LSC’s help to promote and educate sustainability at the local level and motivate local citizens to engage in sustainable practices (Owens & Driffill, 2008; Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016). They do this by organizing meetings, lectures and by buying large quantities of energy-saving equipment to reduce prices for their members (see 5.1). There is no univocal definition of what LSCs are supposed to do, hence the different names that they give themselves. The ways in which they aim to reduce GHG emissions varies greatly between and within each LSC. Their actions vary from collective gardening, solar power generation, house insulation, and by providing information on lifestyle

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changing habits. Another strength of LSC’s is their local embeddedness, LSC’s are like no other organization able to deliver more locally appropriate installations and create greater acceptance amongst the local opinion (Rogers, Simmons, Convery, & Weatherall, 2012). Finally, LSC’s have the ability to initiate new radical sustainable practices that go against the dominant institutions (Kooij, et al., 2018). This way LSCs offer the Netherlands a unique, independent factor to help reduce GHG emissions to fulfil the obligations towards the Climate Law.

1.2 Literature gap 1.2.1 Available literature

Research to the factors that influence the choice of citizens to join an LSC has been done in the UK (Walker, Devine-Wright, Hunter, High, & Evans, 2010), Belgium (Bauwens T. , Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy, 2016) and Germany (Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016). This literature suggests that the most important factors that influence willingness to engage in an LSC are social norms and social trust (Walker, Devine-Wright, Hunter, High, & Evans, 2010; Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016; Bauwens T., 2016). Social norms are defined as routines and practices that exist within a social environment. The effect that social norms have on decision-making is to satisfy social rules or conform to public behaviour i.e. follow group behaviour (Owens & Driffill, 2008).

Other factors that influence willingness to participate in LSCs are self-regarding motives,

environmental considerations and personal characteristics. These factors are in turn partly influenced by the characteristics of an LSC and the quality of the different levels of governance (Bauwens T. , Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy, 2016). Self-regarding motives are considered as motives that involve financial returns for an individual or household. Households that join a collective solely on behalf of self-regarding motives expect to have financial investments outbalanced by the expected return. In this case the expected return is the profit or reduction in electricity or heating bills (Bergman & Eyre, 2011).

Environmental considerations are actions that involve lifestyle habits that are aimed at reducing GHG emissions or to reduce other environmental impacts (Kilbourne & Pickett, 2007).

Personal characteristics are characteristics such as age, gender, income and job occupation (history). These factors have proven to be of influence on the willingness to engage in an LSC as well (Fraune, 2015; Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016).

These four groups of factors are in turn partly affected by local actors. For Dutch LSCs the national governance is equal, but the municipal and provincial governance is different. Each level of

governance is actively shaping its own ambitions. They do this by preventing certain developments (Greenpeace, 2016) and by stimulating those developments with subsidies and other incentives that they deem as positive (Hier opgewekt, 2018).

Finally the age and level of success of the Local Sustainability Collective is of importance for the level of engagement of individuals in that municipality. How long does the LSC exist, how well is the LSC managed and how well is the LSC embedded in the community (Boon & Dieperink, 2014; Hasanov & Zuidema, 2018)?

1.2.2 Research gap

As 1.2.1 points out, the research on factors that influence willingness to participate in an LSC has mainly been done in countries outside of the Netherlands. This is why this research aims to use the outcomes of the available literature and test them in the Netherlands as well. Besides the lack of

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engagement of individuals. Research to which factors are more predominant at volunteers than at members that are not volunteering for the LSC need further deepening.

1.2.3 Research aim

This research aims at examining the factors that influence the choice of individuals to engage in a Local Sustainability Collective (LSCs). This research will document the factors that influence citizen participation at the local level and how this influences their level of engagement. The purpose of this research is to offer the citizens that run the LSC an overview of the influence that the different factors have on each other and on the level of engagement of individuals. This research also aims at providing information to LSCs about how good management of their LSC is perceived. Finally, providing information on the factors that influence volunteerism can be a guideline for governments on how they need to improve their governance to stimulate sustainability at the local level.

1.3 Justification

1.3.1 Personal motivation

For a long time I have wondered why the Netherlands was lacking so far behind other EU countries in the field of renewable energy consumption. While expanding my knowledge on why not every roof in the Netherlands is covered with solar panels I found out what Local Sustainability Collectives are. Doing research on these grassroots initiatives made me realize their value. It has become obvious to me that these collectives have the power to help steer our country in the right direction, partly,

independent of the current political climate. This is why with this research I hope to add to the existing knowledge of LSCs and increase their share in the energy transition.

1.3.2 Justification

Sustainability is a topic that has become part of the international agenda. International negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris have resulted in an agreement to keep the maximum global average temperature rise as close to 1.5 °C as possible and well below an increase of 2 °C (FCCC, 2015). Critics (Watson, Carraro, Nakicenovic, McCarthy, Goldemberg, & Hisas, 2016) say these agreements will never be fulfilled because of the global GHG emission estimations. The countries on our planet will simply not be able to limit their GHG emission fast enough. This leaves us with the question how, in this respect, the Netherlands is fulfilling its obligations towards our planet. Is the Netherlands on track to become GHG emission neutral by 2050, something that is necessary if we want to keep the temperature increase of our planet within 2 °C (ibid). In 2016 renewable energy production accounted for 6.0% (CBS, 2017) of the total produced energy in the Netherlands against 12.3% in Germany and 28.7% in Denmark (Eurostat, 2018). This shows how much the Netherlands lacks behind other EU countries. Something needs to change because the consequences of a 2 °C increase will be disastrous for our world ecosystems, biodiversity, small island states existence, food- and water security and human health.

The financial costs of these impacts cannot be valued and are in no way comparable to the possible financial costs of GHG reductions. The uncertainty of the impacts of climate change call for the prevention of GHG emissions (Gupta, 2014). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global cumulative investments in renewable energy production methods to reach atmospheric GHG stabilization range between 2,850 – 12,280 billion USD from 2011 to 2030 (IPCC, 2011). The magnitude of these investments shows the importance of the private sector and civil society, since governments alone are unable to contribute to the size of these investments

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(Wüstenhagen & Menichetti, 2012). Civil society is the sector of voluntary citizen organizations outside the governmental and private sector (Flint & Taylor, 2011). In Germany (Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016) and Denmark (Kooij, et al., 2018) civil society already plays an important role in the renewable energy transition. In the Netherlands the share of civil society in the renewable energy transition is much smaller (Schwencke, 2017). The lack in size of citizen organization in sustainability shows the great potential that the LSCs have to help the Netherlands to fulfil its obligations towards the Climate Law and the 2015 Paris Agreement.

1.3.3 Societal relevance

Research into the factors that influence the choice of citizens to participate in Local Sustainability Collectives will help the collectives figure out how to find new members, how to manage their current members and how to recruit active member among their current members. Knowledge on the most important factors that influence the choice of citizens for an LSC is important information. LSCs will be able to focus their efforts on the most important factors to recruit new members. The same goes for current members, LSCs will be better able to keep their members satisfied and motivate them to increase their investments in sustainability. Finally this research will help LSCs to find out what factors are more predominant for active volunteers than for individuals that are solely a member of the LSC. The great amount of LSCs in the Netherlands, around 400 (Hier opgewekt, 2018), that all need volunteers to be successful makes this research very relevant for making the Netherlands reach its Climate Law obligations.

This research will also be useful for governments to know how they could motivate more individuals to become part of an LSC. Knowing which factors can be made more attractive by the government can help accelerate the energy transition. Also, municipalities that want to become more sustainable will benefit from more successful LSCs. If the LSCs are more effective then part of the ambition of the municipality is being done for them.

1.4 Data collection methods & outline thesis

The basis for the data collection has been laid with an intensive literature review, later semi-structured interviews have been conducted. Semi-structured interviews have been used to be able to keep an open mind about possible new factors that influence the choice of individuals. A total of 10 individuals and 4 stakeholders have been interviewed for this research.

Outline Thesis

The next chapter will present an elaborate background on the subject of this research (C 2). Chapter 3 will discuss the relevant concepts, a conceptual framework and the research questions. Chapter 4 will discuss the methods that were used during this research to collect the data. This data will be analysed at the Results chapter (C 5). Chapter 6 will discuss the implications of the results for the research questions as presented in 3.3. Chapter 7 draws the conclusion of this research, Chapter 8 contains the appendices and Chapter 9 the references to the consulted resources.

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Chapter 2: Background

2.1 Human induced environmental change

Environmental change is a natural phenomenon (Pickerill, 2012). Human induced environmental change on the other hand is not. Factors that drive human induced environmental change include GHG emissions (climate change), the use of pesticides, deforestation and the control of water for dams, canals and reservoirs (habitat loss). Mainly, the anthropocentric approach is the underlying problem of human induced environmental change. The anthropocentric approach argues that only humans have intrinsic value, this inherently means that the environment is only valuable as a resource (Carter, 2001).

GHG emissions have influence on the greenhouse effect of our planet. The greenhouse effect of our planet is a natural process that causes our planet to capture heat that is reflected by the Earth’s surface. Gases that exist in the Earth’s atmosphere contain the heat, these gases are mostly natural compounds being; water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide (Greenhouse Gases). If the

composition of these gases in the atmosphere is changed, then the heat capturing ability of the

atmosphere changes as well. When the amount of Greenhouse Gases in our atmosphere increases then the temperature of our planet will increase as well (Gregory, Johnston, Pratt, Watts, & Whatmore, 2009). The increase of the average global temperature of our planet is called global warming; this is called the enhanced greenhouse effect. One of the changes that global warming has on our planet is climate change. Climate change is the change of weather patterns of our planet for an extended period of time (Pickerill, 2012).

Climate change can have devastating effects on our planet’s ecosystems because the changes are occurring so rapidly. Ecosystems are unable to adapt to these changes and are under threat to be disrupted. Great disturbances in ecosystems have devastating effects on wildlife populations all over our planet (Gregory, Johnston, Pratt, Watts, & Whatmore, 2009).

Efforts to reduce our GHG emissions to reduce climate change are called mitigation measures (Gupta, 2014). Mitigation measures are investments in renewable energy sources, increasing carbon sinks and reduce consumption of goods. Mitigation measures are measures that aim to solve the root of the problem, measures that aim to solve our capability to deal with the symptoms are called adaptability and resilience is our ability to adapt (ibid).

Resilience is the ability to bounce back after an impact and to maintain its previous structure, function and identity. This can be done by decreasing the risk of impact (environmental change) and increase economic capital (evenly distributed welfare). Increasing resilience of the human population will mainly benefit the poor. The unevenly distributed effects of climate change will be reduced if we decrease the negative impacts on our planet (Adger, Brown, & Waters, 2011).

Adaptability is the ability to prepare for environmental changes. The adaptive capabilities of a population can be increased by obtaining a variety of learning capabilities to mitigate and adapt to environmental changes (Gupta, 2014). Climate change mitigation is taking measures to prevent the need to adapt to environmental changes. Producing and consuming energy in a sustainable matter will decrease the impact that we have on our ecosystems and will help prevent environmental changes (ibid).

The reason that great focus lies on climate change reduction is because this form of environmental change seems to directly affect us. Other environmental changes mainly include biodiversity loss; the loss of populations of plants and species on our planet. Human action that causes wildlife population

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declines is the use of pesticides, habitat loss and the change of water flows (Carter, 2001). While climate change has lately been under a great amount of attention thanks to organizations and individuals such as Al Gore (Straver, 2017) other human induced environmental changes are increasingly gaining more attention under the title sustainability.

Local sustainability collectives focus on more than just climate change by reducing fossil fuel

consumption to reduce GHG emissions. LSCs are able to address every aspect that individuals have on human induced environmental change. They do this mainly by informing the public about what they can do themselves to decrease their impact on our planet (Bauwens T. , 2016).

2.1.1 Groningen

The most apparent human induced environmental change in the Netherlands is the case of Groningen. In 1963 started the natural gas production in the province of Groningen. Underneath the surface of Groningen laid one of the biggest natural gas fields of our planet (2.800 billion cubic meters). The gas production has already contributed more than €265*109 to the balance of our national government, thus making it a very important part of the welfare of our country (Algemene Rekenkamer, 2014). On the other hand the abundant gas extraction in Groningen has resulted in an increasing amount of earthquakes in the region. These earthquakes have caused a lot of damage to buildings in the

proximity to the gas fields. The negative effects of the gas extraction became more apparent over the years and through lawsuits against the national government and the NAM (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij) the attention for this issue grew. This has resulted in damage compensation and a reduction in natural gas extraction. In 2018 the Dutch Government promised that within twelve years the natural gas production in Groningen is reduced to zero (van Santen & van der Walle, 2018). 2.2 Sustainability

According to Talen (2015) and the UN and their Sustainable Development Goals (2015) sustainability means ‘durable’, ‘to last’, reduce consumption of resources and increase resilience and adaptability. Describing sustainability has been pursued through defining the three pillars of sustainability, namely economic, social and environmental/ecological (Gregory, Johnston, Pratt, Watts, & Whatmore, 2009). These three pillars show that sustainability is still tethered to economic development, but at least it is shown that a synergy between these actors is of importance. Some trade-offs need to be made between the environment and economic development just like the issue of Groningen (2.1.1). Not all efforts towards sustainability can be made with maximum economic gain (ibid). For LSCs it is important to point to the social and environmental value of sustainability so that individuals will not only seek for maximal economic gain for their investments. Convincing individuals that sustainable solutions can also have economic benefits is crucial for sustainable development.

Sustainable development is development that respects the life quality of future generations and that is accomplished through support for the viability of the Earth’s resources and ecosystems (Saunier, 1999). The fact that fossil fuels have a limited nature means that in the future our energy mix will consist of 100% renewable energy sources. This knowledge tells us that fossil fuels will become more scarce and expensive and renewable energy sources will become relatively less expensive (Bollino & Polinori, 2011).

Development can be made sustainable by using resources that we will be able to continue to use in the distant future without degrading our ecosystems and cause global warming (Gregory, Johnston, Pratt, Watts, & Whatmore, 2009). Reducing consumption will contribute to a more sustainable future by making our production and consumption more resource effective. By using only sustainable resources and by using less of these resources we will be able to overcome the changes that we make in our

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ecosystems (Castree, Kitchin, & Rogers, 2013).

It is believed by Hannah (2015) that great societal changes are needed to be able to change the GHG concentration in our atmosphere, but that it is possible to do this with current technologies. The energy transition entails the shift from unsustainable to renewable sources to produce energy that do not alter the greenhouse effect of our planet (ibid). Making citizens part of the energy transition is believed to have an accelerating effect on the success of the transition (Hentschel, Ketter, & Collins, 2018). Besides being clean, renewable energy offers the benefit of being able to decentralize energy production, this results in a diversified and democratized energy supply (ibid).

2.2.1 Ecological footprint

Increasing sustainable development entails decreasing the negative impact that humanity has on nature and the environment. An important concept in environmentalism is the ‘ecological footprint’. This concept shows planners, individuals and communities the impact that they have on our planet. The ecological footprint of a person is calculated in hectares per person. Developed by Rees &

Wackernagel (1998), the ecological footprint calculates the amount of land a person used with its everyday activities. It measures the resources people consume and waste they generate. Then, this is calculated in the amount of biologically productive land that is needed to produce these resources and process this waste. It has calculated the average footprint of our world population on 2.2 hectares per person. This is an overshot since we only have about an average of 1.8 hectares arable land per person available on our planet. The ecological footprint concept was the first method to measure the impact that every person has on our planet (Wackernagel, 1998).

2.3 Renewable energy sources

Sustainable production of energy is the overall decoupling of energy from natural exhaustible

resources (SDG, 2015). Sustainable production of energy does not make use of fossil fuels because of their polluting nature. The generally accepted renewable energy sources are; wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower (Eurostat, 2018). In the mid 19th_{century concerns about the limits of our} natural resources began to grow. In the 1860s the physicist and mathematician Mouchot was

developing solar powered steam engines because he was convinced that one day we would run out of coal and oil (Guarnieri, 2016).

It was only until 1954 that photovoltaic (PV) electricity first gained a foothold when it was demanded for space exploration in 1954. PV electricity has been a more expensive energy production than its fossil fuel counterparts for the biggest part of the 20th_{century (Sorensen, 1991). Technological} innovations and increasing energy prices have made PV energy a more viable option. Currently, the Netherlands is the only EU country where the financial value of PV energy production outweighs the governmental financial funding. This is mainly because of the great amount of experience in PV electricity production that the Netherlands enjoys (Ortega-Izquierdo & del Rio, 2016).

Wind energy is an energy source that is historically connected to the Netherlands (Sorensen, 1991). From 1974, triggered by the fuel embargo, the Netherlands founded the LSEO, the National Steering Committee for Energy Research, with the intention to become a leader in wind electricity production. The Netherlands did not succeed to create a viable wind electricity production sector and this position was claimed by Denmark and California (Verbong, 1999).

Geothermal energy production methods make use of the warmth of our planet to produce energy. Being fairly popular in the 70’s and 80’s, geothermal energy declined from being the most used renewable energy source to one of the least used methods worldwide (Milieu Centraal, 2017).

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Biomass and biofuel energy is energy produced by incinerating energy sources. These sources are; general waste, kitchen and garden waste, wood, vegetable oils, animal fertilisers and biofuel crops. Although controversial because of its nature; it requires deforestation for production and CO2 emission for consumption, biomass and biofuels is the most used sustainable energy source (Milieu Centraal, 2016).

Hydro electricity has long been used as a back-up electricity source for remote areas (Sorensen, 1991). The hydropower capacity in Europe has remained stable for around thirty years and accounted for 50% of the ‘renewable’ energy supply in 1970. Building a dam and putting turbines in the water outlet generate hydropower (OECD/IEA, 2004). This makes hydropower a viable option for countries that have elevation, making the Netherlands the only EU country where government funding is ineffective against its generation of electricity in financial terms (Ortega-Izquierdo & del Rio, 2016).

2.3.1 Renewable energy production in the Netherlands

In 2010 the EU-28 renewable energy consumption was 9.9% whereas this percentage grew to 13.0% in 2015 (Eurostat, 2018). By EU standards, the Netherlands does not do well in comparison to the average. In 2010 the Netherlands consumed 2.6% of its energy from renewables and 4.7% in 2015 (see 9.3). According to the CBS, these figures were higher because in the Netherlands we also include municipal and industrial waste as renewable energy sources.

The biggest renewable energy source in the Netherlands is ‘biomass and biofuels’. Despite the controversy around biomass energy (Read, 2008), the total share of biomass energy production in 2016 was 3.74% of the total energy production, being 62.65% of the Dutch total renewable energy production, consisting for 25.7% of waste incineration (CBS, 2017). The second largest renewable energy source in the Netherlands is wind electricity. Wind electricity in the Netherlands accounted for 24.12% in 2016, which is 1.44% of the total consumed electricity, of the total Dutch renewable energy consumption (CBS, 2017). In comparison, in 2016 Denmark produced an equivalent of 37.6% of its total energy consumption from wind turbines (DWIA, 2017). Solar produced electricity is a growing sector in the Netherlands but is still relatively small. In 2016 4.52% of the Dutch renewable energy production was supplied by PV installations (CBS, 2017). Recent figures have shown that the share of Dutch solar electricity in the total energy consumption in the Netherlands grew from 0.32% in 2016 to 0.42% in 2017 (CBS, 2018). This is a substantial growth, but still a fraction of the total energy

consumption nonetheless. Geothermal warmth is an energy production method that has seen a

decrease in its relative share in renewable energy consumption. In the Netherlands, geothermal energy production accounts for 5.36% of the total renewable energy production (CBS, 2017). Despite its lack of elevation, The Netherlands does have hydro electricity production methods, in 2016 they accounted for 0.34% of our renewable energy production (CBS, 2017). The Dutch method involves turbines that are placed right behind the weirs in the large rivers. These turbines make use of the quantity of water that passes through the rivers instead of the speed or elevation difference like conventional hydro electricity does (Milieu Centraal, 2017).

2.4 Reduction of energy consumption

A way to decrease the ecological footprint is to decrease energy consumption. The energy consumption of individuals can be divided into household energy consumption, transport energy consumption and product energy consumption. The household- and transport energy consumption can be divided into electrical and fossil fuel energy consumption (Dietz, Stern, & Weber, 2013). Product energy consumption is mainly measured in the ecological footprint of a product (Wackernagel, 1998). Households use 15% of the total energy consumption in the Netherlands (Milieu Centraal, 2018). The

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energy consumption of a household is the main item in an increasingly popular trend; ‘zero-on-the-meter-homes’ (Dutch: Nul op de Meter). Zero on the Meter homes ideally consume no natural gas and produce their own electricity. Citizens that want to turn their home into a Zero on the Meter home need to invest in natural gas-saving equipment and sustainable domestic electrical power production. Under natural gas-saving equipment we understand all substitution of gas consuming equipment by electrical equipment as well as insulation and ventilation methods (Fell, Fell, & Lukianova, 2015). Electrical substitutions of natural gas-consuming equipment include a (hybrid) heat pump, electrical cooking, electrical heating and floor heating. When all of the gas consuming equipment in a house is replaced by electrical equipment then this house can become natural gas-free or near natural gas-free (Milieu Centraal, 2018).

A house that is completely natural gas free generally has higher electricity consumption than houses that still consume natural gas. A (hybrid) heat pump can, for instance, raise the electricity

consumption of a household from 3000 kWh to 5000 kWh (energiesite, 2018) on a yearly basis. To become a Zero on the Meter home investments in sustainable electricity generating equipment need to be made. Sustainable electricity is mainly generated by placing solar panel on the roof of the house or by taking part in collectively generated solar or wind electricity (Hier opgewekt, 2018).

Transport and travelling also consume energy. Making the choice between travelling by plane, train, car or bicycle is one of the factors that determines the energy consumption of households as well. Taking an effort to commute together or making the trip by an electrical bicycle can greatly reduce energy consumption. Electrical bikes are, and even more in the future, viable alternatives for people who need to travel 40kms to their destination. When the electricity is generated sustainable, the use of electrical cars and bicycles can make daily commuting and travel carbon emission neutral (Milieu Centraal, 2018). The total energy use of electrical transport in the Netherlands has grown

exponentially from 35 kWh in 2013 to 278 kWh in 2016 (CBS, 2017).

Finally, an important factor to reduce household energy consumption is insulation and ventilation (Fell, Fell, & Lukianova, 2015). It is critical for homes that produce their own energy in a sustainable manner and make use of a heat pump that it is insulated properly. To save the energy (relatively cool or relatively warm) inside a home, all possible ways for that energy to slip out of the house need to be averted. This can be done by placing insulating materials between cavity walls, under floors, against the roof and by preventing air leakage through cracks. Windows also need at least double-glazing, but triple glazing is becoming more common still. The advantage of all of these insulation methods is that the house needs less heating because the generated heat is conserved, which saves money (ibid). The result of a properly insulated house is an airtight environment that can have poor air quality. The solution is heat recovering mechanical ventilation. This ventilation saves the heat inside the house and provides proper air quality (isolatie.net, 2018).

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Chapter 3: Theoretical framework

In this chapter the theory of volunteerism, the conceptual model and the background is discussed. The theory will give insights in what drives individuals to commit themselves to a goal on a voluntary basis (3.1). The conceptual model (see 3.2) will discuss which factors have influence on the willingness of individuals to do voluntary work for an LSC. This operationalization is then used to formulate the research questions that this research aims to answer (3.3).

3.1 Volunteerism

Volunteerism that was once considered as “nonessential pastime” (Chapman, 2008) or simply a form of social work, leisure or social engagement, has become more appreciated as a form of capital in society (Feit & Holosko, 2013). With increasing government budget cuts in social services and the increasing width of human needs the role of volunteerism is becoming more apparent (ibid). Volunteerism has shown to fill in the gaps that the government leaves in social services and human health (Penner, 2004). In the case of LSCs volunteerism will have less to do with human health in the direct sense, although climate change and air quality are closely tied to human health (Lu, Yao, Fung, & Lau, 2016), and more with the gap in governance of local and national governments on

sustainability.

3.1.1 Defining volunteerism

Volunteerism can be defined as non-salaried services offered by individuals with a deliberately planned period of time (Cnaan, Handy, & Wadsworth, 1996). Volunteerism has the requisite to be non-obligated work, which separates it from unpaid overtime (Penner, 2004). Although non-salaried work is quiet unambiguous, voluntary work does create value. This is why there is no clear and consensually accepted definition (Liu, Ching, & Wu, 2017).

A more recent definition of volunteerism is “freely chosen and deliberate helping activities that extend

over time, are engaged without expectation of reward or other compensation and often through formal organizations, and that are performed on behalf of causes or individuals who desire assistance”

(Snyder & Omoto, 2008, p. 3). This broad definition helps this research define some key factors of the phenomenon that this research focuses on. First (1) ‘freely chosen’, the volunteers at the LSC need to be able to freely choose to become a volunteer after they have become a member and consequently need to be able to freely choose to quit their ‘voluntary job’. (2) Extend over time, individuals that just happen to help at a meeting once are not consideren volunteers. Individuals that have commited themselves to become a ‘recognized’ volunteer for the LSC are considered as volunteers. (3) Reward, volunteers join the LSC as a volunteer with the knowledge that they do not receive any determined compensation. (4) Formal organization, the LSC is a formal organization since it is registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Hier opgewekt, 2018). (5) Causes that desire assistance, as elaborated in the background section (2.3) the energy transition (2.3.2) needs the help van citizens to accelarate and become more successful.

Research on volunteerism has two main focuses: (1) the causes that lead individuals to volunteer (Mannino, Snyder, & Omoto, 2010) and (2) the impact of their volunteering (Feit & Holosko, 2013). This research aims at the factors that influence the willingness of individuals to volunteer for an LSC so the first main focus of volunteerism is of most importance for this research.

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Volunteerism is a motivated phenomenon; individuals are propelled by motivational forces and choose to volunteer. Individuals seek out volunteer activities while they have to overcome the fact that it is time-consuming, it involves costs and it involves offering sustained assistance to possible strangers (Snyder & Cantor, 1998, Mannino, Snyder, & Omoto, 2010). According to Mannino, Snyder & Omoto (2010) The motivation of individuals to volunteer for a common purpose can be divided in three main approaches, (1) functional perspective; purposes, needs and goals of volunteering, the influence of the (2) identity of the individual and the (3) connection to a community of an individual. The functional perspective is the vision that explaines what individuals are trying to accomplish by volunteering (Mannino, Snyder, & Omoto, 2010). What are the goals of the volunteers, do they simply need to pass the time, do they want to help their neighbourhood in becoming more sustainable or do they just want to be part of the global energy transition?

The identity of an individual makes him or her choose to volunteer if they feel like it benefits their identity. Individuals that beleive themselves to be altruistic may feel like volunteering is part of their identity. Individuals that beleive they can contribute to an LSC with their knowledge and experience may choose for volunteerism. In the end volunteering itself may become part of the identity of an individual (Harlow & Cantor, 1996).

The connection of the individual to a community is imortant since this connection takes away the anonymity of volunteering. Individuals tend to prefer to volunteer for others they know instead of complete strangers. This is why volunteering mainly occurs within the community of an individual (Mannino, Snyder, & Omoto, 2010). A community feeling of an individual can be described with place attachment as a group. Place attachment refers to the connection that people feel to a place that brings up emotions and feelings. We speak of a community if this place attachment is shared with other individuals and if these individuals make part of a group (Knez, 2005).

3.2 Conceptual model

The three motivations of individuals to volunteer as described by Mannino et al. (2010) are believed to be of influence on the choice of citizens to become a volunteer an LSC as well. Literature on the factors that influence willingness of citizens to join an LSC can be divided into four groups. Being self-regarding motives (Bauwens T. , 2016), social or moral forms (Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016), environmental considerations (Kilbourne & Pickett, 2007) and personal characteristics (Fraune, 2015). If we look at the three motivations for volunteerism then we can place these four factor groups under one or more of the three motivations.

Self-regarding motives can be seen as a functional perspective because of the individual nature of a self-regarding motive. Personal characteristics are factors that correspond to the identity motivations of individuals. Environmental considerations can be placed into each form of motivation to volunteer. Care for the environment can originate from a functional perspective “I want to improve global sustainability”, but it can also be part of the identity of an individual, finally it could also be a way to improve the liveability of the community. Social or moral forms can be placed under identity and community, volunteering could be both a need to connect with the community but also part of the identity of the individual.

Research to the factors that influence the choice of citizens to join an LSC has been done in the UK (Walker, Devine-Wright, Hunter, High, & Evans, 2010), Belgium (Bauwens T. , Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy, 2016) and Germany (Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016). Research (Walker, Devine-Wright, Hunter, High, & Evans, 2010; Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016; Bauwens T., 2016) has shown that the most important indicators for willingness to join an LSC are social norms and interpersonal and social trust. When there is trust between local people

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and groups then the project is more likely to become a success. Collectives can use this fact to their benefit since citizens tend to trust local initiatives more often than private investments (Walker, Devine-Wright, Hunter, High, & Evans, 2010). Social norms or even social pressure can be important incentives for citizens to join a LSC. Citizens that are not particularly environmentally engaged might join a LSC if is part of the social norm (Bauwens T. , 2016; Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016). The third factors that influence citizens’ choices are economic incentives. Since renewable energy production methods become more economically and technically profitable (Ortega-Izquierdo & del Rio, 2016), the last generation of LSC members (last 10 years) have increasingly joined for economical motives (Bauwens T. , Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy, 2016). These economical motives can be enhanced by local institutional settings such as subsidies and legislation (ibid). The fourth group of factors that influence a citizens’ choice to engage in a LSC is personal characteristics. Research has shown (Fraune, 2015) that citizens that are active in local sustainability are predominantly higher educated, 50 years and older men.

The conceptual model visualises the factors that have influence on individuals to become a member and to volunteer for an LSC. The model visualises that all four factors can have a positive influence on the willingness to volunteer if these factors are present in a stimulating manner. What it means for these factors to be stimulating will be discussed in the results chapter (see chapter 5).

The model also shows that stimulating governance can have a positive influence on the Local Sustainability Collective. With fitting governance the positive influence of the collective in the municipality can be increased. Consequently the influence of the LSC on the age, the level of trust the LSC has in the community and the level of visibility the LSC has in the community.

Both stimulating governance and the LSC have influence on the social or moral forms, the

environmental engagement and the self-regarding motives of the individuals. Even though personal characteristics can have a positive influence on the choice to volunteer for an LSC, this factor is independent in this model.

3.2.1 Operationalization

In order to measure the concept of volunteerism at Local Sustainability Collectives the factors that are of influence on this volunteerism need to be operationalized. The operationalization can be found at table 1 on the next page.

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Operationalization of motivation for volunteerism

Dimensions Operational indicators

Self-regarding motives

Does the individual have sufficient financial resources

How are conventional investments compared to sustainable investments

Social or moral forms

What is the influence of family What is the influence of friends What is the influence of neighbours

How engaged in the community is the individual

Environmental considerations

What sustainable investments have been done in the home of the individual

What knowledge does the individual have about its ecological footprint (waste, transport, consumption)

Personal characteristics

What is the influence of the occupational and educational background What is the influence of gender

What is the influence of age

National Governance Does the national government provide sufficient incentives to stimulate LSCs

What is the influence of the national governance on three of the four factor groups

Provincial Governance Does the provincial government provide sufficient incentives to stimulate LSCs

What is the influence of the provincial governance on three of the four factor groups

Municipal Governance Does the municipal government provide sufficient incentives to stimulate LSCs

What is the influence of the municipal governance on three of the four factor groups

Local Sustainability Collective

What is the age of the LSC Do individuals trust the LSC

How is the LSC connected with the community How well does the LSC make itself visible

What is the influence of the characteristics of the LSC on three of the four factor groups

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The operational indicators will be measured through questions (Bryman, 2012, p. 165). What these questions are can be found in the appendices chapter (9.2) and how these questions are conducted is discussed in chapter 4.3.

3.3 Research questions

In light of the 2015 UNFCCC agreement in Paris and the Dutch Climate Law this research poses the following research question: What factors influence the choice of individuals to volunteer for a Local Sustainability Collective in North Holland and how can it progress to meet demand?

When ‘the three factor-groups’ is mentioned, then the ‘personal characteristics are left out since they are expected to be independent.

1. Sub-question: What is the influence of self-regarding motives on volunteerism at an LSC. - What is the influence of self-regarding motives on members?

- What is the influence of self-regarding motives on volunteers?

2. Sub-question: What is the influence of social or moral forms on volunteerism at an LSC. - What is the influence of social or moral forms on members?

- What is the influence of social or moral forms on volunteers?

3. Sub-question: What is the influence of environmental considerations on volunteerism at an LSC.

- What is the influence of environmental considerations on members? - What is the influence of environmental considerations on volunteers?

4. Sub-question: What is the influence of personal characteristics on volunteerism at an LSC. - What is the influence of personal characteristics on members?

- What is the influence of personal characteristics on volunteers?

5. Sub-question: What is the influence of national, provincial and municipal governance on the LSCs and the three factor-groups.

- Are the policies being perceived as stimulating by LSCs? - Are the policies being perceived as stimulating by individuals?

6. Sub-question: What is the influence of the characteristics of the LSC on the three factor-groups.

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Chapter 4: Methodology

This chapter explains the philosophical stance (see 4.1). The research design (see 4.2) explains the type of case study, the units of analysis and the sampling criteria. The research methods (see 4.3) will elaborate the data collection and analysis methods. Reliability, validity and the limitations will be discussed at the quality criteria (see 4.4) and finally the ethical considerations are discussed (4.5). 4.1 Philosophical stance

The epistemological position this research takes is interpretivism. This research respects the

differences between people and the natural sciences and grasps the subjective meaning of social action (Bryman, 2012, p. 30). The observational field of social reality has different meanings and structures to different individuals acting in it. Social definitions such as volunteerism need to be constructed in the same way as they are perceived by the individuals that they have been founded upon (Schutz, 1962). From an epistemological positivism (Bryman, 2012, p. 28) stance one could research the level of volunteerism as ‘hours invested’, ‘financial costs’ or construct some sort of ‘level of engagement’, but since investment can be seen as a social construct, it is different for each individual. This means that this research does not aim to give an exact level of influence for each factor that can be applied; it means that this research recognizes that the social construct of volunteerism is influenced by

numerous factors that can’t possibly be captured by a single research.

The ontological position this research takes is that of the constructionism. As 3.1.1 explains

volunteerism is a fuzzy construct. This research assumes that volunteerism is a social construct that is subject to social interpretation. If one day the nature of payment or the idea of leisure changes then the idea of what voluntary work is will change as well. Volunteerism is a social phenomenon that is accomplished through the interaction between social entities and their perception of what volunteerism is.

4.2 Research design

This research entails the detailed and intensive analysis of the single event ‘volunteerism at LSCs’ at the location of North-Holland, the Netherlands. This qualitative case study investigates a range of indicators that have influence on this single phenomenon. It is a representative case study since the phenomenon of volunteerism can be observed at (Bryman, 2012, p. 67) every LSC in the Netherlands. To a certain extend, this phenomenon can be observed at similar Sustainability Cooperatives all over our planet.

4.2.1 Units of analysis

The units of analysis are individuals that are a ‘member’ of an LSC in North-Holland. These

individuals are citizens that can have any residential location in the Netherlands, but are ‘member’ of a collective in North-Holland. For this research the term ‘member’ is used for individuals that have used the services of an LSC. This means that they have bought solar panels through the collective or have made use of advise on sustainable investments. Paying membership to the collective is not necessary because not every collective makes use of membership. Some of the members have become more important to the collective. They have, besides receiving information and services from the collective, provided information and services to the collective and its members.

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4.2.2 Sampling procedure

For this research primary data has been collected from ten individuals.

The research has made use of purposive sampling to collect data from a group of individuals as

representative as possible within the given time limits of this research. I initially expected cooperatives to be able to provide me with a list of their members, but this wasn’t possible. Because of European privacy legislation (CMS, 2017) the stakeholders were only allowed to email their members

themselves. The members would come to me if they were interested in being interviewed. This legislation made it hard for me to find respondents. Finally the individuals have been approached through email and personal contact at a meeting of an LSC. The individuals are members of five different LSCs. Six members are member of one particular LSC and the other four individuals are all members of different LSCs. From the in total ten individuals six individuals are also volunteers at their LSC. One of the ten interviewed individuals is female. The youngest of the ten respondents is 45, the oldest 74 years old. Seven of the ten respondents have a technical occupational background.

Besides having interviewed ten individuals four stakeholders have been interviewed as well. These stakeholders are all members of the board of a different LSC in the research area. The stakeholders have been approached through email and telephone contact.

4.3 Research methods 4.3.1 Data collection

The data collection phase of this research, which began in February 2018, began with reviewing literature on the decentralized energy market. An overview of the literature was made to create a foundation of knowledge of the existing literature on this topic. Secondly the stakeholders were interviewed to test whether they agreed with what the existing literature was suggested. Then the causality that the existing literature suggested was applied on the sampled individuals to collect primary data.

Literature review

The aim of the literature review was to collect actual data on the research topic. This secondary data was used to determine indicators for the next phase of the research, the collection of primary data. Data on LSCs in Europe was collected and their findings synthesised and compared to the limited available literature on Dutch LSCs. During the literature review process the research question of this research kept changing. New literature gaps were found and more specific articles to the scope of the research were reviewed. Finally the four factors for volunteerism were constructed as well as the indicators that influence them.

Stakeholder interviews

After the construction of the indicators for volunteerism interviews with stakeholders at the LSCs were conducted (see 9.1). Ideally these interviews would have been held before the literature review phase to better determine the scope of the research that was needed in the eyes of the stakeholders. These stakeholders could have given advise on relevant keywords and direction of the literature review (Bryman, 2012, pp. 98-103). Nonetheless the stakeholder interviews provided a useful direction to the research and largely confirmed the data collected from the literature review. The

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interviews showed that finding volunteers for LSCs is the main focus that this research should have. Semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews make use of an interview guide (see 9.2) that guides the interview along a certain determined path of questions. The exact line of questions and answers can deviate from the literature guide, but does give a great deal of structure. This structure has helped to collect data on the factors that the literature review has pointed out to be of relevance. The semi-structured interview is flexible; it allowed me to ask the respondent into more detail about ‘new’ indicators for volunteerism (Bryman, 2012, p. 471). The flexible aspect was important because of the possible new findings that this research would have. Most interviews were face-to-face but some were through Skype. Every respondent agreed that I would record the interview. Making notes during the interview was unnecessary thanks to the recordings; this gave me a good focus on the interviews. Every interview started off with the respondents telling about themself, already giving a lot of useful information without having to ask them questions. After a while I steered the interview to the questions that were prepared to give the interview more structure.

4.3.2 Data analysis methods

The interviews that were conducted for this research, both with the stakeholders and the units of analysis, were audio-recorded and subsequently transcribed. During the transcription the first phase of the analysis was conducted through thematic analysis (Bryman, 2012, p. 13). The interview guide was arranged in such a way that the transcribed data could each be placed under a certain theme, being each indicator for volunteerism in an LSC. This way the data analysis took place during the

transcription. After the transcription a Framework (Bryman, 2012, pp. 578-580) was made in the form of an Excel sheet. This Framework contains the operationalization of the indicators and their

corresponding themes. The interviews were analysed and the statements that corresponded with each indicator were placed in the corresponding cell. The result is an overview of every indicator, unit of analysis and the corresponding statement in one sheet.

4.4 Quality criteria

Quality criteria for qualitative research are somewhat different to the criteria of quantitative research. This is due to the nature of qualitative research; non-random sampling, the possible temporary setting of the research, and the small number of respondents make quality criteria for qualitative research an often-discussed topic (Bryman, 2012, p. 389). This research will apply quality criteria of external reliability and internal reliability and validity (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). These criteria were chosen because the majority of the literature that was reviewed for this research made use of these same criteria. The internal reliability of this research is irrelevant since one student conducted this research. 4.4.1 External reliability

External reliability is a very important aspect of quantitative research, describing the taken steps during the research will increase the replicability of the research (Bryman, 2012, p. 390). For qualitative research this is harder to achieve. Social settings, relations and temporary actors can’t be ‘frozen’ to make sure that this research can be replicated and checked for correctness. I hope to increase the external reliability of my research by describing the role that I had during this research. First of all, I conducted the research as a student. Below every email that I sent for this research I

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described myself as ‘Environmental Geography Student at the University of Amsterdam’. By showing that I am a student I hoped to create a level of trust since I am not out for profit. As a student I am also showing that I can offer help and new insights to the volunteers. These volunteers actually are

benefitting from my research since I am doing research to a topic that benefits them. Finally, even though most respondents probably don’t know my Masters’ is about, being an ‘Environmental Geography’ student shows that I am interested in the environment. This is important information for individuals that wish to make their lives more sustainable.

During the interviews I tried to connect with the respondent. Finding topics that the respondents were interested in to talk about offered me the chance to ask more personal questions. The results was that sometimes only half of a 1.5 hour long interview contained useful information, but the result was the ability acquire more useful information as well.

The interviews themselves were mostly taken at the homes of the respondents. The interviews with the stakeholders were mostly taken through Skype.

4.4.2 Internal validity

One of the strengths of qualitative research is its internal validity (Bryman, 2012, p. 390). The thorough literature review formed the basis for the interview guide which increases the internal validity of this research. The formulated questions were asked and thanks to the semi-structured design even more relevant questions could be asked concerning possible causality. The chance that face-to-face interviews give is also valued, understanding the respondents’ underlying thoughts and motivations is crucial to increase the internal validity of this research as well.

4.4.3 External validity

The external validity of qualitative research is one of its weaknesses (Bryman, 2012, p. 390). The found causality for volunteerism could very well be only applicable to the specific setting in which the research was conducted. Although the environmental situation of this research must be taken into account, the generalizability of this research is believed to be high nonetheless. When the indicators of the different levels of governance and the characteristics of the LSC are taken into account, then the factors that influence volunteerism at LSCs are reasonably generalizable. This is also thanks to the intensive literature review.

4.5 Ethical considerations and positionality

The interviews were held while holding the ethical rules for interviewing in consideration (Bryman, 2012). The interviews were conducted anonymously and the names of the respondents are not mentioned in the interview transcription. Making the respondents aware of this fact is important because they might feel constraint to share their true considerations if they feel like their opinion will become public. Conducting the interviews anonymously will benefit the reliability of the given answers.

This research is undoubtedly influence by my point of view. It is my opinion that sustainability is a crucial part of modern society and that it is very urgent that governments all over our planet must recognize the damage that we do to our planet. Contributing to the energy transition is a role that governments must take, but I think that the role of citizens is just as important. This is why I recognize the importance of LSCs and the importance that volunteers have for LSCs. During the interviews this

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opinion might have occasionally come across as somewhat direct since I genuinely want to know how the energy transition can be accelerated. Also, my interest for technical solutions for sustainability occasionally influenced the direction that the interview went. I caught myself on asking more in-depth questions to respondents that have an interesting background.

Chapter 5: Results

This chapter contains the analysis of the results from the primary and the secondary data collection. The nature and the types of LSCs are described in paragraph 5.1. The nature and influence of the energy policy legislation at the different levels of governance is described in paragraph 5.2 and paragraph 5.3 describes the analysis of the four groups of indicators of volunteerism at LSCs. Finally 5.4 discusses what specific arguments individuals gave for why they did or did not volunteer for the LSC.

5.1 The nature and types of Local Sustainability Collectives 5.1.1 What role for Local Sustainability Collectives

The role of LSCs: Secondary data

An opportunity for radical changes in the energy transition lies with Local Sustainability Collectives (LSC’s). These LSC’s can be funded by the local municipality, but are mostly grassroots initiatives in collaboration- or without collaboration with local authorities or businesses (Kooij, et al., 2018). LSC’s are open and dynamic (mostly) bottom-up initiatives that are able to connect local interests with sustainability. The exact determination of what an LSC is, or should do, is not uniform so a variety of projects call themselves renewable energy grassroots, local sustainability initiatives, community renewable energy projects, collective sustainability or local renewable energy projects. In the basis the organizations share a common goal, improving sustainability in the Netherlands at the local level. The Netherlands has a great variety of LSCs, these LSCs all vary in the way they name themselves, how they see their role, what their goals are, their size and their ambitions. It is safe to say that every form of collective sustainable energy reduction or generation is or has been part of the ambition of one or more LSCs in the Netherlands. Some collectives solely aim at generating solar energy collectively; other collectives aim at providing as cheap as possible heat pumps for private use and others just aim at raising sustainability awareness by giving readings (Hier opgewekt, 2018). The collectives that have been contacted for this research all aimed at providing low prices for sustainability, providing

collective energy as well as raising awareness.

Research on local sustainability collectives has pointed out indicators for their emergence (Boon & Dieperink, 2014; Hasanov & Zuidema, 2018) and explored the variety of factors that influenced the choice of citizens to join an LSC (Walker, Devine-Wright, Hunter, High, & Evans, 2010; Bauwens T. , 2016; Kalkbrenner & Roosen, 2016).

Local Sustainability Collectives can be a shift from incumbent energy production companies. These large companies are being contested by small community- or municipality based energy projects. The concept of ‘community energy’ is an initiative that contains formal and informal citizen-led initiatives that offer collaborative solutions on a local basis to facilitate the development of sustainable energy (Bauwens T. , Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy, 2016). These projects extend across a wide diversity of renewable energy sources (Walker, Devine-Wright,

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Hunter, High, & Evans, 2010), but in the Netherlands mainly consist of solar (36,6 MW) and wind (118 kW) energy (Schwencke, 2017). LSCs also share a common attribute; owning a KvK (Chamber of Commerce)-number. This means that they are legal organs that have limited liability (Hier

opgewekt, 2018).

The role of LSCs: Primary data

The respondents confirmed that they feel like LSCs can be a factor in the change to a sustainable country of the Netherlands. It is not the solution, but it is seen as part of the solution. One respondent has the opinion that “The LSC has several roles, it increases interest in sustainability for its citizens

and it has the ability to increase social cohesion in the neighbourhood”. Another respondent said,

“The utility of the LSC is very big. It has, like no other institution, the ability to reach citizens. Created

for and by citizens without the pursuit of profit, this creates trust”.

This is stated because the LSC has an important role to play in providing knowledge; knowledge about the importance of sustainability and knowledge about the interesting opportunities that sustainability offers. By starting at the local level LSCs have the ability to make sustainable investment more financially attractive, change public opinion on sustainability and increase environmental awareness. When the LSCs in the entire country are able to successfully influence these three factors then the national opinion is changed as well. This way LSCs have the ability to change the national opinion and indirectly future governance.

5.1.2 Citizen participation

The indirect change of governance, through changing public behaviour is one of the abilities of the LSC, but direct change of governance is another.

Citizen participation is the ability of members of the public to involve in societal governance, the involvement of groups of individuals and representatives to influence public decisions such as

planning, organizing and community development (Baum, 2015). LSCs are communities that are able to organize themselves to have influence on multiple levels of governance.

Political citizen participation is believed to have the ability to represent low-income citizens and has the ability to address subjects that citizens believe that the government doesn’t address well enough. Local governments have come to accept community participation as part of daily decision-making (Baum, 2015). A respondent illustrates the value of citizen participation through LSCs;

“Municipalities are able to reach a lot more if they have the support of the citizens. This way the LSCs

can contribute to creating organized support for sustainability. As alderman this will give the opportunity to show that you have the support of the citizens”.

Besides the political influence that citizens can have on sustainability at the local level, citizen participation can also be financial citizen participation. Local governments often simply lack the financial resources to invest in the energy transition. By engaging citizens in investing in more sustainable solutions (see 2.2-4) governments are able to accelerate their sustainable agenda with the help of the public (Liu, Ching, & Wu, 2017). The size of private capital is illustrated by two

respondents (1) “Money often isn’t a problem, there are a lot of private investors that love to invest in

wind electricity”. (2) “ We invested €100.000 in wind energy, in hindsight we should have invested a lot more. The yearly profit is so much higher than alternative investments”.