Empowering Citizen COllectives in societal transitions (ECCO)

Dutch residents experience a diminishing sense of control over their lives and living environment, as has been widely acknowledged by scientists and governmental think tanks. At the same time, trust in government institutions has plummeted to historic lows. These issues are momentous, because society faces multiple crises—from housing issues and the liveability of rural and urban areas to climate change and the transition to sustainable energy sources. Citizen collectives have been recognised as potentially significant solutions to provide communities the ability to respond, resist and adapt to changes in their direct living environments. These specific grassroots organisations–set up by groups of citizens who work together to achieve a common goal, creating and managing resources for this purpose collectively–are often seen as incubators of societal transitions, because they innovate new pathways, approaches, and potential solutions for persistent societal challenges. However, although many policy documents assume that citizen collectives can significantly enhance citizens' agency, effective co-creation between CCs and governments remains rare.
Taking an Extreme Citizen Science approach–research that engages practitioners in every stage and is aimed at empowering communities–ECCO will develop robust models, methods, digital and non-digital tools that facilitate equal partnerships between governments and citizen collectives, also considering the interests of citizens outside formal collectives. The tools will empower individual citizens and strengthen citizen collectives by providing them with practicable knowledge and skills, and by demonstrating their value, credibility, and long-term impact to governments. By taking the existing knowledge-sharing platform CollectieveKracht.eu a significant step further, ECCO will engage in creating positive societal impact from the start of the project, as well as ensure that the innovative methods, models, tools, and knowledge remain accessible to a broad audience even after ECCO’s conclusion, continuing to attract the attention of scientists and practitioners interested in citizen collectives.