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SUSTAINABLE COOPERATION
SCOOP is a research and training centre dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of sustainable cooperation as a key feature of resilient societies.
Sustainable Cooperation
SCOOP is a research and training centre dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of sustainable cooperation as a key feature of resilient societies. Click here for an accessible primer on the program. The centre connects research groups from sociology, psychology, history, philosophy, public administration, research methods, and statistics. SCOOP is a joint initiative by the University of Groningen (Strategic Theme Sustainable Society) and Utrecht University (Strategic Theme Institutions for Open Societies), and also involves researchers from the VU Amsterdam, the Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Radboud University Nijmegen. The 2025 Vision for Science of the Dutch Ministry of Education (2014, p. 19) praised SCOOP as an “example of cross-pollination between disciplines”.
Four multidisciplinary work packages
SCOOP scholars have built an innovative theoretical model to integrate their complementary expertise and developed an interdisciplinary joint research strategy. To overcome the limitations of prior research, the program is organized in four multidisciplinary work packages (WPs). These break with the tradition to focus on a single domain of cooperation at a time because interventions that secure cooperation sustainability need to take into account the implications that they have for cooperation in other domains. WP1 targets solutions for care. WP2 focuses on solutions for inclusion. WP3 identifies solutions for work. WP4 specifies and extends the SCOOP approach, integrates the resulting insight with basic research and theory formation.
In addition to the academic ambitions, the program also wants to realise several tangible long-term gains, including the development of a multi-method, open-access data interface; a research infrastructure capable of tackling cooperation issues from multiple disciplinary perspectives; and a talent selection and training program to prepare the next generation of top researchers. The main result will be the generation of insights and instruments that can be used by societal partners and stakeholders to foster a resilient society.
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Challenges
DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS FOR CARE, INCLUSION, AND WORK
The key challenges for societal resilience result from external shocks, spillover, and feedback cycles. These can represent threats to existing cooperative arrangements, but may also provide opportunities to develop novel solutions for care, inclusion, and work. This can be achieved by specifying which individual and societal values need (re-)alignment; understanding the psychological mechanisms that connect individuals through their common identities, goals, and networks; and identifying which institutional provisions and arrangements are needed to address these. The analytical tools are offered by the SCOOP approach, which integrates theoretical insights and links empirical evidence from different disciplinary and methodological perspectives to develop roadmaps for effective policy strategies and solutions. The proposed research is organized in four Work Packages (WPs, see Table).
We use this approach to address twelve specific challenges. Nine of them connect the three sustainability threats to specific cooperation outcomes relevant to the provision of care (WP1), inclusion (WP2), and work (WP3). Three of them link these threats to general theoretical challenges and will be elaborated in WP4 (see Table). For each of these challenges, we define a key hypothesis that connects individual level psychological processes to the occurrence of value (in-) compatibilities and historically documented long-term effects, and examine how these differ across specific contexts. We specify relevant ideals, mechanisms, and institutions, and empirically test the validity of this integrated analysis by triangulating disciplinary approaches and methodologies, including tests of intervention effectiveness.
To find out more about the work package and challenges, click on the work package (WP)
To find out more about the research projects per work package, click on the challenge
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Overview of challenges and research projects
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External Shocks
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Spillovers
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Feedbacks
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WP1: Care
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1. Reshaping Care
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2. Facilitating Work-Life Balance
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3. Creating Caring Communities
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WP2: Inclusion
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4. Accomodating Newcomers
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5. Connecting Communities
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6. Dealing with Diversity
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WP3: Work
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7. Reshaping Organizatinal Forms
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8. Reconfiguring Roles & Relations
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9. Reconciling Stakeholder Interests
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WP4: Synthesis
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10. Network Co-Evolution
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11. Identity Flexibility
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12. Shared Responsibility
