Project 4.3

This project examines how social initiatives contribute to social cohesion, which possible role social identity plays in ingroup and intergroup dynamics in these initiatives, and how to strengthen their impact taking into account possible positive and negative effects of bonding and bridging in social groups.

Social initiatives are often seen as an important way to strengthen social cohesion, but it is not yet clear whether, how, and under what conditions they contribute to social cohesion. This project aims to gain a better understanding of the social processes through which initiatives may strengthen connections within and between groups, and how these processes affect participants’ sense of belonging and participation in society. This is relevant both for advancing scientific understanding of social cohesion and for strengthening social initiatives in practice.

The project is developed in co-creation with the Oranje Fonds. As a funder of 1.000+ social initiatives per year, this foundation is in close contact with initiatives across The Netherlands. This collaboration provides valuable insights into the field, opportunities for data collection, and a direct route for translating research findings into practice.

The project draws on social identity theory and social capital theory to examine how social initiatives shape relationships within and between groups. We investigate whether and how initiatives create opportunities for people to develop a sense of belonging, strengthen connections within groups, and build bridges across social groups. We also examine how these processes are supported by initiatives and how they relate to participants’ social identities and participation in society.

The project combines several research methods and is conducted in close collaboration with social initiatives and the Oranje Fonds. First, a literature review and desk research using the dataset of the Oranje Fonds is used to develop a typology of social initiatives and identify the social processes through which they may contribute to social cohesion. Semi-structured interviews with initiative leads will further help us understand the Oranje Fonds-portfolio and inform the selection of initiatives for the empirical research. We will then use a mixed methods approach, combining participating research, in-depth interviews, focusgroups, and surveys to examine mechanisms of social initiatives and the context they operate in. In the final stage, we will use these insights to develop an intervention to gain more insight in how participation in social initiatives may shape their social identities.