The transition to renewable energy is not only a technical process but also a deeply social one, as it greatly impacts people’s daily lives, and shapes how benefits and costs are distributed across society. Understanding how meaningful social impact can be defined and created within this context has become increasingly important. This thesis focuses on the case of the Johan Cruijff ArenA (JCA) and the Energy Cooperative Venserpolder in Amsterdam Zuidoost. It examines how both actors frame and operationalize social impact, how their perspectives differ, and what residents perceive as meaningful social impact. Building on these insights, it explores how collaboration between corporate and community actors can contribute to social impact that is considered meaningful by residents. A qualitative case study approach was employed, combining desk research, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and a card sorting exercise.

The findings showed the JCA frames social impact in an instrumental and strategic manner, consistent with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives and Net Positive ambition. In contrast, the Energy Cooperative Venserpolder adopts a bottom-up and community-oriented framing of social impact, viewing it as an end in itself. Residents tend to associate meaningful social impact with immediate and tangible changes linked to their everyday lives, such as better facilities or cleaner streets. The research identifies collaboration opportunities between the JCA and the Energy Cooperative that both create value for the Energy Cooperative and align closely with the JCA’s CSR strategy. The most feasible forms of collaboration, such as sharing expertise and providing meeting space, demonstrate that impactful collaboration does not necessarily require large-scale investments. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that meaningful social impact emerges when organizational framings of social impact are aligned with residents‘ lived realities.

Key words: social impact, framing, renewable energy transition, collaboration, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), energy cooperative

The growing threat of climate change has made transitioning to renewable energy sources essential, with solar photovoltaic (PV) technology crucial for reducing carbon emissions (NASA, 2020). Cities like Amsterdam are striving to meet ambitious climate goals, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050 (Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat, 2019). A key part of this strategy is expanding solar energy, with the city planning to install over 550 MW of solar capacity by 2030 (Halsema et al., 2023).

However, this growth brings a pressing issue: managing increasing volumes of PV panel waste. Many panels are discarded early due to repowering or perceived inefficiency, contributing to rising electronic waste (Späth et al., 2022). This research addresses the gap in sustainable end-of-life management for PV panels by focusing on scaling reuse practices. The objective is to explore how reuse strategies can reduce waste, extend the useful life of panels, and align with Amsterdam's broader circular economy and climate goals.

This thesis aims to answer: What are the enabling and barrier factors influencing the development and scaling of PV panel reuse practices in Amsterdam, and how can policy mixes address these factors? The study is guided by three sub-questions: (1) How do expectations, network formation, and learning processes influence the initial scaling of PV panel reuse practices in Amsterdam? (2) What barriers and opportunities exist within the recycling regime, and how do landscape factors affect the scalability of reuse practices? (3) What policy mixes can enhance the scaling of reuse practices for PV panels in Amsterdam? These questions offer a comprehensive understanding of the barriers and enablers to scaling PV panel reuse and identify key policy solutions....

This project aims to identify how to improve the inclusion of social values within the decision-making process of the city management department of the municipality of Rotterdam. The project was conducted in collaboration with the municipality and, specifically, their value wheel development team. The "value wheel" is a value-based decision-making tool, which aims for projects to be selected based on total value contributions instead of financial risks. The idea behind this model is that all values are considered on an equal basis within the decision-making process of asset management. The issue, however, is that the development team is still unable to quantify social impact, which makes that the value wheel model cannot consider social values at an equal rate as the other values of the value wheel.

Although the model is already being put into practice, social values still find no place within the decision-making process. The Rotterdam municipality currently does not have another established method to address social values, which makes that within the organisation, social values are often overlooked or misinterpreted. The literature indicates that various social impact measurement models exist. However, they all require a list of social value indicators designed for the context in which the models operate. This means for them to be used within the value wheel framework, social value considerations and indicators are required. Through participatory observations and interviews, officials of the municipality were asked to identify the social values present within the municipality. To include the value considerations of citizens, a text-mining model, which is trained to identify values, was applied to the complaint database of the municipality.

Next to the identification of social values did the project also explore possible barriers to the inclusion of a value-based framework within the municipality. Which is why the participatory sessions and the interviews were also used to identify the context in which the value wheel is intended to be implemented. To identify the issues of the value wheel framework itself, the sessions of the value development team were followed closely and a pilot case of the value wheel was attended.

Coding was applied on the collected dataset due to the various types of data collected. This resulted in the identification of eight main themes influencing the inclusion of social values within the decision-making process. These themes are: social values experienced by officials, social values experienced by the public, the value wheel, civil participation, trust, compartmentalisation, leadership within the municipality and standardisation. The thematic analyses of these themes indicate that there are both theoretical restrictions and practical issues that prevent the implementation of social values.

Moreover, by placing quantified social values within a model, officials are confronted with technical quantities instead of public desires. This causes the actual value considerations to get lost within the decision-making process. Issues with trust, participation, leadership, and compartmentalisation show that officials are already faced with a growing gap between the reality on the streets and the situation as officials perceive it in the office. Quantifying social values within a model only strengthens this gap, instead of ensuring that actual social value considerations are included.

The results of this project can help municipalities, but also other governmental bodies, to identify the restrictions that currently prevent social value considerations from being included in the decision-making process. With that information, steps can be taken to improve the inclusion and consideration of social values when new projects are developed.