3.5.0

This article aims to examine whether participatory governance of stakeholders is realised in the UK tailor-made legal form for social enterprises, i.e. the Community Interest Company (CIC), through community consultation and community engagement. The article contains a single case study of a variation of the CIC legal structure, i.e. the public limited CIC. The case study provides preliminary evidence of the application of participatory governance in community energy schemes in the UK. It shows how the community can participate in the ownership and the decision-making of a social enterprise in the UK that produces and trades renewable solar energy. The study aims to explain: (i) the implementation of the CIC legal environment in practice; and (ii) its impact on the organisational structure of a social enterprise in the UK. The study focuses in particular on the subject of community ownership and community governance adopted in the CIC legal form.

Community, Community Interest Company, Solar energy, Community energy schemes, Stakeholders, Participatory Governance