Tristan Claridge is a globally recognised expert on social capital, with over two decades of experience advancing theory, practice, and policy in the field. He is the Founding President of the International Social Capital Association (ISCA), Director of the Institute for Social Capital, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), and a Visiting Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt University.
Tristan’s work focuses on developing a deeper, more precise understanding of social capital as a critical resource for individuals, organisations, and societies. His work bridges rigorous academic inquiry and practical implementation, offering innovative perspectives on how social capital influences individual and collective outcomes. His research focuses on capital-theoretic conceptions of social capital and the mechanisms by which it is formed, maintained, and eroded — with a particular interest in how people perceive, interpret, and act upon their social connections.
Social capital is increasingly recognised as a vital factor in addressing today’s most pressing challenges, from public health and economic development to climate adaptation, disaster resilience, and democratic participation. Yet despite its significance, the field has historically been fragmented and underdeveloped. Tristan has taken a leading role in building the field of social capital, working to unify researchers, practitioners, and policymakers around a coherent conceptual foundation and a shared agenda for progress.
A sought-after speaker, educator and researcher, Tristan has delivered keynote addresses, lectures, and training sessions worldwide. He regularly collaborates with other researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on projects that address complex social challenges, from community resilience to organisational development.
Whether working with governments, NGOs, or universities, Tristan is committed to building the field of social capital and fostering collaboration among those striving to create more connected, resilient, and equitable societies.
Consulting on building social capital, strengthening community resilience, enhancing collaboration, and designing enabling environments for collective action and sustainable outcomes.
Research
Designing, conducting, and translating research across academic and industry settings, integrating rigorous methodology with practical applications in diverse contexts for real-world impact.
Training
Providing training, mentoring, and capacity-building through individual support, small and large group engagement, and online course design, development, and delivery for diverse applications.
CURRENT POSITIONS
Director, Institute for Social Capital
Visiting Associate Professor, Heriot-Watt University
President, International Social Capital Association
CURRENT ROLES
Lead Advisor, Social Capital Advisory Council, Common Group
Convenor, Social Capital Webinar Series
Chair, Social Capital Paradigm Interest Group
Editor and Reviewer, Social Capital Research
Academic Committee for the Social Capital 2026
Organising Committee for the Social Capital 2026
MEMBERSHIP, AWARDS AND HONOURS
Fellow, RSA (Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)
Member, International Network for Social Network Analysis
Member, International Social Capital Association
QUALIFICATIONS
Tristan has a Master of Natural Resource Studies (Social Capital Theory) from the University of Queensland (2005) and a Bachelor of Arts (Double major in Geographical Sciences) from the University of Queensland (2002).
RESEARCH
Tristan has been conducting research on social capital theories for the last 20 years. His work has aimed to strengthen the theoretical foundations of social capital theories and to make sense of the complexity of the various theories that exist in the literature. In addition to his theoretical work, he has conducted various research projects for clients, including the IoD Guernsey, FAO, OECD, Corus International, and many more.
Tristan was also a Research Assistant in the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Sunshine Coast from 2005 to 2007 and a Project Officer in the Consortium for Integrated Resource Management at the University of Queensland from 1999 to 2000.
TEACHING
From 2004 to 2014, Tristan was a part-time lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He was a course coordinator, lecturer, and tutor. He actively contributed to research on teaching through the university’s Office of Learning and Teaching and completed a certificate course titled Foundations of University Teaching (2007). He actively contributed to the university’s commitment to the scholarship of teaching and regularly received over 4.5 out of 5 in formal evaluations of his teaching performance. Over the ten years in this role, he designed three undergraduate courses and taught them for several years, designed a tertiary pathway course and taught ten cohorts of students, taught several other courses, and gave numerous guest lectures.
In addition to his university teaching experience, Tristan has developed courses on social capital theory that are available online and used by several university programs. He has also conducted training with various organisations, including on social capital and leadership, impact assessment, program design, community participation, and various other topics.
SOCIETAL IMPACT
ONLINE RESOURCES
Tristan is the editor and reviewer of Social Capital Research, which is an online resource supporting the research and application of social capital theory with resources that are widely accessible. It is visited by over 250,000 people each year, and numerous universities around the world use or link to the resources as part of their coursework materials. It accepts submissions of suitable academic papers for free open-access publication. Visit the Institute’s website.
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Starting in 2017, Tristan developed an international community of researchers and practitioners interested in social capital. Tristan convened a webinar series and ran discussion group sessions. The informal community grew rapidly to over 7,000 people from 130 countries. In 2021, the informal group was incorporated to form the International Social Capital Association (ISCA). This association helps researchers and practitioners with its vision of a world where social capital and its outcomes are valued, researched, and enabled amongst all peoples so they may benefit from human sociability and connectedness. Tristan is the current President of the association. As a non-profit organisation, executive positions are unpaid voluntary roles elected by the members. View the ISCA website.
CONVENOR OF A WEBINAR SERIES ON SOCIAL CAPITAL
Tristan is the convenor of an ongoing webinar series on social capital. Since 2020, the series has hosted over 100 webinars by prominent academics and practitioners on social capital. Previous presenters have included Professors Robert Putnam, Eric Uslaner, Lindon Robison, and Daniel Aldrich. The webinars are available free of charge on YouTube and are accessed by over 15,000 people annually. View the archive of webinars.
CHAIR OF THE SOCIAL CAPITAL PARADIGM INTEREST GROUP
Tristan has undertaken extensive work on social capital theories and the nature of the social capital paradigm. After presenting his work at a webinar in 2023, he formed an interest group of interested scholars to work collaboratively on the paradigm. The interest group currently has 65 members from all over the world, collaborating to define the paradigm and help all researchers to improve their understanding of social capital and the quality of the research they undertake. View the interest group.
OTHER VOLUNTARY WORK
Tristan regularly helps students, researchers, practitioners, and community-based and non- profit organisations with social capital. Over the last 20 years he has assisted thousands of people from all over the world, responding to emails and often having several meetings each week. He has provided informal supervision to numerous PhD students.
He regularly performs peer reviews for numerous journals and provides feedback to scholars on academic work.
PRO BONO WORK
Community-based organisations can benefit greatly from an improved understanding of social capital, but rarely have sufficient resources to pay for professional support. Tristan has regularly provided assistance free of charge to non-profit and community-based organisations in various locations around the world.
PODCASTS
Tristan created a podcast on social capital with Emeritus Professor Lindon Robison titled “Exploring Social Capital: Navigating the diverse concept of social capital”. To date, Tristan and Lindon have created and published 15 episodes that are freely available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. The podcast aims to unravel the meaning and significance of key theories, concepts, issues, and events related to social capital and also contribute to a broader exploration of understanding and recognising the intrinsic social value that underlies our interconnected world. View details.
Tristan regularly gives free public webinars and hosts workshops on social capital. In the last few years, he has given over 50 presentations, including various conference papers and keynote presentations. Below is a small selection of recent and upcoming presentations.
SELECTED RECENT PRESENTATIONS
KEYNOTE & PANEL October 24, 2025 “Social Capital and Integral Development”, at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.
COLLOQUIUM October 22, 2025 “Strengthening Social Capital in Chile”, at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago.
KEYNOTE October 22, 2025 “Social Capital and Integral Development” at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, as part of the Industrial Engineering course “Leadership and Social Innovation Workshop”.
KEYNOTE October 21, 2025 “Social Capital and Territorial Development”, at the Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chillán, Chile, at the Anniversary of the Faculty of Business Sciences.
KEYNOTE & PANEL October 20, 2025 “Social Capital, Innovation, and Integral Development”, at the Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chillán, in collaboration with the Regional Government of Ñuble, the Ñuble Health Service, IRADE, and the Social Capital Circle of the Bío-Bío Region.
KEYNOTE & PANEL October 17, 2025 “Social Capital and Integral Development”, at Empresa Portuaria de Chacabuco, Puerto Aysén, and organized by the Municipality of Puerto Aysén.
KEYNOTE & PANEL October 7, 2025 “Social Capital, Innovation, and Integral Development”, at the Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile, in collaboration with IRADE and the Social Capital Circle of the Bío-Bío Region.
KEYNOTE October 7, 2025 “Social Capital and Territorial Development”, at the Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile, at the Anniversary of the Faculty of Business Sciences.
KEYNOTE & PANEL October 6, 2025 “Social Capital and Disaster Management”, at the Naval War College, Viña del Mar, Chile.
WEBINAR August 27, 2025, “Social Capital and Resilience” at the QIC Strategic Resilience Forum.
WORKSHOP July 3, 2025, “Social Capital and Guernsey’s Third Sector”, at Grow Ltd, Les Petits Quartier Vinery, Coutanchez, St Sampsons, Guernsey.
WORKSHOP July 2, 2025, “Building and Leveraging Social Capital for Leaders and Emerging Leaders”, at St Pierre Park Hotel, Rohais, Guernsey.
WORKSHOP July 1, 2025, “Social Capital in Action: Maximising Its Potential and Value”, at Walkers, Helvetia Court, Les Echelons, Guernsey.
CONFERENCE June 27, 2025 “Social capital, social structures, and triads”, at the 45th INSNA Sunbelt Conference, Paris.
WORKSHOP June 24, 2025 “Navigating social capital theory and literature”, at the 45th INSNA Sunbelt Conference, Paris.
WEBINAR June 20, 2025, “Toward a Unified Framework for Social Capital: Understanding what it is, how it works, and why it matters”, Organised by International Social Capital Association. https://youtu.be/watch?v=2Kq8VVy146U
KEYNOTE May 5, 2025 “Repairing Social Fabric: Where social capital is measured, communities thrive!”, at ENGAGE SAN DIEGO, San Diego Social Leagues in collaboration with the Institute for Social Capital.
SEMINAR April 24, 2025, “Evaluating the Strengths and Weaknesses of Community Social Capital”, Invited visiting lecture at Michigan State University, United States of America.
SEMINAR April 22, 2025 “Social Capital as a Catalyst for Place Transformation: Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Implications”, Invited visiting lecture at the University of Waterloo, Canada.
SEMINAR April 14, 2025 “Outline for the social capital paradigm”, Invited visiting lecture at the University of Southern New Hampshire, United States of America.
KEYNOTE April 3, 2025 “The Power of Connections: How Social Capital Builds Resilience”, Invited lecture at MITRE, United States of America.
SEMINAR February 13, 2025 “The Practicalities of Building Social Capital for Business”, Invited lecture at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai, UAE.
SEMINAR February 12, 2025 “Outline for the social capital paradigm”, Invited visiting lecture at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai, UAE.
SEMINAR February 10, 2025 “Reputation, Relationships, and Results: A Guide to Individual Social Capital”, Invited lecture at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai, UAE.
WORKSHOP October 23, 2024 “Understanding how to develop and utilise social capital in IA.” at New Challenges: The Future of Impact Assessment, NZAIA Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand.
CONFERENCE October 22, 2024 “Connecting the challenges: new insights on IA from a social capital perspective.”, at New Challenges: The Future of Impact Assessment, NZAIA Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand.
KEYNOTE October 3, 2024 “The strengths and weaknesses of social capital in Guernsey: The key to economic growth and social wellbeing”, at the Annual Convention of the Guernsey Branch of the Institute of Directors, Guernsey.
SEMINAR October 2, 2024 “Social Capital as a Catalyst for Place Transformation: Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Implications in the British Context”, Organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
CONFERENCE June 27, 2024 “Outline for the social capital paradigm”, at the 44th INSNA Sunbelt Conference, Edinburgh.
SEMINAR March 1, 2024 “Social Capital – Reconnecting with the importance and value of social relationships” Organised by ProSocial World. https://youtu.be/qYzw_bEVePM
WEBINAR October 25, 2023 “Outline for the social capital paradigm”, Organised by International Social Capital Association. https://youtu.be/6SzIKa8f2nM
WEBINAR August 24, 2023 “Introduction to Social Capital for Researchers”, Organised by International Social Capital Association. https://youtu.be/RG4lgBDZTSw
KEYNOTE August 9, 2023 “Social capital and urban poverty in Singapore”, at Conversations Reimagined, Organised by The Best of You, Singapore.
WEBINAR April 26, 2023 “Exploring the outcomes of social capital”, Organised by the International Social Capital Association. https://youtu.be/zZhGW5BbMXo
WEBINAR January 19, 2023 “Practical application of social capital to forestry governance”, Organised by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy.
WEBINAR January 10, 2023 “Implementation of social capital to the Fire To Flourish project”, Organised by Monash University, Australia.
WEBINAR May 27, 2022 “Social capital limits: can social capital be continually improved?”, Organised by International Social Capital Association. https://youtu.be/zwn2SPIiQiQ
WEBINAR April 8, 2022 “Exploring the theoretical foundations and meaning of social capital”, Organised by International Social Capital Association. https://youtu.be/OaQYPToD8Qk
WEBINAR March 9, 2022 “How to evaluate and use social capital to improve educational outcomes”, Organised by Kempel Research Center, Netherlands.
KEYNOTE February 9, 2022 “Social capital in Organisations”, Organised by OD Alternatives, India.
WEBINAR January 21, 2022 “The potential of social capital to improve economic opportunities and diversity”, Organised by Social Capital Builders, United States.
KEYNOTE June 19, 2021 “The economic value of social relationships and networks: Exploring the tangibility of Social Capital for credit unions”, at the ILCU Chairs’ Forum, Organised by Irish League of Credit Unions, Ireland.
WEBINAR March 31, 2021 “The wicked problems of social capital theory”, Organised by Social Capital Research. https://youtu.be/di4U0MXAEW8
WEBINAR February 5, 2021 “Social capital: the popularity and need for the concept of social capital”, Organised by Social Capital Research. https://youtu.be/pcS4Bf3rG8Y
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS
Claridge, T., 2024, Social Capital in Practice: A general guide for the practical application of social capital, Institute for Social Capital, Brisbane, Australia. Available here.
A general guide on the practical application of social capital and an overview of the different ways the concept can be applied to real-world applications. It breaks down the complexity of social capital into more easily understood components. It establishes the logic of social capital and provides a framework that is suitable for any application. It helps practitioners to build the understanding required for the purposeful and systematic application of social capital.
BOOK CHAPTERS
Claridge, T. (in press), “Social Capital in Social Enterprises”. Encyclopedia of Social Enterprise, Edward Elgar Publishing (U.K.).
Claridge, T. 2023, “Social Capital”. Elgar Encyclopedia of Nonprofit Management, Leadership and Governance, Edward Elgar Publishing, p 525-528.
SELECTED REPORTS AND WORKING PAPERS
Claridge, T., 2024, Social Capital as a Catalyst for Place Transformation: Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Implications in the British Context, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France
Claridge, T., 2024, The strengths and weaknesses of social capital in Guernsey: The key to economic growth and social wellbeing, Report, Institute of Directors, Guernsey. Available here.
Claridge, T., 2023, Social Capital Practical Guide, Working Paper, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
Claridge, T., 2022, Exploring the limits of social capital: Can social capital be continually improved or is there a maximum?. Working Paper, Institute for Social Capital, Dunedin, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8003923
Claridge, T., 2004, Designing social capital-sensitive participation methodologies. Report, Social Capital Research, Brisbane, Australia. Available here.
SELECTED ARTICLES
Robison, L. and Claridge, T., 2025, “Social Capital, Social Structures, and Triads”. Modern Economy, 16, 1527-1551. doi: 10.4236/me.2025.169071.
Claridge, T., 2023, “What is high and low, and positive and negative social capital?”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8012106
Claridge, T., 2022, “The Disrupted Organisation: The Role of Remote Working Technologies in creating Organisational Culture”, OD Quarterly, 2, pp. 22-25.
Claridge, T., 2022, “The difference between social capital and cultural capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8015685
Claridge, T., 2022, “10 ways to improve social capital in remote teams”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand.
Claridge, T., 2021, “Evolution of the concept of social capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8015737
Claridge, T., 2021, “Economics Imperialism and Social Capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8015808
Claridge, T., 2021, “The ‘wicked problems’ of social capital theory”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8015848
Claridge, T., 2020, “Social capital at different levels and dimensions”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8016096
Claridge, T., 2020, “Social sanctions – overview, meaning, examples, types and importance”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand. doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8016175
Claridge, T., 2020, “Social capital and poverty alleviation”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2020, “What is the difference between social capital and social cohesion?”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2019, “Solving sustainability with social capital?”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2019, “Sources of Social Capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2019, “The promise of social capital theory”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2019, “Social capital, reputation and identity in organisations”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2019, “Understanding the impact of your social capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “The future of management”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “Overcoming negative organisational culture”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “Criticisms of social capital theory”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “Social Capital Impact Statements”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “Explanation of the different levels of social capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “Structural, cognitive, relational social capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “Approaches to conceptualise bonding/bridging social capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “How do new employees learn about your organisational culture?”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2018, “What is the difference between bonding and bridging social capital?”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2017, “Social sanctions and reputation in the workplace”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2017, “Valuing success in the organisation: The tall poppy and the back slap”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2017, “The ‘alpha’ employee: can one employee derail (or rail) your organisational culture?”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2017, “The objectionist, the status quo, and change within organisations”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2017, “The empathy-challenged employee: a growing problem?”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2017, “Using employee surveys to measure social capital in your organisation”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Claridge, T., 2017, “Social Capitalism, Capitalism, and Social Capital”, Social Capital Research, New Zealand
Other Interests and Work
Volunteering
I have strong environmental values and I like to volunteer my time or services when I can. I have assisted many community groups over the past 20 years and it continues to be an important part of life.
Cycling & Fitness
I like to get out on my bike and explore the local area and it’s a great way to keep fit. I race sometimes but mostly I enjoy social rides on weekends with friends. I generally ride several times a week all year round.
Family
My family is a very important part of my life and working from home has given me lots of time with my family. I am married with two adult children: Charlie and Asha.
