Grassroots Innovation Research Articles

GRASSROOTS ECO-SOCIAL INNOVATIONS DRIVING INCLUSIVE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

The paper discusses research results on waste governance and circular economy, conducted with waste picker cooperatives in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. Two cases have been selected, from a pool of 21 waste picker organizations, to video document their grassroots eco-social innovations that have improved local waste management and the lives of the cooperative members. The videos support knowledge sharing with key actors in waste governance and the circular economy. Social grassroots innovation theory focuses on livelihood opportunities beyond the formal labour market, pursuing social inclusion by creating meaningful work for individuals who were considered left out and in vulnerable situations. Transitioning to sustainability necessarily goes beyond socio-technical innovations but rather integrates eco-social perspectives. After first introducing grassroots innovation theory and the concept of eco-social innovations the paper describes the empirical frame and presents two cases where organized waste pickers were successful in operationalizing innovations that address the circular economy and contribute to sustainability transitions. Key findings highlighted are cooperative governance, long-term partnership building, improved productivity and increased income.

Evaluation of the "Manggatang Utus" Village Movement Innovation Program in the Education Sector in Murung Raya Regency

Gerbang Desamu which is stand for “Gerakan Membangun Desa Manggatang Utus” is a policy innovation for the strategy program for accelerating village (kelurahan) development in Murung Raya District. The regional policy innovation at Gerbang Desamu is a grassroots innovation that holds the local wisdom values of the Huma Betang of the Dayak Tribes. The Gerbang Desamu Movement aims to accelerate the development of villages/kelurahans in Murung Raya Regency, especially in alleviating stupidity. This study aims to determine policy performance, policy efficiency, and local wisdom values in the policy innovations of the Gerbang Desamu program. This research focuses on exploring the production of knowledge and information on the innovative practices of Gerakan Desamu at the empirical and practical levels. This study is a mixed method research with a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach. The study results show that the performance of the Gerbang Desamu program has not been optimal. In terms of accessibility and reach to the broader community. This can be seen from the level of public understanding regarding the Gerbang Desamu policy innovation which is not evenly achieved. However, as a program, Gerbang Desamu is quite effective in achieving the program's objectives. Achievement of program objectives in the form of increasing the accessibility of community education, especially for children from underprivileged families. In addition, the internalization of local wisdom values in the Gerbang Desamu policy innovation is a unique success to be achieved in grassroots policy innovation. The values of togetherness, honesty, equality, and tolerance are local wisdom values that underlie grassroots policy innovations in the Gerbang Desamu program.

Why do people participate in grassroots sustainability initiatives? Different motives for different levels of involvement

Grassroots sustainability initiatives experiment with alternative ways of consumption and are promising agents for fostering pro-environmental behavior change. However, sustainability initiatives depend on high levels of volunteering and collective action. With the present research we aimed to better understand why people participate in sustainability initiatives and whether doing so is an expression of a broader set of pro-environmental behaviors. We tested the predictive importance of various motivational factors derived from grassroots innovation research, the theory of planned behavior, and theories on collective action, using data from a cross-sectional factorial survey of participants in several sustainability initiatives in Switzerland (N = 180). Our results revealed different motivational patterns depending on the level of involvement. The intention to use services and offers of sustainability initiatives (low level of involvement) was best explained by favorable attitudes toward participation and perceived behavioral control, while the intention to volunteer for such initiatives (high level of involvement) was additionally based on strong social identity and a high belief in participative efficacy. Our results also revealed that participation in sustainability initiatives concurs with those other private-sphere pro-environmental behaviors that are most similar to the initiatives' activities. We conclude from our results that the divergence in motivational factors between users and volunteers might pose a challenge to the success of sustainability initiatives and therefore deserves greater attention in future research.

Development and implementation of a community health literacy hub, 'Health Kiosk'-A grassroots innovation.

Being health literate is important to get sufficient health information, to navigate the health system, to access appropriate care and to be able to self-manage health. As such it is a key determinant of health. There is a need for innovative measures to improve health literacy among people living in socioeconomically vulnerable circumstances. Literature shows that this innovation needs to: have "low-threshold access" to health resources in a community-based, outreaching way; be adapted to the needs of the target group; provide reliable and understandable health information adapted to the target population, and support people in developing confidence to act on that knowledge. In response to this need, this article describes-guided by the principles underpinning the Integrated Community Care (ICC) framework-the development and implementation process of a grassroots innovation, namely "Health Kiosk" in a socioeconomically vulnerable area in the northern part of a Belgian city. To be able to focus on the core activity of the Health Kiosk-i.e., stimulating healthy living and health literacy-community building and considering the spatial environment of the neighborhood formed a fundamental basis. Several core ingredients of the Health Kiosk are important to stimulate health literacy among socioeconomically vulnerable groups, namely: (1) working in a community-based, outreaching way; (2) providing accessible health information and support to act on that knowledge; and (3) working in a flexible and independent way to adapt to local needs. As such, the Health Kiosk forms a community health literacy hub with low-threshold access for people living in socioeconomically vulnerable circumstances.

Sustainable self-organized ridesharing initiatives as learning opportunities

Many commuters still travel to work alone, in their private vehicle, causing negative externalities, including economic inefficiencies and environmental impacts. Nonprofit ridesharing is considered one of the sustainable modes to mitigate those effects. On multiple occasions, ad-hoc ridesharing-between-strangers has been shown to turn the expensive drive-alone commuting habit and achieve more sustainable results – by serving the demand of road users, while reducing the vehicle-miles travelled. Where organized ridesharing gains limited success, self-organized ridesharing (SORS) initiatives - which grow organically by reacting to strains and opportunities, had been shown in different contexts to draw substantial participation. However, the literature had treated these occurrences as anecdotal, un-replicable, context specific phenomena. Thus, limited theoretical and practical knowledge is offered, especially of the influential earlier stages. The presented research postulates SORS follows repeated emergence patterns, which can be externally and systematically influenced for better ridesharing solutions. Based on synthesis of existing literature, the research offers a descriptive framework for SORS analysis, which enables exploration and design of initiatives. The framework was validated through evaluation of seven case studies from around the world. The cases were explored using mixed methods approach, relying mainly on social-network data mining, supplemented by semi-structured interviews and observations. By merging knowledge areas of Sharing Economy, Grass-root Innovation and Practice Theory in Multi-Level-Perspective transition analysis, the framework allows explanation of different occurrences. Specifically, several repeated patterns are revealed: (a) activists and activist-less types; (b) the favourable commuting “line” structure which relies on choke-point transport geography, demand concentration and available public transport backup; (c) participants’ arena support; (d) emerging sense-of-community which provides additional resiliency; and (e) emergence process structure. The findings support improved policy decisions and recommendations for technology design. Through these enhancements, SORS techno-social processes can be stimulated, resulting in increase of ridesharing uptake.

R company enterprise middle office assessment

The construction of the enterprise middle office is an important starting point to help the digital transformation of companies. Since the start of construction in 2019, R Power Grid Company has continued to promote through three stages of concept design, construction landing and application empowerment, and has achieved initial results. With the continuous and in-depth advancement of the construction and application of enterprise middle office, various majors have put forward higher requirements and expectations for middle office support for cross-professional applications and empowering grassroots innovation, and require enterprise middle office to play a greater value role. In order to promote the practical effect and iterative construction of the middle platform, focus on improving the practical level of the middle platform, and promote the substantive transformation of the middle platform from "building well" to "using it well". The company should conduct a comprehensive investigation, analysis and diagnosis of the current situation of the middle platform, identify problems in the construction and operation of the middle platform, conduct in-depth analysis of the problems, study and formulate corrective measures, promote processing and use with evaluation, and give full play to the value of the middle platform to serve the construction of the new power system and the digital transformation of the company.

Learning From Each Other: Lessons From Innovation for Inclusive Development Literature

There exists concern that the traditional innovation approaches (although not the sole driver) can contribute to the vicious cycle of inequality and exclusion. The past decades have witnessed responses to develop more equitable outcomes through innovation. Innovation for inclusive development (I4ID) has been hailed as a promising approach where one may establish growth paths to help ensure that the marginalized actors are included in economic development. This has led researchers and practitioners to explore alternative models for innovation, such as frugal innovation, Jugaad innovation, grassroots innovation, social innovation, appropriate innovation, base-of-the-pyramid innovation, inclusive innovation, or I4ID. This editorial selectively reflects on some of these concepts. I leave the reader with suggestions for orienting your innovation ecosystems to be more inclusive and participating in a grand societal experiment of learning how to develop more inclusively.

Financing grassroots innovation diffusion pathways: the case of UK community energy

This paper explores how finance can better support the diffusion of Grassroots Innovations (GIs), community-led solutions for net-zero transitions. We examine the case of UK community energy (CE), across three ‘diffusion pathways’: niche replication (growth in the number of projects), individual scaling (growth in an organisation's scale) and collective diffusion (a confederation of GIs). We investigate each pathway through analysis of a nationwide survey, interviews and four case studies. We find that while finance currently supports replication of small-scale CE projects, the incompatibility between GIs and the wider finance meta-regime inhibits individual scaling. The UK CE sector has responded with collective diffusion, via business group intermediaries; attracting greater but still insufficient finance. Consequently, for GIs to diffuse effectively, they must be supported to translate across both sectoral regimes (e.g. energy) and broader meta-regimes (e.g. finance). This paper contributes to theory on the role of finance in sociotechnical transitions and the role of intermediaries in GI diffusion.

Community wealth building in an age of just transitions: Exploring civil society approaches to net zero and future research synergies

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is a burgeoning international policy agenda for local economic development that seeks to enhance democratic ownership, retain the benefits of local economic activity and empower place-based economies and workers. Parallel to this, in the context of net zero transitions, there has been increasing interest in approaches to enhancing civil society and community ownership over local energy provision. However, in academic and practitioner debates, there has been very little interaction between these two strands of thinking and action on the need for radical change in current energy provision, particularly as part of a wider transformative change away from dominant neoliberal economic thinking, policies and structures.In this Perspective, we explore the various ways in which synergies exist between CWB and energy transitions by considering two civil society approaches to transitions; namely, the Thousand Flowers transition pathway and research in Grassroots Innovations. We examine how community energy could be strengthened through CWB, by showing how the ideas within these two approaches respond to the five core principles of CWB. Promising future directions for research and practice are identified, including linking up CWB and just transitions strategies, a renewed focus on local financial innovation and the growing role of anchor institutions in supporting net zero transitions, particularly where CWB supports economic democracy transformations in new net zero economies.

Grassroots innovations in ‘extreme’ urban environments. The inclusive recycling movement

Waste pickers all over the world work innovatively to reduce the environmental footprint of cities as they struggle to meet their critical livelihood obligations. Informed by the case of waste picker organizations (WPOs) this article examines how grassroots initiatives and extreme-niche innovations are created and sustained by mobilizing resources, rationales and relations. The study is informed by a cross-national survey and in-depth interviews with WPOs in Argentina, Brazil, Nicaragua, Kenya and Tanzania, and builds upon theories of grassroots innovation movements. The findings show how operating in contexts of extreme scarcity, these grassroots organisations tap into local resources, e.g. tacit knowledge, economies of affection and other socially embedded institutional resources. Blending material and environmental rationales, contributes to expanding their audiences and to gaining further support. In such deprived urban contexts, radical and cumulative crises and events hindering residents’ livelihoods can paradoxically also spark ingenuity out of necessity, and the transformation of these settings into extreme niches of innovation. Finally, the mobilization of relations through the formation of networks linking WPOs with supportive intermediaries and global circuits of solidarity becomes another fundamental resilience strategy by which WPOs can navigate contested environments and insert their extreme-niche innovations in governmental structures. By simultaneously adopting a broad repertoire of strategies of insertion, contention, and mobilization WPO and their innovations thrive in highly constrained environments. We conclude with reflecting on how ‘ extreme’ niches of innovation − at the cracks of the formal city, economy and waste systems − can unleash the creative power of stigmatized, illiterate and neglected grassroots to experiment with new solutions in resource-poor environments.

Geography of grassroots innovations in the Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve

This article studies the geography of grassroots innovations against the background of plastic pollution and the Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve. Grassroots innovations are networks of people and organisations that generate novel solutions to sustainability- related problems. Typically, they are responses to local deficits and therefore primarily use local resources and actors. However, this local embeddedness also limits them and makes their survival difficult. The article assumes that model regions like Biosphere Reserves can help to overcome local shortcomings and link isolated innovations. The mixed-methods approach of guided interviews and social network analysis showed that GRI are affected not only by the local area but by their social, territorial, and network embeddedness transcending boundaries. Using the different types of embeddedness, we were able to show that GRIs are locally and globally connected to GRI movements, creating translocal networks that foster more transformative actions and practices.

Knowledge networks to support youth engagement in sustainable food systems

Young people are on the front lines of transforming agriculture and food systems, coping with the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 as well as environmental and climate change effects which are likely to accelerate and intensify during their lifetimes. At the same time, young people across global contexts are increasingly emerging as visible agents of change in food systems, especially through networks that create, transform, and distribute food systems knowledge. This policy and practice review examines the role of youth as actors through food systems knowledge networks. Increasing youth participation in creating sustainable food systems for the future requires policies and practices that support food systems-related knowledge in two ways: (1) democratizing formal education systems; and (2) strengthening horizontal networks of grassroots research and innovation, including through traditional, ecological, local and community knowledge (TELCK). Food systems policies should be developed through dialogue with diverse knowledge systems, experiences, place-based needs, and aspirations of young people to maximize their participation in food systems policy development and evaluation.

Transcending the Locality of Grassroots Initiatives: Diffusion of Sustainability Knowledge and Practice through Transdisciplinary Research

Community-based approaches to natural resource management are being discussed and experienced as promising ways for pursuing ecological conservation and socio-economic development simultaneously. However, the multiplicity of levels, scales, objectives and actors that are involved in sustainability transformations tends to be challenging for such bottom-up approaches. Collaborative and polycentric governance schemes are proposed for dealing with those challenges. What has not been fully explored is how knowledge from local contexts of community-based initiatives can be diffused to influence practices on higher levels and/or in other local contexts. This study explores how theoretical advances in the diffusion of grassroots innovation can contribute to understanding and supporting the diffusion of knowledge and practices from community-based initiatives and proposes a transdisciplinary approach to diffusion. For that aim, we develop an analytical perspective on the diffusion of grassroots innovations that takes into consideration the multiplicity of actors, levels and scales, the different qualities/types of knowledge and practices, as well as their respective contributions. We focus on the multiplicity and situatedness of cognitive frames and conceptualize the diffusion of grassroots innovations as a transdisciplinary process. In this way three different diffusion pathways are derived in which the knowledge and practices of grassroots initiatives can be processed in order to promote their (re)interpretation and (re)application in situations and by actors that do not share the cognitive frame and the local context of the originating grassroots initiative. The application of the developed approach is illustrated through transdisciplinary research for the diffusion of sustainable family farming innovations in Colombia. This conceptualization accounts for the emergence of multiplicity as an outcome of diffusion by emphasizing difference as a core resource in building sustainable futures.

Grassroots Innovation for Urban Greening within a Governance Vacuum by Slum Dwellers in Dhaka

The nature-based solutions of slumdwellers are paramount to the ongoing integrity of major cities in the global South. The paper investigates the urban-greening decision-making of slum citizens whose civic participation finds support in shared governance initiatives: non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs). The background informing the conceptual framework guiding this research derives from socio-technical transitions scholarship on critical niches in grassroots innovations. The objective of this research is to examine how slum dwellers are implementing urban greening in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The research considers how slum dwellers manage a governance vacuum through civic participation with NGOs and CBOs. The methods in this study comprise qualitative fieldwork in Dhaka and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and citizens. The research findings show that a governance vacuum requires an adjustment to the perspective on grassroots innovations to endure in the global South in contexts where there is limited opportunity locally for intermediaries to achieve scale. There is a limit to the extent that the critical niches perspective applies to grassroots innovations in greening Dhaka’s slums; therefore, we contribute nuance as a refinement to the approach. The study offers a complementary explanatory framework for how NGOs, CBOs and other intermediaries at the grassroots contend with, and even thrive within, a vacuum of governance in the enactment of urban greening in Dhaka’s slum settlements.

Introducing Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: Lessons on Pragmatic Ethics and the Implementation of a Morally Contested Practice.

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada has had a tumultuous social and legal history. In the 6 years since assisted dying was decriminalized by the Canadian Parliament in June 2016, the introduction of this practice into the Canadian healthcare system has been fraught with ethical challenges, practical hurdles and grass-roots innovation. In 2021, MAiD accounted for approximately 3.3% of all Canadian deaths annually, and more patients are seeking MAiD year over year as this option becomes more widely know. Unfortunately, some patients who want MAiD are unable to access it in a timely manner because of a lack of willing MAiD providers. This introduction describes statistics about the uptake of MAiD in Canada and the challenges presented by Canadians’ rapid acceptance of this end of life care option. In this special edition of HEC Forum about the implementation of MAiD in Canada, authors depict a range of ethical challenges and strategies to address issues related to MAiD access and quality, organizational engagement, clinician recruitment and retention, and support for a morally diverse workforce. In each article, the authors reflect on the question: What are the practical ethics involved in introducing assisted dying into a new healthcare context, and how can ethicists and ethics resources collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the integration of ethical considerations as this practice continues to evolve?

Drivers and barriers to uptake of regenerative agriculture in southeast Queensland: a mental model study

ABSTRACT This paper identifies drivers and barriers to the uptake of regenerative agriculture (RA) as a grassroots innovation in the southeast Queensland context. It aims to identify opportunities for supporting RA as a viable pathway for sustainable food production. A mental model approach involving semi-structured interviews was used to recognize the important interconnected causal mechanisms at play within this grassroots agricultural system, as perceived by the study participants who have an interest in RA in the southeast Queensland context. It revealed two key interrelated themes driving uptake of RA in the region: economic viability of the approach and shifting values and priorities of consumers and producers. Inhibiting factors identified include limited access to local mentoring and advice, financial risk, and lack of supportive policies. We conclude that adopting RA in a given region provides an opportunity to explore its benefits and challenges in building resilient and sustainable food systems. Hence, facilitating grassroots experimentation should be seized as an opportunity for driving society’s sustainability agenda.

A Research Participant and End-User Approach to Research Collaboration and Co-Development in the Torres Strait

Like many communities worldwide, those in the Torres Strait Islands face several severe social and environmental challenges. Torres Strait Islanders compete against the impacts of colonisation, globalisation and climate change to find sustainable solutions to ensure they survive and thrive in this rapidly changing world. This article describes the outcomes of workshops involving representatives from community-based non-government organisations on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait. It describes an approach to proactively kickstart research and identify grassroots innovations for complex social and environmental challenges. The findings suggest workshop participants obtained an increased awareness and understanding of research, the steps involved in research and their rights as participants. The researchers anticipate the findings from this project will contribute towards a better understanding of how to collaborate and co-develop research that is meaningful and beneficial to local contexts.

A role for grassroots innovation toward agroecological transitions in the Global South? Evidence from Mexico

Recent research suggests that there is an urgent need to create transitions to agroecology to address the many ecological, social, and ethical problems caused by the hegemonic Corporate Food Regime. In the Global South, however, there are already numerous and diverse agroecological initiatives driven by peasant communities, indigenous peoples, and grassroots organizations. Although many agroecological innovations developed by such grassroots groups have been identified, they have seldom been analyzed under a specific theoretical framework of innovation (e.g., grassroots innovation). To contribute to this gap, in this paper we review the existing literature on agroecology that is concerned with innovation. Further, we analyze three case studies in Michoacán (Mexico) using two theoretical frameworks: grassroots innovation and transitions to sustainability. The cases illustrate different visions and ways of practicing agroecology, as well as the development of several agroecological innovations. Our study provides empirical evidence about the potential of grassroots groups in the Global South for creating innovations that can be useful in the transition to a more just and sustainable food regime based on agroecology. This evidence has important implications for policy making in agriculture, climate change and biocultural conservation.

Characteristics, challenges and innovations of waste picker organizations: A comparative perspective between Latin American and East African countries

Waste picker organisations (WPOs) around the globe collect, transport and process waste to earn their living but represent a widely excluded, marginalised and impoverished segment of society. WPOs are highly innovative, created by grassroots out of “nothing” to deliver economic, social and environmental sustainability. Still, we do not know how such innovations are developed, and how they are disseminated and adopted by other groups. This article examines characteristics, challenges and innovations of WPOs across five countries in Latin America and East Africa. It is based on quantitative and qualitative data regarding modes of organisation and management, gender, received support, business orientations, environmental and social contributions, and innovations developed in response to multiple challenges. The paper provides a comprehensive understanding of WPOs’ activities and their grassroots innovations in the Global South. The study shows how WPOs contribute significantly to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the societies they serve as well as the wider urban societies. To start and maintain WPOs in informal settlements with a lack of infrastructure, institutional frameworks, and public and private investors is a difficult quest. WPOs take many different organisational forms depending on the complexity of local realities, ranging from advanced collective organization as cooperatives to small self-help groups and microentrepreneurs. Self-organisation into regional and national networks provides economic opportunities, autonomy and stability as well as political influence. Yet, institutional support is fundamental and the lack thereof threatens their existence. Sustaining WPOs as important providers of socio-environmental benefits through governmental and non-governmental actions is a worthwhile undertaking that builds sustainability.

Grassroots innovation for the pluriverse: evidence from Zapatismo and autonomous Zapatista education.

The social and environmental failure of successive Western development models imposed on the global South has led local communities to pursue alternatives to development. Such alternatives seek radical societal transformations that require the production of new knowledge, practices, technologies, and institutions that are effective to achieve more just and sustainable societies. We may think of such a production as innovation driven by social movements, organizations, collectives, indigenous peoples, and local communities. Innovation that is driven by such grassroots groups has been theorized in the academic literature as “grassroots innovation”. However, research on alternatives to development has rarely examined innovation using grassroots innovation as an analytical framework. Here, we assess how grassroots innovation may contribute to building alternatives to development using Zapatismo in Chiapas (Mexico) as a case study. We focus on grassroots innovation in autonomous Zapatista education because this alternative to formal education plays a vital role in knowledge generation and the production of new social practices within Zapatista communities, which underpin the radical societal transformation being built by Zapatismo. We reviewed the academic literature on grassroots innovation as well as gray literature and audiovisual media on Zapatismo and autonomous Zapatista education. We also conducted ethnographic fieldwork in a Zapatista community and its school. We found innovative educational, pedagogical, and teaching–learning practices based on the (re)production of knowledge and learning, which are not limited to the classroom but linked to all the activities of Zapatistas. Our findings suggest that innovation self-realized by Zapatistas plays a key role on the everyday construction of Zapatismo. Therefore, we argue that a specific theoretical framework of grassroots innovation for the pluriverse, based on empirical work carried out in different alternatives to development, is an urgent task that will contribute to a better understanding of how such alternatives grassroots groups imagine, design, and build, particularly across the global South.