GREEN TRANSFORMATIONS FROM BELOW? The politics of grassroots innovation

Abstract

In North and South, in cities and rural settings, networks of activists, development workers, community groups and neighbours are generating bottom-up solutions for sustainable development, solutions that respond to the local situation and the interests and values of the communities involved. Initiatives have flourished, and struggled, in sectors as diverse as water and sanitation, housing and habitats, food and agriculture, energy, mobility, manufacturing, health, education, communications, and many other spheres of activity. People call this as grassroots innovation. Grassroots innovation movements present contrasting approaches to innovation compared to conventional science, technology and innovation (STI) institutions. Grassroots projects, involving the cultivation of tacit knowledge and skills, are also about crafting solidarities. Project-centred discussion and activity is linked to debate and mobilization around wider issues. In the context of green transformations, it is argued by some that these facilities not only help localize sustainable production, consumption, up-cycling, fixing and repair, but they might also promote post-consumerist cultures.