The zero waste university program in Mexico: A model for grassroots innovations in sustainability

Abstract

Grassroots innovations for sustainability can take various forms, including novel models for comprehensive waste management. This article examines the contributions of the University Solid Waste Management Program with a Zero Waste approach, a grassroots innovation established by the community of a university campus associated with a non-governmental organization. The program was developed in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in a political and economic context marked by unsustainable and inequitable practices, but with a long history of social struggle for the construction of alternatives. In analytical terms, we study the formation and mutual influence of the sustainability niches of both organizations from the perspective of strategic niche management theory, as well as the benefits resulting from such development.