Grassroots Innovation and Inclusive Development Research Papers (original) (raw)

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- Innovation statistics, Rural Development, Management of Innovation, Design Innovation

How is it possible to design and deploy circular economy (CE) strategies oriented to inclusive development? How can non-traditional units of production and consumption (i.e., actual productive actors such as waste picker cooperatives and peasant organizations) be integrated into these strategies? Using data collected as a result of two long-term participatory action research projects carried out with a waste picker cooperative in Buenos Aires and 65 peasant families in Chaco (both located in Argentina) the paper opens the door to a proactive critical debate in terms of how to integrate circular economy principles with the development of technological solutions (artifacts, processes and methods of organization). We show that CE holds great potential, both in terms of its contribution to the generation of new interpretive frameworks and also, in terms of nurturing local and inclusive development strategies when it is integrated with collaborative, bottom-up and innovative dynamics. Based on the idea of working with heterogeneous traditional production units (not only with profit-maximizing firms), it is possible to think of social development avenues for vulnerable populations, where the CE principles build up mechanisms capable of maximizing the transformative potential of the resources (including those understood as waste) presented in actual techno-economic matrices.

- by Lucas Becerra
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- Development Studies, Social Inclusion, Bottom-up strategies, Circular Economy

Unlike the private companies that runs the waste collection system the recovery and classification of waste carried out by cartoneros (waste pickers) in Buenos Aires metropolis has not yet been acknowledged as a " public service " (one of the main demands of cartonero organizations). Their work is based on the commercialization of recovered materials for the local and global recycling industry in a market defined by high levels of intermediation and incidence of monopolies in price formation. Consequently, levels of profitability attained in this first link of the chain are extremely meager, hence the importance of achieve value-adding issues becomes key for strengthen the economies of their organizations. Moreover, some public policy actions were oriented to address this goal by a so called process of "technification" of their working process. However, the results obtained so far, were not encouraging at all. Over more than a decade of the emergence of the cartonero phenomenon in Argentina, the technological features of their job have not shown significant changes. Most of them still focus on collecting and sorting as main activities, using very rudimentary tools and machines and obtaining a small profit if we consider the hard work they make on a daily basis. Departing from an ethnographic approach this article reconstructs and analyzes an " innovation " process developed by members of a cartonero cooperative in the Greater Buenos Aires. The project involves the recycling of industrial cellulose waste for manufacturing bricks and plates for housing construction. The core of my argument can be synthesized in the following question: what happens when an " innovation " process does not come from the contribution of specialized " technicians " , but responds to an experimental practice developed by the cartoneros themselves?. This shift at the level of the socially legitimate locus to produce " innovation " is analytically revealing for examining the contradictory dynamics in the construction of social relations deployed in this experience, focusing mainly on the tensions present in the institutionalization of the ongoing creative process.

In the city of Milan, the pandemic generated by the spread of Covid-19 in 2020 led to increased inequality between different social groups. This paper reports the case of a neighbourhood community fund promoted by a group of non-profit organisations in one of the poorest areas of the city during the first lockdown (February-June 2020). While providing emergency aid to people who did not access institutional measures during the pandemic, this initiative has also boosted a process of reconfiguring the local network structure, supporting a collective redefinition of the practices and meanings of territorial networking for welfare provision. Referring to direct social action (DSA) theory, the article reflects on the role of community-based DSAs in innovating welfare policies and addressing social and territorial inequalities, looking at networkshaped forms of cooperation among third sector organisations.

- by John Clark
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- Buddhism, Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Change

Recognising, respecting and rewarding the ceative communities and
individuals at grassroots in rural and urban areas has been the major
mission of Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable
Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and Honey Bee Network for
about two decades. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
(DSIR), Government of India saw the strength of the model of scouting,
documenting and disseminating grassroots innovations and traditional
knowledge developed at SRISTI. DSIR realised that the experience
of SRISTI needed to be replicated in the Asian and Pacific regions so
that the unsung heroes and heroines of the region get due recognition
and support in each country. For inclusive growth, building upon low
cost, affordable and environment friendly technologies developed by
common people without any outside help is very necessary. Many
countries in the region already have some institutional framework in
place to promote innovations. However, the role of grassroots innovators
and TK holders has remained subdued. APCTT was contracted by
DSIR to work with SRISTI as a knowledge partner to build capacity in
the region for scouting, documenting and disseminating grassroots
innovations. It was felt that in phase one, the major emphasis will be on
building databases of such innovations and TK. In phase two, perhaps
one could draw upon the experience of adding value, developing
products/services which can generate employment, help in alleviating
poverty and strengthen entrepreneurial approach to development.
First, a desk study was done to pool together the regional experience in
this regard by way of preparing an annotated bibliography. This was
followed by field visits in several countries such as China, Philippines,
Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India. The workshops for senior policy makers
as well as others were organised in all these countries. In the last
workshop held in China, all the countries in the region, which took initiative
to build the grassroots innovations (GRI) movement agreed that the
process triggered by SRISTI and APCTT had been very useful. In
some countries, budget allocation for the purpose has already been made.

El cambio tecnológico y la innovación ocupan actualmente en los imaginarios de las políticas públicas latinoamericanas un rol dinamizador de procesos de desarrollo productivo orientados a aumentar el bienestar general. No obstante, se registra una escisión entre la I+D públicamente financiada y las estrategias de producción, circulación, distribución y consumo orientadas a resolver necesidades socio-ambientales locales.A partir del análisis de las dinámicas socio-tecno-cognitivas en el caso del Yogurito Escolar (Argentina), este trabajo examina los problemas de la transferencia tecnológica y abre el abanico de opciones para diseñar estrategias de acción de la I+D pública en clave de dinamizar procesos de desarrollo inclusivo.

Twenty years' study of grassroots innovation (GRI) has not resulted in the creation of an established concept of GRI. Scholars exploit several specific notions of this phenomenon and study GRI cases within them, which lock these studies in Western or Global South discourses. They compete with each other and do not create a common conceptual basis or analytical framework for studying GRI, while generating more and more literature that does not create much value for GRI studies in general. This paper reviews two major approaches-the British and the Indian-to identify their ontological and epistemological grounds. As a country that is different from the developing and developed states, Russia presents an opportunity to challenge the notions exploited by the British and Indian approaches. Therefore, this article aims to expand and reconcile previous conceptual approaches to GRI through the revision of their ontological notions. As a result, it offers initial features of an analytical model for further discussion, development, and use by GRI researchers.

Inclusive development is a newly emerging notion that is gaining substantial attention, especially in international civil societies. The aim of this study, therefore, is to discuss the drivers of inclusive development in Africa, paying special attention to the political economy and structural change variables. Ordinary Least Squares regression is run in STATA 14 to test if there are statistically significant correlations between the five-year average scores of inclusive development index (IDI) as an endogenous variable and (proxies of) the five-year trend in economic growth, technology, structural change, trade, and political economy as exogenous variables. The panel data are pooled from 21 African countries among which 9 countries are landlocked. The regression is run in two scenarios. As an alternative scenario, IDI is pooled from the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017 report and used as a dependent variable. In the other scenario, IDI is computed by incorporating variables relevant to the African context then used as a dependent variable. In the IRID customized version, the five-year trends of GDP, health facility, the institutional and structural change variables viz. democracy and employment opportunity in the industry sector are statistically significant determinants of inclusive development. Accordingly, an inference is drawn claiming that inter alia a nation is as prosperous, inclusive and resilient as the quality of its governance institutions and enforcement capability. This is in line with the conventional thought in African studies which claim that a natural resource endowment per se is not the sole determinant of development. Finally, to anchor IDI with a pragmatic paradigm, a three-stage institutional reengineering model is proposed which could be applied in different development governance endeavors.

The battle for women's suffrage at English Parliament in 1866 marked the earliest recorded legal battle for equality between men and women. Since then, the issue of gender equality has grown to become a global concern. While it is generally agreed that human rights apply to all human beings (men and women included), women's fundamental rights and freedom have been limited by patriarchal practices and traditions. The situation is worse in many African societies where colonial legacies and patriarchal culture assign superior roles to men and subordinate roles to women. In Nigeria, these practices have reduced the status of women to be inferior to their male counterparts. This in turn makes it difficult for women to fully participate in as many social, political, and economic activities as men do. Patriarchal culture has brought tremendous setbacks for women in Nigeria, which is the focus of this paper. In addition, stereotyping and stratification of jobs, skills, political offices and businesses have become so deep-rooted in patriarchy because of the cultures and ideologies of the society. This began with the traditional gender roles in the pre-colonial era and was reinforced during the colonial era when women were forced out of commercial farming and trading to do food-crop farming and petty trading, which both bring in less money. Presently, this practice keeps women under glass ceilings and in low paying jobs, which contributes largely to most Nigerian women being in poverty, experiencing poor health, and suffering from various abuse due to the inequality of social status between genders. Therefore, this paper critically discusses the historical perspective and analyzes how colonial legacies and patriarchy are nurturing gender inequality in Nigeria using hegemonic and Nigerian masculinity as the theoretical frame work of analysis.

- by Emmanuel F Jaiyeola and +1
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- Cultural Studies, Community Development, Post-Colonialism, Gender Issues and Women Empowerment

En la última década, las políticas argentinas han apoyado la inversión y la creación de capacidades en ciencia, tecnología e innovación (CTI) como elementos clave para la promoción de dinámicas de desarrollo local. En esta agenda política, la biotecnología ha sido considerada un área estratégica. Sin embargo, es difícil establecer una correlación entre estos esfuerzos y la generación de soluciones a los principales problemas sociales del país. Es posible preguntarse: ¿cómo se integran las capacidades científicas y tecnológicas disponibles en la Argentina hacia la generación de dinámicas socialmente inclusivas?La investigación doctoral se centra en el análisis de los procesos producción de conocimiento, desarrollo tecnológico, innovación y políticas públicas de CTI para el desarrollo inclusivo en el caso de la biotecnología. El análisis se despliega en cuatro niveles interrelacionados: (a) la construcción de agendas de investigación y desarrollo (I+D); (b) la participación de los usuarios y la negociación del conocimiento; (c) capacidades de policy-making y toma de decisiones en CTI; y (d) dinámicas de innovación tecno-productiva y sustentabilidad, explorando la interrelación de los esfuerzos locales de I+D orientadas a la solución de los problemas sociales locales y los incentivos y restricciones a través de políticas de CTI. La tesis se estructura en seis capítulos. El primero, da cuenta de trayectorias de diversas corrientes de desarrollo de tecnología para el desarrollo inclusivo, sus desafíos y limitaciones. El segundo presenta el mapa experiencias de ?biotecnologías para la el desarrollo inclusivo? desarrolladas en Argentina. El tercero, cuarto y quinto constituyen tres estudios de caso en profundidad para analizar los procesos de co-construcción de estrategias científicas, tecno-productivas, organizativas y de políticas públicas. El trabajo a continuación presenta algunos aspectos de la investigación del primero de estos estudios de caso, el del ?Yogurito Escolar?. A partir de un abordaje teórico-metodológico que triangula herramientas heurísticas de los estudios constructivistas en sociología de la tecnología, de economía del cambio tecnológico, y del análisis de políticas, la investigación examina las potencialidades y limitaciones de convertir el desarrollo inclusivo en un desafío científico y tecnológico. Los aprendizajes obtenidos se orientan a servir como insumos repensar la gestión de tecnologías conocimiento-intensivas y políticas de CTI para el desarrollo inclusivo y sostenible.

This paper analyses how technological and institutional innovation strategies were deployed towards achieving a high-scale, sustainable, knowledge intensive, locally grounded project, through the experience of an Argentinean biotechnology-based nutritional supplement delivered in schools to solve child malnutrition led diseases. The paper focuses on how the case of ‘Yogurito’ managed to address three challenges within recent Innovation for Inclusive Development literature: (1) involving heterogeneous actors in the innovation process within knowledge intensive technologies, (2) gaining scale while fostering participatory technology development processes, and (3) promoting the articulation of science, technology and innovation (STI) programmes with wider (social, sanitary and productive) policies. Through the trajectory of the probiotic yoghurt, the article examines learning and innovation strategies in technological design and institutional arrangements. We argue that the organizational strategies deployed to articulate scientific and locally grounded capacities were key elements that allowed the programme’s working, its sustainability over time, and the unfolding of a regional development policy scheme.

- by Gabriela M Bortz and +1
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- Science, technology and Innovation Policy, Grassroots Movements, Inclusive development, Inclusive Innovation

In this keynote paper for the international Agro-Sym conference in Jahorina, Bosnia and Herzogovina, I outline a New Paradigm for Innovation, which is in stark contrast with the Old Paradigm. I argue that not only does the new paradigm offer greater hope for a sustainable and inclusive innovation and development, but it is also a necessary shift if the world is to become a sustainable place for all in social, environmental and economic terms.

This paper presents human rights based approach as a strategy that is aimed at improving the social and economic conditions of persons with disabilities in Liberia. It describes current marginalization and discrimination against persons with disabilities in Liberia and propose meaningful solutions aimed at reducing stigma and promoting active participation of persons with disabilities in Liberia.

The battle for women's suffrage to Parliament in 1866 in England marked the earliest recorded legal battle for equality between men and women. Since then the issue of gender equality has grown to become a global concern. While it is generally agreed that human rights apply to all human beings (men and women), women's fundamental rights and freedom have been limited by patriarchal practices and traditions. The situation is worse in many African societies where colonial legacies and patriarchal culture assigns superior roles to men and subordinate ones to women. In Nigeria, these practices had reduced the status of women to be lower and inferior to their male counterparts. This, in turn, makes it difficult for women to fully participate in as many social, political, and economic activities as men do. This has brought tremendous setbacks for women in Nigeria which is the focus of this paper. In addition, stereotyping and stratification of jobs, skills, political offices and bus...

- by Emmanuel F Jaiyeola
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- Masculinity Studies, Community Development, Political Science, Colonialism