“Community food projects are not about food, and community energy projects are not about energy” was one of the conclusions from an international workshop of experts on ‘grassroots innovations’. These are initiatives which aim to promote sustainable development from the bottom up, and commonly have broad objectives including community-building and social inclusion, as well as … Continue reading »
This paper presents a new analytical framework of ‘grassroots innovations’ which views community-led initiatives for sustainable development as strategic green niches with the potential for wider transformation of mainstream society. This framework is applied to a low-carbon, low-impact, community-based sustainable housing initiative in the USA that pioneers straw bale housing techniques within a strong community-building … Continue reading »
Grassroots Innovations for Sustainable Development Conference, UCL London, 10th June, 2005 The UK government’s new Sustainable Development Strategy, Securing the Future, places greener innovation and local action at its foundation. Yet these two themes are considered apart: greener innovation is presumed to be an industrial concern, whilst local action is identified with the community dimension of sustainable … Continue reading »
This project examined how social experiments with alternative technologies – organic food, eco-housing and wind energy – have attained wider influence. Continue reading »
Seyfang, G. (2009) The New Economics of Sustainable Consumption: Seeds of Change (Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke) ISBN 978-0-230-52533-7 [paperback published 2011] Climate change is forcing us to rethink our lifestyles, but green consumerism won’t save the planet – mainstream approaches simply cannot deliver the radical changes we need for a sustainable society. This book offers a fresh look … Continue reading »
Smith, A. (2007) ‘Translating Sustainabilities Between Green Niches and Socio-Technical Regimes’ Technology Analysis and Strategic Management 19(4) pp.427-450 A role for green niches has risen to prominence in the environment and innovation literature. The role of idealistic enthusiasts in the creation of sustainability initiatives in niches is widely recognized.The importance of tensions in incumbent socio-technical regimes is acknowledged to provide … Continue reading »
Supporting and Harnessing Diversity? Experiments in Appropriate Technology project final briefing (Dec 2006). Grassroots Innovations Briefing: Supporting and Harnessing Diversity? Grassroots Innovation Briefing: Supporting and Harnessing Diversity
