democratizando la innovación. ¿qué podemos aprender de la innovación desde abajo?
TRANSCRIPT
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Democratizando la innovación. ¿Qué podemos aprender de la innovación desde abajo?
Adrian SmithProfesor de Tecnología y Sociedad. Science and Policy Research Unit (SPRU) y STEPS Centre. Universidad de Sussex
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Democratizing innovation: what can we learn from grassroots innovation?
Adrian Smith(STEPS Centre and SPRU, University of Sussex, UK)
itdUPM Conferencia: Tecnología e Innovación para el Desarrollo 24-25 June 2015, Madrid
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STEPS – Social, Technological & Environmental Pathways to Sustainability
[ Global research and policy engagement Centre linking IDS, SPRU, international partners
[ Shared view that, in a complex, dynamic & globalised world, sustainability is acknowledged to be political – a matter for diverse forms of democracy
[ Plural pathways to sustainability fully integrate ecological integrity with social justice
[ Science and technology work as means not ends: for people and the environment
[ Power needs to be built to enable those living in greatest poverty and marginalisation
[ Develop, apply and communicate a ‘pathways approach’ to research that brings together development studies and science and technology studies to understand interactions between social, technological and environmental dynamics in diverse settings
[ Link new theory with practical solutions, policy and political debate by engaging with diverse local and global audiences
www.steps-centre.org
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itdUPM conference
[ ¡Esta es una conferencia! A convergence during a process (meetings, working papers, networking, follow-on, continuous reflection and activity …)
[ Working Paper - The role of innovation for a sustainable future
[ Important themes - partnerships, co-production, experimentation, niche spaces, new institutions
[ Key point is need for transformations to innovation itself – its direction, the way it happens, who is involved, how it is resourced, and its consequences
[ Presentation: use STEPS research in grassroots innovation to share some thoughts about transforming (democratising?) innovation
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Why grassroots innovation?
[ Networks of activists and community organisations generating novel bottom–up solutions for sustainable development
[ Solutions that respond to the local situation and the interests and values of the communities involved
[ Communities exercise control of both the process and results of innovation
[ Neglected by innovation policy – which is based in combinations of technology-led, state-led, or market-led approaches
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Examples
[ Car clubs
[ Wind turbines
[ Refrigeration (zeer pots)
[ Mobile laundering
[ Community currencies
[ Solar home systems
[ Repair Cafés
[ Cycle rickshaw gear-trains
[ Eco-housing neighbourhoods
[ Rainwater harvesting
[ Urban agro-ecology
[ Hackerspaces and Makerspaces
[ Etc etc etc …
• Artefacts (e.g. specific artefacts, such as
water-cooled fridges, or portable milling machines)
• Methodologies (e.g. participatory design, regional network-building, entrepreneurship)
• Actors (e.g. new identities & subjectivities, grassroots entrepreneurs, innovation scouts, developers)
• Infrastructure and facilities (e.g. prototyping workshops, design expertise, databases)
• Networks (e.g. topics like agro-ecology or housing, mentoring programmes, development services, representation, knowledge platforms, skill swapping)
• Concepts and agendas (e.g. for knowledge production, whether commons-based or proprietary, for ways of being and organising, relationships with people and resources)
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Insertion of GIM into STI Politics of technique
Mobilisation of GIM to transform STI Politics of structural change
Politics
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[ funding
[ supporting
[ networking
[ partnering
[ lobbying[ activism
Intermediary activities
Open participation
Local developmentEnvironmental sustainability
Social goals
How to help grassroots niches grow and spread?
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What roles might niches play in transformations?
Perspective Niche purposes Niche developments
Strategic niche management Instrumental improvements in niche solutions (grassroots ingenuity)
• Projects as demonstrations• Knowledge for diffusing solutions• Intermediaries disseminate good
practice• Politics is rational & objectifying
Niche policy advocacy Advocacy that makes niche solutions matter to others, e.g. policy or business or science (grassroots empowerment)
• Projects exemplify narratives• Knowledge argues what matters• Intermediaries lobby• Policy is argumentative &
pragmatic
Critical niches Unsettling and debating innovation norms and challenging power from alternative positions(grassroots critique)
• Projects challenge norms• Knowledge about structures• Intermediaries mobilise critical
reflection• Politics is antagonistic & radical
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Conclusions: what can we learn from grassroots innovation?
[ There is a wealth of innovation amongst the grassroots, and it takes various forms
[ Intermediaries play influential roles when they help the development of grassroots niches
[ Does that development inserting grassroots ideas into conventional innovation systems, or is it trying to transform those systems?
[ The dichotomy presented here is a simplification. Complex and dynamic innovation hybrids are evolving and interacting.
[ Always ask, what are the power relations in these interactions? Whose priorities count? Whose knowledge counts? Who controls resources?
[ These are inherently political questions – any transformation in innovation needs to be democratic, though the different theories and forms of democracy is a topic for another presentation!
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More information …
[ @smithadrianpaul
[ www.grassrootsinnovations.org / www.steps-centre.org
[ Fressoli, M., Arond, E., Abrol, D., Smith, A., Ely, A. and R. Dias (2014) When grassroots innovation movements encounter mainstream institutions: implications for models of inclusive innovation, Innovation & Development 4, 2: 277-292
[Smith, A. (2014) Technology networks for socially useful production, Journal of Peer Production issue 5 (online journal: peerproduction.net)
[ Smith, A., Fressoli, M. and H. Thomas (2013) Grassroots innovation movements: challenges and contributions, Journal of Cleaner Production 63: 114-124
¡ GRACIAS !