Presentación de Adrian Smith, Profesor de Tecnología y Sociedad. Science and Policy Research Unit (SPRU) y STEPS Centre. Universidad de Sussex. Para la Conferencia "Tecnología e Innovación para el Desarrollo" #itdUPM2015

1. Democratizando la innovación.
¿Qué podemos aprender de la innovación desde abajo?
Adrian Smith
Profesor de Tecnología y Sociedad. Science and Policy Research
Unit (SPRU) y STEPS Centre. Universidad de Sussex

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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)

7. Insertion of GIM into STI Politics of technique
Mobilisation of GIM to transform STI Politics of structural change
Politics
Characteristics Mainstream STI institutions Grassroots innovation niches
Political dimensions
Predominant actors Universities, Public labs,
commercial firms, ministries
and other public institutions,
international funding agencies
Civil society, NGOs, social
movements, cooperatives,
neighbours, community groups
Priority values Science advance, for profit
innovation/ not necessarily
focused on social inclusion
Social justice / not necessarily
focused on for profit innovation
Mechanisms
Principal incentives / drivers Market demand and regulation
/ science competence
Social needs, community
empowerment, solidarity
Sources of investment State/ Corporate funded,
venture capital
Development aid, community
finance, donations, State
funding
Forms of appropriability Intellectual property framework
strongly biased towards patent-
based innovation
Not appropriated by individuals
– seen as common goods
Knowledge dimensions
Sites of innovation Laboratories and R&D
institutes, board rooms and
ministries, market based firms
Community projects and
participatory processes, social
movements, hackerspaces
Predominant forms of
knowledge
Scientific and technical
knowledge
Local, situated knowledge /
indigenous knowledge
Emblematic technological fields Biotechnology, ICTs,
Nanotechnology
Organic food, small scale
renewable energies, water
sanitation

8. [ funding
[ supporting
[ networking
[ partnering
[ lobbying
[ activism
Intermediary activities
Open participation
Local development
Environmental sustainability
Social goals
How to help grassroots niches grow and spread?

9. 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

10. 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!

11. More information …
[ a.g.smith@sussex.ac.uk
[ @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 !