Grassroots innovations for sustainable development: Towards a new research and policy agenda

TLDR

Innovation and community action are key strands for sustainable development, yet they have not been linked, and community action remains a neglected but potentially important site of innovative activity. Bridging this divide offers a novel theoretical approach to the study of community-level action for sustainability. The paper discusses opportunities and challenges of grassroots innovation and proposes a new agenda for community-level sustainable development research and policy.

Abstract

Abstract Innovation and community action are two important strands for sustainable development. Yet they have not hitherto been linked. Community action is a neglected, but potentially important, site of innovative activity. Bridging this divide offers a novel theoretical approach to the study of community-level action for sustainability. The opportunities presented by grassroots innovation are discussed, as are the challenges confronting activity at this level, and a new agenda for community-level sustainable development research and policy.