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

2007/07/17 by Gill Seyfang, Adrian Smith · 3 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Environmental Science · #Environmental Education and Sustainability #Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development #Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

paper · doi:10.1080/09644010701419121

openalex publication_date 2007/07/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

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.

Citations

• Technological paradigms and technological trajectories
• Sustainable consumption, the new economics and community currencies: Developing new institutions for environmental governance
• The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions

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