What influences the diffusion of grassroots innovations for sustainability? Investigating community currency niches

Seyfang, Gill ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4696-0798 and Longhurst, Noel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1630-0150 (2016) What influences the diffusion of grassroots innovations for sustainability? Investigating community currency niches. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 28 (1). pp. 1-23. ISSN 1465-3990

Preview

PDF (Publisher_version) - Published Version Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

Community action for sustainability is a promising site of socio-technical innovation. Here we test the applicability of co-evolutionary niche theories of innovation diffusion (Strategic Niche Management, SNM) to the context of ‘grassroots innovations’. We present new empirical findings from an international study of 12 community currency niches (such as LETS, time banks, local currencies). These are parallel systems of exchange, designed to operate alongside mainstream money, meeting additional sustainability needs. Our findings confirm SNM predictions that niche-level activity correlates with diffusion success, but we highlight additional or confounding factors, and how niche theories might be adapted to better fit civil-society innovations. In so doing, we develop a model of grassroots innovation niche diffusion which builds on existing work and tailors it to this specific context. The paper concludes with a series of theoretically-informed recommendations for practitioners and policymakers to support the development and potential of grassroots innovations.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sustainability transitions, ,social innovation,strategic niche management,complementary currencies,,grassroots innovation
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Science, Society and Sustainability Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	17 Mar 2016 12:57
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2023 01:36
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/57541
DOI:	10.1080/09537325.2015.1063603

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item