ABSTRACT
Making the most of grassroots innovation requires concerted political pressure on those with power over conventional innovation agendas. All the case studies have wanted to contribute to an opening up of alternative pathways for sustainable developments and a transformation of the social structures shaping innovation activity. This chapter examines the importance of grassroots innovation movements for opening up alternative forms of innovation, resisting narrow interpretations and institutional insertion, and mobilizing for alternative pathways. The cultivation of knowledge, skills, capabilities, working practices and community development was found to be simultaneously a requirement for grassroots innovation and a measure of successful outcomes. Social movements are one means to challenging power, opening up possibilities and building momentum for alternative pathways. The framing of grassroots innovation variously emphasizes its potential in ingenuity, empowerment or transformation. The chapter presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book.
