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

Abstract

Community action for sustainability is a promising site of sociotechnical innovation. Here we test the applicability of coevolutionary niche theories of innovation diffusion (strategic niche management, SNM) to the context of 'grassroots innovations' (GIs). We present new empirical findings from an international study of 12 community currency niches (such as Local Exchange Trading Schemes, time banks, and 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 GI niche diffusion which extends existing work and tailors it to this specific context. The paper concludes with a series of theoretically informed recommendations for practitioners and policy-makers to support the development and potential of GIs. ARTICLE HISTORY

Learning through evaluation – A tentative evaluative scheme for sustainability transition experiments

“…A number of studies have explored ways to appraise the outcomes of transition experiments, 95 but coordinating efforts are widely lacking (Bai et al, 2010;Ferguson et al, 2013;Forrest 96 and Wiek, 2014;König, 2015;Loorbach et al, 2015;Moloney and Horne, 97 2015;Moore et al, 2014;Seyfang and Longhurst 2016;Taanman, 2014;Trencher et al, 98 2014b). Although these studies provide useful insights into aspects of sustainability 99 transition experiments, none of them comprehensively covers a broad array of aspects 100 critical to (different types of) experiments.…”

“…Networks of transformational agency; changes in everyday life Avelino et al, 2014;Seyfang and Longhurst, 2015;Smith et al, 2015;Westely et al, 2014 Urban Sustainability Transition Labs Urban environments Transformational sustainability research; transdisciplinary research; intervention studies Wiek et al, , 2012 M A N U S C R I P T…”

Are Private (Digital) Moneys (Disruptive) Social Innovations? An Exploration of Different Designs

“…Blanc 2011;Seyfang andLonghurst 2013, 2016;Boonstra et al 2013;and Dittmer 2014;Blanc 2011) distinguishes community currencies, complementary currencies and local currencies, and explicitly excludes currencies based on 'sovereignty' and currencies driven by profit motives. Seyfang andLonghurst (2013, 2016) distinguish four categories of complementary currencies: service credits (e.g. time banks), mutual exchange (e.g.…”

“…But do private moneys deliver significant non-economic benefits to their members as some scholars suggest (e.g. Seyfang andLonghurst 2013, 2016)? And can we therefore consider them social innovations?…”

Community energy initiatives to alleviate fuel poverty: the material politics of Energy Cafés

“…Much of previous research has focused on conceptualising these initiatives and investigating their potential for diffusion (see, for example, Seyfang and Smith 2007, Seyfang et al 2013, Seyfang et al 2014, Seyfang and Longhurst 2016. While present-day community energy projects -and grassroots innovations in general -can be considered to be less political than their early predecessors (see, for example, Smith (2005)) on the 1970s' alternative technology movement and social activism, and Walker et al (2007) on the early days of community energy in the UK with developments such as the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) aiming for self-sufficiency), we are interested in whether and how such projects might still be political -although in less explicit ways than earlier counter-cultural ones.…”