Green Transformations From Below?

This groundbreaking edited volume offers a fresh and critical perspective on innovation in Africa, challenging conventional, technocentric interpretations of national systems of innovation (NSI). Moving beyond the narrow focus on science, technology and formal institutions, the book adopts a political economy approach that incorporates both formal and informal sectors as well as socio-economic and political dynamics. Through rich theoretical insights and compelling case studies from South Africa and other African contexts, the book demonstrates how innovation is often driven by informal economies and non-technological elements that have been historically sidelined in mainstream discourse. It also examines pressing contemporary issues such as ecological degradation, climate change, green energy transitions, and sub-national innovation ecosystems, offering practical policy recommendations for inclusive science, technology and innovation (STI) development. Anchoring its analysis in a novel understanding of post-colonial African economies, the book provides a heterodox approach to NSI that is highly relevant for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in economic development, innovation policy, and sustainable, inclusive growth.

Constructing grassroots innovations for sustainability

ABSTRACTCommunity action has an increasingly prominent role in the debates surrounding transitions to sustainability. Initiatives such as community energy projects, community gardens, local food networks and car sharing clubs provide new spaces for sustainable consumption, and combinations of technological and social innovations. These initiatives, which are often driven by social good rather than by pure monetary motives, have been conceptualised as grassroots innovations. Previous research in grassroots innovations has largely focused on conceptualising such initiatives and analysing their potential for replication and diffusion; there has been less research in the politics involved in these initiatives. We examine grassroots innovations as forms of political engagement that is different from the 1970s’ alternative technology movements. Through an analysis of community-run Energy Cafés in the United Kingdom, we argue that while present-day grassroots innovations appear less explicitly political than their predecessors, they can still represent a form of political participation. Through the analytical lens of material politics, we investigate how Energy Cafés engage in diverse – explicit and implicit, more or less conscious – forms of political engagement. In particular, their work to “demystify” clients’ energy bills can unravel into various forms of advocacy and engagement with energy technologies and practices in the home. Some Energy Café practices also make space for a needs-driven approach that acknowledges the embeddedness of energy in the household and wider society.

Resource scarcity and waste siege are posing serious challenges to global municipal waste management and environmental governance [1,2].In the context of global low-carbon and green transformations, achieving sustainable waste management is a critical issue that urgently needs to be addressed [3,4].The zero waste (ZW) strategy was developed to alleviate the environmental burden and resource depletion caused by solid waste [5].The core of ZW lies in promoting responsible production and consumption patterns, as well as resource reuse and efficient recycling, striving to avoid waste incineration and arbitrary discharge, thereby maximizing the efficiency of natural resource utilization and minimizing negative impacts on the ecological environment [6][7][8].Looking back at history, Canberra, Australia, set an example in 1995 and became the world's first city to implement the ZW

Recent years, most universities and colleges have been reforming the English as a foreign language (EFL) curriculum system in China. Some reformed EFL curriculum into English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses, for instance, while some conducted a graded teaching model in EFL teaching. However, the effect of this reform was not so good, especially at science and technology institutes. Therefore, in view of different opinions to classification of foreign language teaching, the classification scheme of English teaching was improved and rebuilt at first, based on the analysis of the learners’ feedback from the perspective of learner’s needs on the current EFL curriculum system of China’s science and technology institutes under graded teaching model. And then a new EFL curriculum system of China’s science and technology institutes under graded teaching model was designed based on learning-centered approach to course and curriculum design to promote the development of EFL teaching and China’s ESP courses and accordingly meet nation’s needs for cultivating international and integrated high-quality talents of foreign languages.

This paperback publication in German of the thesis of Dr. Bammer of the University of Würzburg is printed as a monograph under the auspices of the German Research Society. It presents the results of a field investigation of multiple sclerosis in a restricted geographic area, with an analysis of the prevalence of cases in the area as a whole, as well as in separate communities and groups of communities. Studied also is the associated incidence of environmental and other factors. Tables and graphs show age and sex incidence, degree of familial incidence, proportions of native and non-native subjects with the disease, proportions of subjects in urban and rural settings, incidence in relation to different occupations, associated "hygienic factors" such as the incidence of the disease in communities with good and those with contaminated drinking water, incidence in communities with adequate plumbing and in those without adequate facilities, the degree of

This article is an attempt to think about participation not as an event but rather as part of an effort to build systems and institutions in science, technology and innovation in developing countries. It uses two notions of participation, one as a mechanism to facilitate democracy and broader control and another as a means to achieve development goals. The article looks at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and in particular considers the way in which more grassroots participation is linked to communications strategy in the IAVI's case. It argues that examining the extent to which participation efforts are embedded in broader communication strategies may be important in distinguishing between ways in which participation is deployed an used, and it distinguishes between 'communication for participation' and 'participation for communication The article also explores Hirschman's ideas around 'exit', 'voice' and 'loyalty' and innovation systems as frameworks, which help to situate participation in the broader context of institutional development.

Conduziu-se este trabalho, com o objetivo central de analisar o perfil ambiental dos Institutos Federais de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia (IF), quando analisadas as práticas de gestão ambiental. Para atingir esse objetivo foi desenvolvida uma entrevista por intermédio de questionário, o qual foi respondido por 82 Campi do Brasil, de um total de 230, de forma a poder diagnosticar práticas de gestão ambiental nesse setor. Com base na avaliação do grau de implantação de determinadas vertentes e práticas de gestão ambiental, foi traçado o perfil ambiental dos IF. As práticas de gestão ambiental são meios pelos quais as organizações podem melhorar o seu desempenho. Um comportamento ecoeficiente otimiza o uso dos recursos e evita a produção de resíduos, permitindo poupanças significativas. Um bom desempenho ambiental evita custos resultantes da aplicação do princípio do poluidor-pagador. Este trabalho constituiu uma base de apoio aos diversos Campi dos IF, sugerindo quais as vantagens de recorrer a práticas de gestão ambiental, de forma a aumentar o desempenho ambiental nessas instituições de ensino, pesquisa e extensão públicas. Concluiu-se que não há gestão ambiental nos Institutos Federais de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia que preencha os requisitos da sustentabilidade e que o Índice de Avaliação Ambiental dos Institutos Federais de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia (IADAIFE) para quatro Campi foi muito fraco e para 78 Campi foi fraco.

The ISO 56002:2019 standard is the international reference for guiding the establishment, implementation, maintenance, and continual improvement of innovation management systems in established organizations that seek sustained success by their capacity to manage research, development, and innovation (RD&I) activities. Based on ISO 56002:2019 framework, we propose a self-assessment model for evaluating innovation management systems of science and technology institutions (STIs), integrating the Analytic Network Process (ANP) and the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) methods. This model's applicability could be demonstrated in the context of a government STI in Brazil. The proposed conceptual model and the empirical results concerning this application may help established STIs identify critical issues and opportunities for strengthening their capacity to manage innovation processes better to achieve the intended outcomes. Finally, the potential contributions of the proposed self-assessment model for the continuous improvement of innovation management systems of science and technology institutions are discussed.

The author presents the complexities of directing a DTC (Day Treatment Center) in a rural setting. These complexities are explored from the perspective of system's theory. The various systems contained within the DTC are in dynamic equilibrium with each other as well as with various community groups. Changes in any one system have significant impact on the groups the system impinges on. As an example, the DTC had not functioned well for a period of time prior to the author's arrival. During that period the staff communicated poorly among themselves, resulting in conflicts between the teaching and non-teaching staff. When these conflicts were resolved the well-established incompatibilities and stresses within the system of the non-teaching staff surfaced. In the process of this conflict resolution the DTC was reorganized. New groups were established to access children at primary and secondary levels of medical prevention. Rapport with other systems in the community improved. Consequently, with better communication between groups of staff and with the community, the treatment of the children could be more effective.

Since the advent of "new museology" in the 1960s and 1970s there has been a substantial increase in community-based museum initiatives, with cultural workers adopting heritage management practices that approach the museum as a tool for negotiating identity and contesting the imposition of cultural values. One such initiative is Mexico's National Program of Community Museums and Ecomuseums (PNMC), a federal program of community museums that aims to strengthen the relationship between civil society and its patrimony. Using the PNMC as a case study, this paper explores the ways in which global trends in community-based heritage management have been adapted to a particular set of social and historical circumstances. It also examines how community, national, and international groups interact to negotiate a program that works in different ways for the different players involved. While Mexican community museums have been unable to engender the wide-scale community participation that they propose, a program of museums has been instituted that runs largely on the initiative of a devoted network of community cultural activists. Furthermore, as a group of institutions participating in regional, national, and global networks, the museums have extended their reach in an effort to actively negotiate how culture is constructed, managed, and portrayed, not only within the community but beyond.

Science and technology institutions are established by governments to promote advancement of science and technology in support of their social economic developments. The purpose of this study is to deliberate a framework for monitoring and assessment of technology ventures exploiting disruptive technologies from the standpoint of a science and technology institution. This framework, harnessing both internal resources and externalities, aims to enhance the role of institutional stakeholders in governing and nurturing technology ventures. This approach stresses the dynamics between resource management and the external landscapes as critical considerations in performance measurement and management of technology ventures. Such dynamic interaction between a science and technology institution and a cluster of technology ventures under its supervision is expected to evolve over time with frequent reassessments of its technology foresight.

This research aimed to analyze the role of Technological Innovation Centers (NITs), linked to Scientific, Technological and Innovation Institutions (ICTs), as drivers of cleaner technology development in the steel sector, considering the possibilities of technology transfer to adapt the sector to the requirements of the European Union Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The research has a qualitative approach, with bibliographic and documentary analyses on carbon emissions in the industrial sector, conventional technologies used in steelmaking, and cleaner technologies applicable to the steel sector. The results pointed to new routes for cleaner technologies for decarbonization and the importance of NITs in mediating between scientific production and the productive sector for the development of technologies in ICTs that can contribute to solving economic and environmental problems that help achieve global decarbonization goals and meet the requirements imposed by the CBAM. In conclusion, it can be said that there is a risk that Brazilian companies exporting steel products will lose competitiveness in the European market if strategies are not adopted to overcome the challenges imposed by carbon restriction policies on products that do not meet CBAM criteria.

The low-carbon energy transition framed as a social-technical system can enable researchers to gain insight into the complex interaction between niche actors and the dominant regime under the current energy policy landscape. This paper aims to analyze community-led energy initiatives through the lens of sustainable entrepreneurship and discern business practices that these niche actors use in the social-technical setting of the energy transition. Niche actors such as Community Energy Cooperatives (CECs) develop bottom-up solutions and overcome social-cognitive norms through citizen engagement. Especially in the UK, such community initiatives face resistance from the dominant regime due to the unfavorable policies and centralized institutional arrangements. The business practices based on sustainable entrepreneurship can enable community groups to create social, economic, and environmental values for the local communities. In our analysis, we observed that CECs exhibit traits of a sustainable entrepreneur in their efforts to support energy transition. We discerned following business practices based on sustainable entrepreneurship that CECs employ in the UK: (1) mission-driven and locally focused, (2) commercial venturing and collaboration, and (3) grassroots innovations and shared knowledge. In this paper, we observed a strong connection between the CEC business practices and sustainable entrepreneurship that provides a foundation for future academic interests. Further, we noted that intermediary organizations, as part of the business ecosystem, play a crucial role in supporting the UK’s community energy sector.

A joint research project of the Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy, RWTH Aachen University; the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Kaiserslautern; the Gear Research Centre, Munich; and the Foundation Institute of Materials Science (IWT), Bremen, named “HiPerComp: High Performance Components,” resulted in new damage-tolerant steels for rolling bearing and gear applications. The main target of the project was the introduction of strengthening mechanisms and localized plasticity to common through-hardening bearing and case carburizing grades. These microstructural-based mechanisms were expected to reduce the sensitivity against nonmetallic inclusions and by that increase the bearing life. For a 52100 bearing steel, an aluminum addition of up to 2 mass% should develop the capability of transformation-induced plasticity effects as well as a further strength increase by k-carbides. For case-hardening grades such as ISO 18CrNiMo7-6 (comparable to AISI 4820), a copper addition was investigated, which can lead to the formation of coherent copper clusters, thus increasing the strength. Although the new alloys were developed at the Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy, the new heat treatments were investigated at IWT. At the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, a new approach in high throughput fatigue testing methods (“Phybal”) was evaluated in these material conditions to discover the most promising combinations. The gear grades finally were tested as real gears at the Gear Research Centre while the most favorable bearing steels were tested as deep groove ball bearing inner rings at IWT. This paper will cover the investigations on 52100 bearing steel. At high loads, the new alloys showed equivalent lifetimes compared to industrial bearings. Yet the improved damage tolerance was revealed in testing conditions with lower loads (2,800 MPa Hertzian stress) with artificially damaged inner raceways. The best alloy and heat treatment combination of aluminum-alloyed 52100 steel achieved a 16 times longer life.