Frugalidad e innovación popularnuevos caminos para la sustentabilidad y la inclusión social en Ecuador

  1. Mario Pansera
  2. Roberto Rivas Hermann
  3. Horacio Narvaez-Mena
Journal:
CTS: Revista iberoamericana de ciencia, tecnología y sociedad

ISSN: 1668-0030 1850-0013

Year of publication: 2017

Volume: 12

Issue: 35

Pages: 131-152

Type: Article

More publications in: CTS: Revista iberoamericana de ciencia, tecnología y sociedad

Abstract

This article explores the notions of frugal and grassroots innovations and their potential to lead towards a more sustainable and socially inclusive development. Grassroots or frugal innovation, usually developed under conditions of material and financial scarcity, aspires to solve -in a simple but effective way– problems that affect the lower layers of society. In its first part, this paper introduces the concept of grassroots innovation from a theoretical perspective. Its second part describes the results of an ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Ecuador. The research focuses on four case studies designed to explore the potential of grassroots innovation in Ecuador. Finally, the paper ends with the proposition of a future research agenda and a number of proposals to integrate grassroots innovation in public policy.