Policy Gaps for Promoting Green Grassroots Innovations and Traditional Knowledge in Developing Countries: Learning from Indian Experience

Abstract

Society for Research and Initiatives for Technologies and Institutions [SRISTI] has pioneered a knowledge intensive model for transforming institutional context of problem solving at community level. In this paper, the building blocks of a sustainable innovation eco system have been identified. The concept of National Innovation System [NIS], which ignored the knowledge of informal sector, has been redefined. A major gap in the literature on NIS is being filled through the contributions of Honey Bee Network. While several policy initiatives in the last decade have reduced the gap in the eco system, a great deal remains to be done. The ethical accountability of academic world towards the local knowledge holders has not been systematically understood and enforced adequately. The terms like BOP [Bottom of the Pyramid] are extremely unfortunate because they distract our attention away from those pyramids in which poor people may actually be on the top. The paper, thus, makes a case for changing the mindset and creating a new set of institutional conditions to promote creativity and innovation at grassroots level.