Sustainability, Development, Social Justice:Towards a new politics of innovation

Professor Melissa Leach

STEPS CentreInstitute of Development Studies, Sussex, UK

UNESCO EPFL Conference on ‘Technologies for Development’, Lausanne, 8-10 February 2010

Scientific and technological advance, but deepening crises for people and environment – in a complex, dynamic world

The promise of science, technology and innovation

I: Competing in a global economy

Growth poverty reduction, capacity to deal with environmental problems

MarketsInvestment

Innovative activity

ConnectivityInfrastructure S & T capacity

Economic growth

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Winners – and losers

I

India and China shining; peri-urban dwellers struggling

I

Africa connected; many rural villagers isolated

Concentration and lock-in: Advanced sectors, places, peopleOthers left out, lose out, suffer fall-out

II: Tackling poverty and environmental challenges directly

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Focused technologies and silver bullets

Rolling out, scaling-up

Philanthro-capitalism

National and local ‘versioning’ & implementing capacities

Targets

Public-private partnerships

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Winners – and losers

I

Drought tolerant maize as part of Africa’s green revolution; but resilience may mean diverse cropping and livelihoods I

Polio vaccines to meet eradication targets; but missed priorities and incited anxieties in northern Nigeria

Concentration and lock-in: Scale-able, big-win technologiesBut local contexts, perspectives, and social dimensions also matter

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Innovation:Towards a 3D Agenda

Diversity, Directionality, DistributionPolitics

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Some working definitionsScience – the process of generating knowledge Technology – the application of scientific knowledge, frequently involving invention – the creation of a novel object, process or technique Innovation – developing new ways of doing things in a place or by people where they have not been used before. May involve the bringing together of new ideas and technology, or finding novel applications of existing technologies (Conway and Waage 2010).

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Beyond a linear model:research - translational research - product development – consumption or

application To (broadly-defined) innovation systems:•Interplay between stages; feedbacks•Not just R and D but also D and E •Not just technologies but also their social meanings and arrangements•Involving a wide set of actors and interactions (labs, firms, funders, civil society organisations, users as innovators….)•Embedded learning, capabilities and experimentation throughout system•And wider institutional environments: policies, regulation, institutions, finance, IPRs etc•Extending across local and global scales

space of technologicalpossibilities

time

Innovation as a scalar (more is better)Innovation as optimisation (an ideal pathway for any given challenge)

no distinctions … no alternatives … no politics … no choice

But there is always directionality – and this is politicaleg: industrial agriculture / LEISA, marker-assisted breeding centralised thermal power / distributed renewable energy

IP-driven pharmaceuticals / preventive open-source public health

Determines the distribution of benefits, costs and risks from innovation; winners and losers

space of technologicalpossibilities

time

Importance of diversity in innovative activity and systems:- Mitigates lock-in and concentration- Enables pursuit of multiple directions- Accommodates plurality of contexts, priorities, values - Fosters continuous innovation- Hedges against surprise and the unexpected in a complex, dynamic world

space of technologicalpossibilities

time

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Innovation pathways: three mutually-supporting Ds, and politics everywhere

Massively increased DIVERSITY

Multiple possible DIRECTIONS

DISTRIBUTIONIn favour of sustainability and social justice

Debating which…Challenging dominant interests…

Challenging dominant interests….Recognising and supporting the marginalised….

Promoting the pathways that favour marginal people, places, issues and perspectives…..

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Pursuing a 3D innovation agenda - some examples

Community-led total sanitation: bottom-up innovation to address local challenges

Reference: Movik, S. and Mehta, L. (2009) Going with the Flow? Directions of Innovation in the Water and Sanitation Domain, STEPS Working Paper 29, Brighton: STEPS Centre

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Scojo: Social Entrepreneurs in health-related markets in South Asia

Further information: Bloom, G. (2009) Science and Technology for Health: Towards Universal Access in a Changing World, STEPS Working Paper 28, Brighton: STEPS Centre

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Participatory plant breeding in marginal environments

Further information: Millstone, E., Thompson, J. and Brooks, S. (2009) Reforming the Global Food and Agriculture System: Towards a Questioning Agenda for the New Manifesto, STEPS Working Paper 26, Brighton: STEPS Centre

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Multi-criteria mapping (MCM) to explore “pathways in and out of maize” in Kenya

Further information: http://www.steps-centre.org/ourresearch/crops,%20kenya.html www.multicriteriamapping.org

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Opening research allocations at the African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) Network

Further information:- http://stepscentre-thecrossing.blogspot.com/2009/12/opening-up-research-funding-at-atps.html

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

Opening up to diversity, fostering directions and distributional outcomes that favour the marginalised

•Making marginalised priorities, perspectives and values central – recognition, research, voice•Debating alternative directions – methods, fora•Engaging diverse knowledges (formal and informal, technical and social, global and local) – research, collaborative practices, capacity-building and ‘bridging professionals’, adaptive learning processes•Supporting marginalised pathways – funding, capacities, socio-technical and organisational arrangements, building on movements

Towards practical recommendations – for international agencies, funders, governments, scientists, civil society

Broadening the scope ofInnovation

New Manifesto Process and Activities•Background papers•Draft•Recommendations•Round Tables (15 +)•Website & Timeline•‘Vox Pops’•Multi-media Manifesto•Launch – June 15 2010•Recommendations into action; follow-ups in

policy fora

New Manifesto Round Tables

WIKI TIMELINE

Video “Vox Pops” posted to STEPS Youtube channel

“If you If you had to make one recommendation to the UN, or another global body, about the future of innovation for sustainability and development, what would it be?”

http://www.anewmanifesto.org

Join the debate!