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The Fourth International conference on creativity and innovation at/for/from/with grassroots [ICCIG 4]

Celebrating 150 years of Gandhi Ji ‘s Birthday

At Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Jan 28-30, 2019

In collaboration with Centre of Management in Agriculture (CMA), and Ravi J Mathai Centre for Educational Innovations(RJMCEI) Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Honey Bee Network institutions, ESCAP, and several other international and national institutions

 Bringing global creative and innovative voices together to enrich the ecosystem for inclusive and empathetic innovations

The ICCIG brings research, policy and institutional learnings at a common platform to pool the insights from the ground and global playfields of ideas, institutions and initiatives.  As in the past, the conference will cover six major themes of innovationsfor/from grassroots: Educational, Cultural, Technological, Institutional, Incubation, Entrepreneurshipand Public policy. There will be two special sessions on the Golden Triangle linking Innovation, Investment and Enterprise and Public policy for inclusive development.

ICCIG 3 saw participation from several countries namely, India, China, US, UK, Russia, South Africa, Canada, Germany, France, Brazil, Portugal, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Togo, Nepal, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mali, Nigeria, Italy, Sri Lanka, and South Korea. We had received close to 230 abstracts. There were around 300 participants from across the globe. There was also an exhibition of innovations and glimpses of Shodhyatras( learning walks, www.sristi.org/shodhyatra) during the conference. We also had a Doctoral Colloquium in which 26 students had registered from around the world.

 

Call for papers/case studies/innovations/installations/art/cultural exhibits from/for grassroots

Contributions are invited for the Fourth International Conference on Creativity and Innovations at (for/from/with) Grassroots [ICCIG-4] Jan 28-30, 2019 from scholars, policymakers, senior managers, young students, farmers, teachers, NGOs, international organizations, think tanks, and other community members/social organisers etc.

The Honey Bee Network gives voice, visibility and velocity to creativity and innovative contributions of common people at grassroots for achieving inclusive development. The Honey Bee Network has emerged over the last thirty years as a committed social movement in support of knowledge-rich, economically poor people.

Thirty years ago, Honey Bee Network began by a) seeking collaboration between formal and informal sectors particularly in science and technology; b) increasing respect for local/indigenous knowledge for conservation of biodiversity and associated knowledge system, and c) sharing of benefits through ethical supply chains and recognizing, respecting, rewarding local communities and individual innovators and traditional knowledge holders. Today, the concern for inclusive innovation has become much more widespread but the voice of the knowledge-rich, economically poor people and the youth is still not heard adequately. Earlier the Tianjin Declaration was issued in 2007 in a cooperative research program between IIMA, Honey Bee Network and Tianjin University of Finance and Economics ( http://anilg.sristi.org/tianjin-declaration-for-promoting-green-grassroots-innovation-for-harmonious-development/ ) and Ahmedabad Declaration issued at the end of Second ICCIG (2012) at CMA,  IIMA in collaboration with the Honey Bee Network, SRISTI, GIAN, NIF (http://anilg.sristi.org/ahmedabad-declaration-issued-on-the-concluding-day-of-iccig-2-iima-dec-2012-a-plea-for-giving-voice-visibility-and-value-add-to-the-creativity-and-innovation-at-grassroots/ ). The report of the third ICCIG, 2015 is available at http://www.iccig.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/iccig-3-report.pdf.

We invite scholars, academics, corporate leaders, policymakers, activists, administrator, local community representatives, organizational leaders, various social and cultural networks engaged in the empowerment of local creativity, public and private initiatives around the world for making society fairer and just in dealing with various social segments.

In the 150^th year celebration of Gandhi Ji birthday and to reinterpret his teachings, Fourth ICCIG is dedicated to his ideals of self-governance, self-design, frugality and putting the last first-antyodaya.

 

Key Themes

1.  Technological innovations

The concept of deviant research, grassroots innovations, frugal or empathetic innovations, inclusive innovations, farmers’ or workers’ innovations were much less recognized 30 years ago when the Honey Bee Network was born. How do we assess the contemporary terminological and conceptual clarity or confusion in these concepts?

To what extent have various countries recognized the need for redefining the concept of National Innovation System to include the bridge between formal and informal systems of innovations? Many countries andprivate  companies have started open innovation platforms in the recent past but adequate reciprocity towards the knowledge providers remains to be institutionalized. What role can public policy play so that knowledge exchange between the formal and informal sectors can become smoother?

Validation, value addition and licensing/commercialization of grassroots innovations: papers are invited where bridge between informal and formal S&T and design sector has been established to add value to people’s knowledge. Papers reporting such results should try to have innovators as co-authors and be acknowledged in the text prominently. Ideally, the results of experiments or fabrication of design should be shared with the innovators before sharing at any international or national conference. Any success in commercialization and benefit sharing may also be shared.

How to  promote south-south and south-north learning towards sustainable development goals?

How can start-up movement in India be strengthened to encourage hard technology based start-ups in various sectors to strengthen manufacturing sector at various scales from micro to small and medium enterprises?

How to link the final year projects of technology students with unmet social needs of the communities, small industries, public service and ecosystem including climate resilience institutions globally( see www.techpedia.sristi.org and www.gyti.techpedia.in) ?

How to collaborate globally to seek diversified solutions of unmet social needs in the form of local, regional and global challenge awards/recognition/support/appreciation (see http://bit.ly/2CE8U26 )?

 

2. The golden triangle of Innovation, Enterprise and Investment

The golden triangle linking innovation, investment and enterprises for rewarding creativity, summarizes the purpose of intermediary organizations like GIAN set up in 1997 as India’s first grassroots innovation incubator spawned by  SRISTI (1993), IIMA and Gujarat state Government.  This triangle has been taken forward by NIF ( 2000) and other Honey Bee Network institutions , various S&T based incubators and support systems hand holding a grassroots innovator in her journey to become a social and/or economic entrepreneur. National Innovation Foundation has scaled it up at national level in an unprecedented manner. Connecting them may help to scale up innovations for and from grassroots by reducing transaction costs. New models of benefit sharing have to be thought of and devised for the sustainability of such organizations. The ICCIG also wants to facilitate learning from the conventional S and T based incubators in building value chain for start-ups in life sciences, biotechnology, engineering technology, food sciences, agriculture, medical and health sciences, herbal solution, education, social innovations etc.

Innovative strategies for using social media, e-commerce and other platforms to link grassroots to Global [g2G] markets and help  innovation based START-Ups to scale up. Papers are invited for providing innovative support system including case studies of successful linkages  with public procurement. How have incubators tried to expand testing and certification facilities for hard manufacturing technologies at concessional terms. How doesthe recognition and reward for innovators influence their motivation to collaborate and deal with markets and public institutions collectively? Which of the new IP models can do justice to the need for protection and incentives for collaboration?

How to combine grant, debt, risk capital to create an inclusive and nurturing ecosystem for innovation and distinctive traditional knowledge based economy?

How to combine formal sector social technologies say from CSIR, ICMR, ICAR, DBT etc., with grassroots innovations to provide a composite portfolio of extremely affordable choices to the  local communities and small entrepreneurs?  Can there be special scheme for youth to license the institutional technologies at deferred payment basis? Thus can technology research institutions become angel investors in kind rather than in cash? Similarly, can IP firm, mentoring firms, Design firms, testing institutions etc., become angel investors in kind?

 

3. Institutional transformation:

Common property resource and other indigenous/local institutions play a critical role in sustainable natural resource management and conflict resolution at all levels in society in rural as well as urban areas. The new norms for an exchange of knowledge, information, resources and ideas across formal and informal sectors need to be documented in case studies. The studies on  emergence of new social institutions, hybrid institutions, farmer producers companies, etc., may be shared. The idea is to learn about the emergence of indigenous/ local institutions in both urban and rural societies underlying the Gandhian concept of self-governance through self-design.  Urban and rural commons are going to play increasingly important role as resources become scarce, migration increases, and public facilities shrink.

 

4. Educational innovations

How have teachers (and educational policy makers) at primary or secondary school level transformed educational context in government schools in which the poorer children often study? can their creativity become the hub of educational policy? How have educational policy makers taken care of Angular Excellence, that is nurturing children who excel in one or two subjects but are below par in all others.

What are the latest trends in democratizing the access of disadvantaged children to the high-quality content and mentors? What can we learn from the reflections of policy makers?

How have Technical, Design and other institutions of higher education tried to connect science, society and inclusive development in pedagogy and social practice?

what are the strategies which have helped in overcoming weak links among The academia-industry-informal sector linkage in higher education? Can www.techpedia.in and gyti.techpedia.in model illuminate such linkages worldwide?

 

5. Cultural creativity

Can entrepreneurial open collaborative platforms be generated for nurturing folk and grassroots culture and its incorporation in developmental programmes and philosophies? Do you have stories of communities who have institutionalised creativity and diversity as a culture?

Can conscious creativity be shaped by different modes of entertainment that the society patronizes? Is individual choice of entertainment now limited to only modern entertainment industry? How can we revive and encourage local modes of entertainment to conserve the diversity in forms and functions of creativity?

How to link natural, social, ethical, cultural, intellectual, and financial capital in various social innovations?

 

6. Innovations in urban spaces for more accessible, accountable and available social infrastructure

In view of the rural to urban migration, a lot of knowledge has moved to urban spaces. The urban markets are often unable to discriminate or valorize such place-based knowledge. Urban renewal is needed through the knowledge of urban ‘refugees’/migrant population. Urban regions are becoming concentrated centres of poverty and thus rural and urban renewal through social innovations needs to be conceptually and operationally linked. Before the erosion of knowledge becomes irreversible, what kind of strategies be developed for knowledge-based enterprises in urban areas that put special emphasis on the traditional/tacit knowledge of urban workers.

7. Integrating women’s knowledge creativity and innovations in the innovation ecosystem

The knowledge of women and other workers has been given far lesser importance so far. How do we expand opportunities for women and worker innovators? Which kind of institutional innovations facilitate the uncovering of the creative potential of women and other workers? What kind of enterprises will bring out the creativity of women, particularly in the domains they have more autonomy and agency like, edible weed based food enterprises, art, child rearing, conservation of biodiversity etc.

 

8. Public Policy for inclusive innovation ecosystem:

There are many countries which have realised the need for frugal, extremely affordable and inclusive sustainable grassroots innovations. However, many policy instruments are still not in vogue enough globally. For instance, transition from micro-finance to micro venture finance to trigger social businesses has not taken place at large enough scale. Likewise, the concept of technology commons has not been explored to encourage people to people copying and adaptation of innovations but availability of these solutions to Industry only through licensing and benefit sharing arrangement.

The enquiries for organizing workshops, panel discussions, innovation exhibition and other activities during the conference may be sent to the secretary, iccig@sristi.org or anilg@sristi.org. Those who wish to organize parallel sessions of their own networks alongside the conference may also write so that synergy can be exploited for creating an empathetic network of networks.

Suggestions for sponsorship, co-sponsorship or funding travel and stay of the international or national participants are most welcome.

Registration fees of USD $ 50 (Rs 3500 for Indians covering food and registration materials) may be deposited in favour of SRISTI, students may pay only USD $ 15 (Rs 1000) if their papers are acepted. However, in deserving cases, the fees may be waived.

The last date for Full paper/posters/workshop/installations/design zig-zag etc., expected by December 20, 2018. Please share this announcement with others in your professional and social networks.

iccig@sristi.org