Researcher Ana Margarida Esteves, in co-authorship with André Girardi, Lasse Kos, Rebeca Roysen and Nadine Bruehwiler, has recently published the article “Grassroots Innovations and Projectification: Diffusion Processes of the European Ecovillage Movement” in the scientific journal Environmental Policy and Governance (ERP Environment & John Wiley & Sons Ltd).
The study analyses the role of community-based innovations in the context of transitions to sustainability. These initiatives – often promoted and developed by local communities – offer practical and creative solutions to environmental and social challenges, contributing to the dissemination of sustainable practices on a broader scale.
However, the research highlights the importance of an often invisible factor: “projectification” – that is, the tendency to organise the work of these initiatives around temporary projects, funded by specific grants or scholarships. Through fieldwork in three European ecovillages and interviews with members of the communities and the European ecovillage network, the authors show that, while projects can facilitate the dissemination of sustainable practices, they can also generate tensions and weaknesses that compromise the long-term sustainability of these initiatives.
The article therefore argues for the need to strike a balance: projectification should be designed to support, rather than limit, the transformative potential of community-based innovations.
Read the full article here.