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Celebrating Creativity and Innovation At Grassroots: ICCIG Way back in 1997, Centre for Management in Agriculture at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad organised the first International Conference on Creativity and Innovation at Grassroots (ICCIG) during Jan 11 - 14, 1997. In addition, there were two workshops, one before and the other after the conference, on forest and tree-based innovations, sponsored by FAO. Also, a post-conference symposium was organised on Biodiversity and Intellectual Property Rights of communities and individuals conserving Diversity. On the eve of the conference, a titlting bullock cart designed by Amrutbhai was stopped by the toll tax people outside Ahmedabad before it could be brought to IIM-A for display at the innovation exhibition. The media flashed this on the front page. There couldn’t have been a better opening of ICCIG. The mismatch between the goals of innovation eco-system and the prevalent system of governance was immediately brought into focus. Later, a question was posed to the then Chief Secretary, Gujarat government invited to speak: should the Honey Bee Network stop further scouting of innovations? It had not succeeded in making a real difference to their life except through cross pollination of ideas. The Chief Secretary of Gujarat, Shri S K Shelat felt that it was not a right situation. He announced the setting up of a fund for promoting innovations. Kuverben, one of the women innovators from Kutch intervened during his presentation to insist that such funds would be effective only when women were involved as equal partners in the process. Subsequent to the conference, the Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN) was set up. It is the first such institution that has been trying to convert innovations into products and link excellence in formal and informal sectors. Later, GIAN shared the best incubator award with IIT Madras at the hands of The President of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. In this context, the risk inherent in upscaling small innovations was recognised and the non-suitability of conventional credit and venture capital institutions was also acknowledged. Another goof up on the part of organisers highlighted the contradiction in our conduct in dealing with gender specific issues. The podium from which Smt Elaben Bhatt, Founder of SEWA was to speak, did not have a height raiser at the ground to stand on. Her face was masked behind the podium. She pointed this out as a sign of insitutionalised gender bias in the society. She was right. Despite our social sensitivity, we had committed a mistake and deserved a public reprimand. Some of the important questions raised in context of environmental and community interface were: Can creativity at individual or community level be created? What are the rules of replication that also intermesh community initiative at a local level with market forces? How do we shift from a “problem solving†to a “solution augmenting†approach? How do we develop a policy framework linking the triangle of innovation, investment, and enterprise through a knowledge network? One of the key initiatives launched at the conference was a Knowledge Network of civil society actors around the issue of sustainable technologies and institutions. Earlier, a proposal in this regard prepared by SRISTI was endorsed in the International Conference on Hunger and Poverty organised by IFAD in November, 1995 at Brussels. Dr Ali Assam of Knowledge View, UK made a forceful plea for combining various communication technologies to link grassroots innovators across language, culture, and regional boundaries. It was recognised in the conference (which had more than 75 grassroots innovators from different parts of the country) that most intellectual dialogues on development have not involved the genius that exists at the grassroots. People’s participation had become a cliché and was often restricted to only physical or financial participation. A plenary presentation was presented by the innovators in different languages on what they could do without the help of any outsiders. Around 500 participants from forty countries around the world resolved to transform the ethical and economic bases of the developmental paradigm, so that the creative energy of the knowledge rich-economically poor people could become a fundamental building block of future change. The conference rejected terms like “resource poor†to characterise innovators, implyintg that knowledge was indeed a resource, and that people were not poor in this resource. Some of the issues that emerged were: the translation of innovations into products; mechanisms for recognising and rewarding innovations; a liberal and efficient credit system for capital formation; minimising distortion in resource pricing; augmentation of autonomous innovations; development of Venture Capital Fund and legal support to small innovation, development of INSTAR (International Network for Sustainable Technology Application and Registration) so that intellectual property rights of small innovators were not usurped by dominant private or public sector forces. P Kotaiah, the then Chairperson, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Bombay was unequivocal in his support for grassroots innovations and mentioned how NABARD had made a beginning through an incubation fund for small innovations. He recognised the need for closer linkages with local communities and NGOs. “Innovations require not only patenting but also protection through appropriate economic policy measuresâ€, he said, and admitted that the existing credit institutions did not have the required skills to transact business involving development of innovations for the market. The policy dialogue on augmenting grassroots innovations attracted the attention of policy makers at different levels. Prof Y K Alagh stressed the need for establishing special funds for augmenting innovations. The Chief Secretary of Rajasthan and Finance Secretary of Punjab, who could not attend the conference, communicated their strong support for the idea of setting up some kind of venture capital fund for small innovations. It was also underlined that value addition in some of the local innovations may generate opportunities at the global level. That is, consumers of sustainable technologies and products need not be always found in local contexts. The grassroots to global (g2G) model sprouted at the conference. This would also imply need for a watchdog function to be performed by voluntary organisations and innovators networks so that they are not deprived of their due. One would also have to avoid a familiar consequence of globalisation, the non-sustainable extraction of local resources. The need to create conducive socio-cultural milieus, facilitating literacy and fostering a positive approach towards innovative ideas to enable diffusion of innovations, were stressed. “Any tradition which is not alive becomes history,†said Anupam Mishra while speaking about the unique water harvesting systems of the drought-prone state of Rajasthan. In the innovation, investor and entrepreneur link, the community dimension needs inclusion. Assumption, of course was that innovators were only individual and not collective. Once the role of collective innovators was recognised we will have to redefine the boundaries of relevant communities. The conference proved to be a milestone in improving our understanding of the institutional context in which innovations emerge, grow or die without often becoming institutionalised solutions or services. International Conference on Creativity and Innovation at Grassroots ICCIG-II Having established the strongest and most responsive Honey Bee Network outside of India in China, organising the second ICCIG Conference at Tianjin (Dec 3-4, 2012), China and at IIM Ahmedabad (Dec 7-8, 2012), India was symbolic way of celebrating this partnership. The Conference aimed at gauging the state-of-the-art understanding for reinforcing the Network’s values, and consolidating the lessons learned over the last 23-24 years. The conference was formally inaugurated by Prof Zhang Jiaxing, the President of TUFE. He emphasised the fruitful association of SRISTI and TUFE since 2004. He talked about the need to mobilise students to participate in the innovation activity of GRI. He also discussed a common avenue platform for innovative solutions. Over 65 delegates from different countries viz. India, China, South Africa, South Korea, Zimbabwe, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico and Germany took part in the conference. Innovators associated with the Network, Mansukhbhai Patel [Cotton stripping machine, Gujarat], Dipak Bharali [Magnetic bobbin for design making in handlooms, Assam] and C Mallesham [Asu making machine, Andhra Pradesh] were also present. Many Chinese innovators, collaborators and policymakers actively engaged with the Indian and other international delegates. Some of the innovators featured in the Honey Bee Newsletter ike Chen Guangxing, Lv Shengzhan, Ding Wendou, and Li Rong Biao were also present at the event. Dignitaries from the Chinese academia, industry and polity expressed their views and concerns about grassroots innovators and methods for their inclusion. Many interesting projects by TUFE students were showcased. Some of these were not only novel but also had maturity and pragmatism of the kind associated with seasoned practitioners. Li Jun, Director of Competition Department talked about a Science & Technology competition for innovation based activity. An exhibition displaying innovators of China, projects of TUFE students, posters of the HBN, SRISTI & NIF, videos of Indian innovators and grassroots based products from the HBN was also arranged. The attendees were made aware of the CHIN database of 3000 practices made by TUFE. Dr. Yoslan Nur of UNESCO talked about the policy implications of integrating GRIs in the national innovation ecosystem. He reiterated how critical innovation is for poverty alleviation. He also talked about the threat of copying of simple low tech innovations problem of IP, special fund support for GRI and NGO as a driver for promoting GRI. Prof. Roberto Rendon Medel from UNAM, Mexico, dwelled upon the various kinds of social networks in the context of grassroots innovation. Prof JoseVargas-Hernandez from Mexico highlighted the need for socio-cultural aspects to be involved in the development plan. He added that social capital needs protection and conservation. Soyeon Yang of the Hope Institute, South Korea, put forward ways to solve social problems by collaboration of various sectors. Prof Anil K Gupta proposed a Shodhyatra in Hunan province or central China to understand knowledge system. Dr. Anand Prakash, Chief Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar, India spoke on the administrative actions taken by the government for protecting and promoting the traditional knowledge of the islanders. Dr. Vinita Sharma from the DST, India, threw light on various technological examples like micro-propagation of banana, a Rural Technology Park, honey hunter dress, etc. where DST has supported projects for inclusion and uplifting of grassroots, poor communities and women. The Chinese section of ICCIG ended on a high note with innovators admitting to have gained better understanding of Prof Liyan Zhang and her team’s work in China and passionately demanding a stronger network there. Twenty five years back the HBN sprouted in India. Now green shoots are emerging from the seeds sown then in many pockets around the world. In the second part of the Conference at IIM Ahmedabad, about 150 participants including innovators and teachers from different countries participated in the discussions over two days. The sessions started on a nostalgic note. In his introductory speech, Prof. Kuldeep Mathur described the challenges faced by the Honey Bee Network during the initial stages of the journey. Although there was a huge inventory of traditional knowledge and practices, the challenge was collecting the available information on innovations and documenting them into a database in a manner that communities can use it through horizontal diffusion. The Ahmedabad section of the conference deliberately allowed for interactive sessions with no presentation of papers. Discussions took place on topics of incentives to grassroots innovators, intellectual property protection, alternative models of incentives and attribution, multilingual databases, strengthening online and offline platforms, identifying policy gaps, making innovation ecosystem more robust, respecting and promoting cultural creativity, education, and tools for promoting a creative pedagogy. Dr. Susantha Goonatilake, President of Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, emphasised upon the importance of open source network in grassroots innovations. His ambivalence on solidarity issues among different communities was noted by some. Amrutbhai Agrawat, Life Time Achievement Awardee, NIF, shared experiences of his journey with the Honey Bee Network from 1988 and appreciated the support and respect given to grassroots innovators by the Honey Bee Network. Dr. Vipin Kumar, Chief Innovation Officer, NIF, stated that NIF has been maintaining a national register of more than 1,70,000 grassroots innovations and practices (now it has crossed 200,000). International collaborations have been made through the grassroots to Global (g2G) program for technology transfer and the awareness building across the world for grassroots innovation. Various policy gaps in the Honey Bee Network and possible ways to bridge them were discussed next. Dr. Sang E Lee from USAID expressed her organisation’s interest in helping grassroots innovators, who have developed innovative solutions to social problems, in terms of economic as well as technical support. She added that innovation is not only in the product or technology but also in the process or novel mechanism which led to the change in current practices for reducing drudgery. She said, the media, especially social media which now comprises many ICT initiatives, can play an important role in showcasing various innovations and help in its diffusion and possible commercialisation. There was a session on cultural creativity chaired by Dr. Paul Shrivastava and Dr. Mallika Sarabhai. Paul emphasised on looking at the earth as a piece of art. Mallika performed a skit highlighting male chauvinism using a plot from mythology. The session was brought alive by puppetry and bhavai music. Dr. Adrian Smith, SPRU and STEPS Centre, and Prof Shamnad Basheer, Chair Intellectual Property Law, NUJS talked about patents. Basheer described various types of patents and argued about the quality of patent applications! The Ahmedabad Declaration was drafted taking into view ideas from Tianjin and Ahmedabad. The declaration can be viewed on the following link http://iccig.wordpress.com/ahmedabad- declaration/ Third International Conference on Creativity & Innovations at (for/from/with) Grassroots (ICCIG 3) 19th - 22nd January 2015, IIM-Ahmedabad The main objective of the conference was to pool insights and ideas on institutions and initiatives based on four major themes of grassroots innovations: Technological, Cultural, Institutional and Educational. There were around 300 participants from India and countries such as 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. Close to 230 abstracts were received. There was also an exhibition of innovations and glimpses of Shodhyatras on display. A successful Doctoral Colloquium was organised by FPM students for which 26 students had registered from around the world. There was a mix of plenary and 29 parallel sessions over the four days. The themes for the seven plenary sessions were Inclusive Design; Evolution of Grassroots Inclusive Innovation Movement; Harnessing Innovations for and from Extreme Grassroots, Street Vendors and other Workers; Quadra Helix: Linking Education, Culture, Institutions and Technology; Blending of Formal and Informal Science: Experience of the Honey Bee Network; Rapporteurs Summaries, and a particular highlight was an Interactive Session with former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Dr Kalam did not disappoint in his offer of inspiration. He urged participants to imagine the impossible and change the world. His formula for changing the world is based on the premise that development is powered by competition; competition is powered by technology which is powered by creativity. Innovation has to be continuous, on multiple dimensions and is based on the ability to imagine. Finally, scientific endeavour leads to a culture of excellence. In the final session, the key threads of the discussions held in the various plenary and parallel sessions culminated in a determination to prepare a strategic road map for the replication of the Honey Bee Network and associated practices from India to other countries, both developing and developed. Considerations in achieving this were: appropriate adjustments for the institutional setting and related economic, geographical, social and political contexts; the need to identify the resources and institutions that underpin a successful HBN, such as the sourcing of volunteers and like-minded partner organisations; the development of interlinked electronic platforms to support global access to the open source databases in multiple languages, and facilitate the augmentation and transfer of traditional knowledge and know-how. Periodic conferences, hosted on rotation by ‘member countries’, would support the consolidation of developments and provide an opportunity to further develop strategies and structures to strengthen the ‘globalisation’ of the HBN, in scale and scope. At the operational level, there were several action points concerning: developing the grassroots innovation knowledge base; design issues; education issues; and taking grassroots innovations to the market. The value of grassroots innovations to the global economy in supporting conservation-led growth was fully recognised. The strategising of marketing and branding of grassroots innovations into the mainstream will in the longer term challenge the current dominant consumer-led market structure. Festival of Innovation The First Festival of Innovation organised by the Honey Bee Network consisted of an international and several national events at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi from 7th to 13th March 2015. The calendar of events was as follows: 7th March - The 8th Biennial Awards to National Grassroots Innovators and exhibition, Global Roundtable Discussions. These events were attended by the Honourable President India Shri Pranab Mukherjee 8th March - The 4th Gandhian Young Technological Innovators Awards and exhibition, and second session of Global Roundtable Discussions, SRISTI Sanman Awards to Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Holders 9th March - Children’s Creativity Workshop. Launch of Yuvaan Wellness Tea by BVG, a joint venture with NIF to market six types of herbal tea 10th March - Continuation of the Children’s Creativity Workshop, meeting of National Innovation Clubs and their interaction with grassroots innovators 11th March - Biomedical, Medical Devices and Biotech Innovations for Grassroots Applications exhibition and roundtable discussions 12th March - Sanitation, Bio-Digestion and Waste Management exhibition and roundtable discussions. Display of technologies related with Clean India - “Swachh Bharatâ€13th March - Financing of Innovation (organised by NABARD) a meeting of banking chairpersons and senior officers from the Ministry of Finance; closure of the Festival of Innovation7th March to 20th March: Innovation Scholars in Residence The second batch of ten Innovation Scholars in Residence at the Rashtrapati Bhavan interacted with many experts, policy makers and entrepreneurs and discussions took place to take their technologies forward. At the end of the programme, the innovators met the Hon’ble Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Here are some details of the week’s activities: Altogether 41 Grassroots Innovators were honoured, 43 GYTI Award teams and 11 SRISTI Samman Awards were presented. More than 76 children took part in the two day Children’s Creativity Workshop, more than 50 national and international experts took part in the Global Roundtable Discussions, hundreds of visitors came to see the various exhibitions in the Exhibition Tent. High ranking dignitaries who also visited the exhibitions included Dr Harsh Vardhan - Cabinet Minister Department of Science & Technologies, Y S Chaudhary - State Minister Department of Science & Technologies, Venkaiah Naidu - Union Minister, Urban Development, Maneka Gandhi-Union Minister, Women and Child Development. Indigenous knowledge and inclusive development were strong themes throughout the week’s events. The President’s address at the awards ceremony reflected this. He spoke of India’s particular role in the global economy of taking the lead in inclusive innovation. The importance of the innovation model of land to lab, instead of lab to lab, highlights the importance of protecting and promoting indigenous knowledge. Inclusive development is only possible when the ideas of the common people are supported. The President identified a need to recalibrate our approach to support grassroots innovators, to develop a strong linkage between indigenous knowledge and the formal system. Building these linkages requires leaders of universities, the finance and the technology sectors to acknowledge grassroots innovators, and include them as part of the innovation system for the benefit of society. The Global Roundtable Discussions on inclusive innovation brought together thought leaders from four continents and thirteen countries and several states in India, to deliberate on policies and practices that can bring about improvements in the lives and livelihoods of marginalised communities not only in India and other developing countries, but also in the developed world. Among many threads in the discussions was the necessity for frontier innovations to be made available to the marginalised sectors through ‘affordable excellence’, which involves the application of breakthrough technologies to benefit the populations of rural India and other developing countries. Quote: Development is powered by competition; competition is powered by technology which is powered by creativity.Inclusive development is only possible when the ideas of the common people are supported. |
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Honey Bee 25(4) & 26(1) 10-25, 2014-2015 (25 years celebration) |
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