[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Subject: First announcement of International Conference on Creativity and
Innovation at Grassroots, at IIMA Ahmedabad
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International Conference on
Creativity and Innovation at Grassroots Level
Cosponsored by IIMA, SRISTI, ISEE and IASCP
December 1996
Centre for Management in Agriculture
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
The search for sustainable solutions to the problems created by
input intensive technologies, declining institutions of common
property resource management and weakening links between formal
and informal knowledge systems is drawing global attention to
wards the local innovations. Research at the Institute over last
six years has generated a very rich understanding of the process
of creativity and innovation at grassroots level. But many
questions still remain unanswered. The influence of worldview of
the innovators as well as their contextual conditions in trigger-
ing innovations has to be clearly delineated. The inability of
formal educational system to draw upon the excellence in ecologi-
cal knowledge among children seems to add to the problem of drop
out because of other socio-economic factors. The knowledge
erosion was never so severe as in this generation.
And yet several studies are showing the importance of studying
indigenous schemes of classification of soils, waves, clouds,
winds, etc., to make sense of the variability in natural systems.
This conference is a response to various challenges.
There are four major dimensions of the proposed conference:
A: Innovations
Institutional Innovations
Technological Innovations
Socio-cultural Innovations
B: Education
Linkage between formal and informal knowledge systems
Pedagogic and curricular innovations
C: Compensating Creativity
Intellectual property right regimes
Non-material forms of individual and collective compensation
Ethical issues in accessing people's knowledge about biodi-
versity and other resource use strategies
D: Market based incentives for commercialization of sustainable
technologies
Certification of organic products
Development of green markets
Consumer awareness
Social consciousness about non-sustainable prodcuts and services
The Conference will thus focus on:
1.Formal and informal knowledge systems and possible bridges
between them, comparison of learning strategies in each system.
2.Educational Innovations for triggering and reinforcing experi-
mental ethic among children and adults
3.Ecological entrepreneurship
4.Intellectual property rights of grassroots innovators
5.Innovations in farm and non-farm sector by farmers, artisans
and small workshop owners
6.Trade, marketing and certification of organic foods and related
products developed by low-external input farmers through use of
sustainable technologies
7.Database development and networking around the indigenous /
local innovations
8.Institutional innovations for sustainable natural resource
management, Biodiversity Conservation, In situ and ex situ germ plasm
conservation, On farm research, farmers' risk adjustments through
innovative strategies
9.Public policies for supporting local innovations for sustain-
able development
10.Rethinking agricultural and non-farm extension system to link
formal and informal science
11.Natural science research on innovations by farmers, artisans
12.Compensating Creativity: Contracts between industry and local
communities for tapping local knowledge about biodiversity and
other resources, etc.
The idea is that all aspects of the creativity and innovation in
the context of sustainable development in general and of rural
society in particular are discussed.
Organization:
A local organizing committee will be formed including colleagues
from IIMA and some other national and International institutions.
An international organizing committee will also be set up to generate wider
support and seek advice for the success of the conference.
Co-sponsorship
Centre for Management in Agriculture in collaboration with SRISTI
(Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technolo-
gies and Institutions) is organizing this conference. Sponsor-
ship of the conference by some other international
societies/institutions is also likely. International Society of Ecological
Economics, Intt Association for study of Common Properties have alreday
agreed to co-sponsor the conference.
Contact address:
Prof.Anil K Gupta,
Editor, Honey bee and Coordinator, SRISTI
c/o Centre for Management in Agriculture, Indian
Institute of Management, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad - 380 015, India,
Phone No: 407241 (O), 469079 (R), Fax: 91-79-6427896,
Email:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Please sned your suggestions for organizing sessions, chairing workshops,
presenting papers, posters, bringing innovators/innovations by people,
WE also welcome ideas for possible suppport for third world participants to
the conference.
Please post this announcement to various other relevant bulletin boards
