Sustainability and resilience building through social innovation and citizens networks

• Autor(a) principal: Ribeiro, João Ricardo Pereira
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/29300
• topic: Sustainability; Governance; Resilience; Social innovation; Grassroot initiatives

This dissertation aims to study the importance of citizen networks in promoting the sustainability and resilience of communities, focusing mainly on the driving forces and barriers related to such initiatives. The research work carried out in this dissertation is part of the project TRUST, Analysis of social innovation initiatives for sustainability (PTDC / GES-AMB / 28591/2017). This work aims, to explore the knowledge about citizen networks and the associated forms of social innovation, as well as the role it can play in the transition to sustainability processes. It also includes analyzing the role of stakeholder networks in these processes and assessing their role as agents of change in small-scale socio-ecological systems. The research work was developed in three steps. Firstly, a search was made for scientific articles published on platforms such as Scopus and Web of Science. The selected articles were the basis of a brief literature review capable of framing the main concepts associated with the study and the existing knowledge. Secondly, the main characteristics of the three case studies of citizen networks were analyzed, namely the group of fisherwomen of Murtosa, Ciclaveiro and Santiago’s Civic Laboratory. Thirdly, in order to identify the driving forces and barriers of the case studies, the analysis was deepened using a questionnaire matrix adopted by the TRUST Project. The main conclusions stand out as follows: The development of initiatives such as those illustrated in the case studies allows the promotion of social innovation through the alteration of knowledge and behaviors relevant to sustainability in communities. The development of these initiatives does not always find openness and support mechanisms in local government entities, the latter often being sources of blockade. Despite the potential value of these initiatives, their ability to bring about change depends greatly on the ability of leaders to transfer and disseminate their power. Additionally, communication between similar initiatives reinforces the robustness and durability of innovation and potential transformation. Bridging these initiatives with government agencies can also help strengthen the potential of such actions by facilitating the transition to more sustainable and resilient communities.