Bernardy, Michel de, Pierre Boisgontier and Georges Goyet. 1993. "The ecology of innovation: The cultural substratum and sustainable development." International Social Science Journal 45(1): 55-66.

Thesis:

Localized development, emphasizing area-based citizenship and individual responsibility, is at the heart of planetary consciousness. We need new methods for the social organization of production, linking local knowledge centers with socially generated ideas in the innovation process (p.63).

Summary:

Although we have been aware of the ecological crisis for twenty years, the primary response thus far has continued to be 'more technology' (p.55). We must do away with the modernist reductionism which simplifies situations by looking at each sector in isolation, ignoring the interconnected relations of causality (p.56). What is needed is a new code of ethics, called 'the ecology of innovation, the cultural substratum, and change' (p.56).

To understand the 'innovative environment', the authors argue that we must first dispose of the artificial and outdated distinction between productive activities and intellectual activities. Today, non-material factors have become a means of producing wealth. Thus, investments should be made in improving human resources, so that people may be more able to draw from their 'cultural substratum' in their creative endeavors. This shift from material production to intellectual production has taken place in the context of the following changes (pp.58,59):

The separation of the fiduciary realm and the real economy.

The discrepancy between economic growth and energy consumption of natural resources.

The growing discrepancy between the wealth produced and the number of workers required to produce it.

A breaking with the theory that human activity is unrelated to the balance of the earth's ecosystems.

In light of the fourth factor, it is remarkable that most theories of innovation are abstractions of the process of innovation without regard to any spatial context (quoting Richard Gordon, 1989). The authors argue that until we change this approach, "by integrating the economy as a subsystem of the ecology of our planet, our understanding will be limited" (p.59). The process of innovation stems from the productive and cultural practices of individuals in organization influenced by such factors as the environment, social ties, local history and traditions, and the configuration of power" (ibid.).

The authors view the 'ecology of innovation approach' as an extension of systems theory, taking into account the co-development of humanity and nature (p.62). They propose that the production of ideas should become "the central mobilizing theme for all human activity and no longer merely the prerogative of a privileged few" (p.60). A policy of innovation should be collective in origin, promote action-oriented research, and remain in tune with the social and ecological aspects of technological choices (p.60).

An ecological approach must also acknowledge the conflicts separating individuals, classes, nations and continents (quoting Edgar Morin, 1987). The socio-cultural history of place is a valuable source of innovation. The authors hold that "...this heritage should naturally be mobilized and given expression in an environment in which it can develop" (p.63). Systems are "shaped by cultural substrata and ecological constraints" and area-based factors of differentiation are crucial to the development process.

The authors recommend that a community should nurture "locally generated ideas adapted to its own capacities" and foster "synergetic interaction between centres of knowledge...and centres of training and production" (ibid). This would be an 'area-based citizenship' which eschews 'technocratic dominance'. They hold that local development, rather than being merely a scaled-down version of international development, is "a distinct mode of organization...at the very core of planetary consciousness" (p.64).

Keywords: innovation, sustainable development, Technology Assessment, area-based citizenship.