Recognizing eco-pioneers in technology

Many very novel green products are being developed as bottom-up initiatives. This implies on the one hand that the greatest innovativeness is found outside existing institutions for technology development. On the other hand it raises questions of the processes of transfer of the innovations to broader circles of society. A crucial question is whether bottom-up initiatives are marginal phenomena, or whether there is a wider ongoing greening from the bottom, with environmental concern is being translated into initiatives for green technological change. There is evidence of a discrepancy between rising environmental awareness on the one side and the limited amount of ecologically sound behaviour and demand on the other side. This could be interpreted as an information gap on the consumer side or it could be ascribed to problems on the supply side - the wanted alternative technical and behavioural options are lacking. The angle of incidence here is the green user-innovator.

An EEC/EU-funded project undertaken by the Copenhagen Business School, called Social Management of Environmental Change, investigate 21 case studies In Europe of linkages between environmental concern and technological change. Examples of case studies are the separating toilet, reedbeds for waste water treatment, clay building techniques and Global Action Plan's Household EcoTeam Programme.