Spatial transfer of innovations: South-South learning on village-scale solar power supply between India and Kenya

Abstract

This article presents research on the transfer of sustainable energy innovations between countries of the global South from a socio-technical perspective. The analysis identifies factors important for how a deliberate transfer process may unfold. It is based on monitoring a case of South-South transfer of experiences with village-level solar power supply models from India to Kenya. This research shows that it is not so much stable technical solutions which travel between different spatial and cultural contexts, but that experiences with sustainable technologies in one country can provide important inspiration and knowledge for the development of new socio-technical designs based on local needs in a new socio-spatial context in a different country. Such learning processes can be especially effective between countries with similar problem situations, such as poverty and lacking access to electricity in rural areas. To achieve a successful transfer, strong emphasis must be put on mutual learning and exchange of knowledge, sociotechnical experimentation, adaptation and social embedding. Learning from promising, innovative infrastructures in other geographical areas needs to capture the micro-level interactions between people, technology and socio-cultural contexts, while also taking into account larger processes of system innovation and emerging transitions.

Tendencias metodológicas para la inclusión social de tecnologías apropiadas en zonas rurales

“…De esta manera, las metodologías presentadas en la Tabla 2 probablemente aportaron elementos clave en la relación tecnología y sociedad, redirigieron procesos deterministas con TA hacia tecnologías socialmente apropiadas, participativas y de inclusión social; como lo atribuyen (Chen, 2018) y (Ulsrud, Rohracher, & Muchunku, 2018a), los cuales resaltan que el éxito de una transferencia o adopción puede relacionarse con el aprendizaje intercultural colectivo, el intercambio de experiencias, la comprensión rigurosa de los hallazgos, la construcción de conciencia social y el ajuste de políticas públicas entorno a una población o gobierno. Asimismo, es importante priorizar en las características propias de los usuarios y establecer un diálogo horizontal entre los ofertantes tecnológicos, las comunidades rurales, los actores locales y académicos (Garrido, Lalouf, & Thomas, 2011;Méndez-Fajardo, Opazo, Romero-Picón, & Pérez-Muzuzu, 2011).…”

“…Adicionalmente, los resultados mostraron que el 79,2% de las veces los investigadores utilizaron metodologías cualitativas y mixtas para estudiar las tres variables de mayor frecuencia de citación (transferencia, implementación y evaluación), fomentando la inclusión social desde una perspectiva interdisciplinaria y participativa para la evaluación, el monitoreo y análisis del grado de aceptación, impacto y difusión de las TA dentro de las comunidades rurales; como también lo reportaron (Winkler, Lemke, Ritter, & Lewandowski, 2017) y (Ulsrud, Rohracher, & Muchunku, 2018a), en donde el rol fundamental de la participación comunitaria rural fue impresindible en procesos de TA. Por otro lado, los hallazgos mostraron que probablemente han emergido nuevas variables de estudio en paralelo a los criterios sociales, culturales e institucionales; estas variables con menor frecuencia de citación fueron: enseñanza (Manalo, y otros, 2016), desarrollo inclusivo (Ockwell, Byrne, Hansen, & Haselip, 2018) y transción socioténica (Nasrat, Sadat, & Sapi, 2018).…”

Local Capacity for Energy Transition in Northern and Indigenous Communities: Analysis of Gwich’in Communities in Northwest Territories, Canada

“…In Wales and Scotland, for example, energy cooperative programs have been most successful in networks of closeknit rural communities (Strand, 2018); while in Alaska several regional grids have emerged and utilities have developed systems for supporting regional energy planning and project maintenance across otherwise remote locations (Holdmann et al, 2019). Similarly, in the global south, research has shown the value in community-to-community mentorship for developing renewable energy projects in rural areas and providing a network for knowledge transfer (Ulsrud et al, 2018). Such community-to-community relationships provide support and enable communities to share success stories and lessons learned of energy transition efforts (Cherniak et al, 2015).…”

Research on Financial Strategy and Financial Capability of Grassroots Power Supply Enterprises Based on Stochastic Matrix Model

“…A systematic analysis was carried out, and the degree of influence of various factors on the core competitiveness of grassroots power supply enterprises was summarized. e researchers believe that financial core competence is the organic combination of core competitiveness and financial management, and the financial management system of grassroots power supply enterprises runs through all aspects of the operation and management of grassroots power supply enterprises [12].…”