The rising stars of social innovations: How do local governments facilitate citizen initiatives to thrive? The case of waste management in Brussels and Hong Kong

Abstract

Waste management is an important issue in cities. The achievement of a zero-waste future relies on the collective actions of individual households. Indeed, citizens are initiating social innovations in waste management in their communities. However, citizen initiatives (CIs) encounter strategic and operational barriers in the process of social innovation. They often seek support from local governments to overcome these barriers. These initiatives need a "facilitative" local government that is responsive and enables the initiatives to thrive without too much interference from them. Yet, there is a lack of conceptual and empirical understanding of such a new facilitative role of local governments. Furthermore, we do not know whether and how this facilitative role differs between different types of CIs and between different policy contexts. Based on 24 in-depth interviews with CIs and government officials, this study explores the various facilitative practices offered by the Brussels and Hong Kong local governments, explains patterns of facilitative practices between different types of CIs, and clarifies how divergence in policy contexts influences what, why, and how much the local government can facilitate CIs. This study finds that common facilitative practices include financial and administrative assistance, but certain barriers requiring actions from the government and other actors remain unresolved. Local governments need to review their facilitative role to provide more effective support to CIs as new agents of sustainable urban development at the community level.

Strategy for Developing Institutional Service Models for Regional Innovation in Indonesia

“…[27] the relationship between entrepreneurship innovation, government regulation, and performance [28] Economic Development innovation [29] the innovation of government bonds in the growth of the capital market that appears [30] government subsidies on enterprise innovation: based on the perspective of the three-dimensional [31], Analysis Of the Role of the government In the Construction of the innovation System of the Region [32] How local government in social innovation to facilitate the community to thrive? [33] Then in the technical limitations for example the efficiency, performance, dimensions, context, characters, motivation as mentioned Whether the efficiency of government higher brings about innovation in higher? [34] government Management innovationoriented: the context and character of the model [35] innovation Capability and performance [36] the Motivation for the adoption of Management innovation by Local government and the effects of performance [37] and responsible innovation urban with the local government of artificial intelligence (AI) [38] However, refers to Law number 23 the year 2014 the Affairs of the regional innovation can be seen from the results of identification as follows.…”

Reducing food waste from social innovation perspective: a review of measures, research gaps and future directions

“…knowledge, skills, and technical equipment), capacity building (e.g. experience-sharing workshops and seminars), networking support, flexibility in rules, and accepting and valuing opinions, all need to be overseen by the local government (Chin and Mees, 2021). In particular, Cangiano et al (2017)…”

“…Limited funds, spaces and resources have been listed as some of the top barriers to the development of food rescue (Hecht and Neff, 2019). Although some governments provide different food assistance practices to facilitate citizens to participate in food rescue activities, the effectiveness of these practices is unknown (Chin and Mees, 2021). Thus, it is better to conduct empirical research regarding the food assistance practices provided by the government to develop a consistent protocol to evaluate/assess the outcomes of these programs.…”

“…First, resources are critical for activating social innovation, such as financial, human and physical resources, which are widely defined by scholars (Foroudi et al, 2021;Wilson and Millman, 2003). Other resources such as network resources and government support mechanisms are also both essential (Chin and Mees, 2021). However, there is a vagueness around how to combine these resources to activate and deliver superior value of social innovation for reducing FW, which is reinforced by two review articles on social innovation (Foroudi et al, 2021;Short et al, 2009).…”

Mapping stakeholders and identifying institutional challenges and opportunities for waste management in towns of Uttar Pradesh, India

“…Extensive research has been conducted on solid waste and electronic waste management in the metropolis from the perspectives of value generation (Corwin, 2018; Gidwani & Corwin, 2017; Gill, 2007), institutional innovations (Chin & Mees, 2021; Oates et al, 2018), waste to energy (Schindler et al, 2012), formal and informal sector co‐existence (Gutberlet et al, 2017; Katusiimeh et al, 2013; Oates, 2021; Oates et al, 2018; Schindler, 2014; Schindler et al, 2012), the social plight of waste collectors (Gill, 2006; Rodrigues, 2009), political economy (Gidwani & Reddy, 2011) and privatisation and urbanisation (Gidwani & Corwin, 2017; Post et al, 2003). However, few studies have sought to analyse the complete waste management system in towns, including both the formal and informal sectors, in terms of institutional arrangement and strengths.…”