Grassroots for Sustainability

Research group

Active research

Website

Recycling network on

Facebook

Project period

2017 - ongoing

Project owner

María José Zapata Campos, Gothenburg Research Institute (GRI)

Area

Sustainability and

environment

Society and

economy

Topic

Business

Administration

Sociology

Political

Science

Short description

The research group Grassroots for Sustainability explore how grassroots networks, initiatives and practices, initiatives, networks and practices promote grassroots resilience, and contribute to reduce both the adverse impact of cities on climate and environmental change on community, city and societal levels.

Projects

Participatory innovation videos for an inclusive and sustainable waste management (Patrik Zapata and María José Zapata Campos (GU), Communicators Ulrika Naezer and John Chweya; researchers Jutta Gutberlet, Sebastián Carenzo, Michael Oloko and Goodluck Charles

Financed by FORMAS, 1,75 mSEK. (2020-2022)

Recycling networks – grassroots resilience tackling climate, environmental and poverty challenges, Maria José Zapata (head of project, Patrik Zapata, School of Public Administration (GU), Jaan-Henrik Kain, Chalmers, Michael O. Oloko, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Uuniversity of science and technology, Kisumu, Kenya, Jessica Perez Reynosa, Universidad centroamericana de Nicaragua i Managua, Goodluck Charles, University of Dar es Salaam i Tanzania, Sebastián Carenzo, University of Buenos Aires i Argentina och Jutta Gutberlet, University of Victoria i Kanada. Financed by the Swedish Research Council: 5,4 mSEK.

Video (8:31)

The Recycling Networks & Waste Governance Conference in Dar es Salaam 2019

The International Recycling Networks & Waste Governance Conference in Dar es Salaam 2019

Compact cities and informal settlements - Exploring qualities, drivers and strategies for promoting sustainable urban development, María José Zapata, GRI GU (head of project), Jaan-Henrik Kain, and Jenny Stenberg, Chalmers University, and Michael Oloko, University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya, Patrik Zapata, GU, financed by Formas, 3 mSEK.

María José Zapata Campos, Gothenburg Research Institute (GRI) — Photo: Patrik Zapata

Photo: Patrik Zapata

Grassroots initiatives, institutional entrepreneurship and inclusive urban governance: transforming the city from below María José Zapata, GRI GU (head of project), Jaan-Henrik Kain, Chalmers University, Michael Oloko, University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya, Patrik Zapata GU, financed by ICLD.se

Combating poverty and building democracy through the co-production of participatory waste management services. The case of Kisumu, Kenya, María José Zapata, GRI GU (head of project), Jaan-Henrik Kain, Chalmers University, and Michael Oloko, University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya, Patrik Zapata, GU. Financed by ICLD.se, 1,7 mSEK.

Improving basic urban services in informal settlements - Linking waste research in global South cities (Patrik Zapata GU head of project), with Jutta Gutberlet (Sao Paolo University,Brazil and Victoria University, Canada), Michael Oloko (University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya), and María José Zapata Campos (GRI, GU), 0.7 mSEK.

Research Team

• Jutta Gutberlet, Professor in Geography, University of Victoria, Canada, and Federal University of the ABC Region in São Paulo, Brazil
• Jaan-Henrik Kain, Professor in Urban Transformation. Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.
• Michael O. Oloko, Senior lecturer in Environmental Engineering. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology Kisumu, Kenya.
• Goodluck Charles, Coordinator of Centre for Policy Research and Advocacy at the University of Dar es Salaam Business School, Tanzania.
• Jessica Pérez Reynosa, Associate professor in Business Administration, University of Central America, Nicaragua.
• Patrik Zapata, Professor in Public Administration, School of
Public Administration, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Sebastián Carenzo, researcher at CONICET; senior lecturer at the Institute for the Study of Science and Technology, National University of Quilmes, Argentina.
• María José Zapata, sociologist, Associate professor in Business
Administration, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, project leader.

Videos

Application, reports and press

Application (PDF)

pdf, 1.14 MB

Oloko, M (2019) INTERNATIONAL WASTE ACTORS’ PEER-TO-PEER WASTE TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE (PDF)

pdf, 3.89 MB

Kain, JH, Oloko, M, Zapata, P, Zapata, MJ (2017) Co-production of Waste Management Services in Informal Settlements. Swedish Research Center for Local Democracy. ICLD: Malmö. ISBN 978-91-86725-24-2 (PDF)

pdf, 9.51 MB

Inclusive Waste governance and Grassroots Innovations for Social, Environmental and Economic Change, Göteborg: University of Gothenburg & Victoria University ISBN 978-91-984547-3-4 (PDF)

pdf, 13.47 MB

SUSTAINABLE WASTE COLLECTION AND RECYCLING FOR INCLUSIVE CITIES: REPORT ON UPDATED RESEARCH OUTCOMES OF THE PROJECT RECYCLING NETWORKS & WASTE GOVERNANCE (PDF)

pdf, 7.99 MB

Citizen-driven initiatives for sustainability must be part of the city in practice - not just in brochures! (PDF)

The City of Gothenburg is scaling down these grassroots innovations for sustainability, when they could scale them up. A central location is important for citizen-driven initiatives promoting a genuine sharing economy from below. The municipal government seems to have forgotten that a city is more than shops and services. Neighbourhoods and their residents also need common spaces, non-commercial areas and room to socialize and be creative. The City of Gothenburg has, until recently, been at the forefront of waste prevention in Sweden, a role model for other municipalities and for national authorities. However, recent budget-cuts, and a lack of political will has imperilled social innovations that were built upon the collaboration between the civil society and the City.

pdf, 587.35 KB

Research projects

Research project/group

Recycling Networks

Research project/group

Participatory filming

Peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters

Maria Jose Zapata Campos, Sebastian Carenzo, Goodluck Charles, Jutta Gutberlet, Jaan-Henrik Kain, Michael O Oloko, Jessica Perez Reynosa, Patrik Zapata (2022) Grassroots innovations in 'extreme' urban environments. The inclusive recycling movement, Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, online first

Zapata Campos, María José, Patrik Zapata & Jessica Reynosa Perez (2022), (Re)gaining the urban commons: everyday, collective, and identity resistance, Urban Geography

Zapata Campos, María José, Ester Barinaga, Jaan.-Henrik Kain, Michael Oloko & Patrik Zapata, (2022). Organising grassroots infrastructure: The (in)visible work of organisational (in)completeness. Urban Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980211062818

Zapata Campos MJ, J-H Kain, M Oloko, M Scheinsohn, J Stenberg, P Zapata (2022) Residents’ collective strategies of resistance in Global South cities’ informal settlements: space, scale, and knowledge, Cities, online first

Zapata Campos MJ, Carenzo S, Kain J-H, Oloko M, Reynosa JP, Zapata P (2020) Inclusive recycling movements: a green deep democracy from below. Environment and Urbanization, online first. doi:10.1177/0956247820967621

Charles, G (2019) Sustainability of Social Enterprises Involved in Waste Collection and Recycling Activities: Lessons from Tanzania, Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, DOI: 10.1080/19420676.2019.1686712

Carenzo, S. and M. Schmuckler (2018) Hacia una ontología política del diseño cartonero: reflexiones etnográficas a partir de la experiencia de la cooperativa Reciclando Sueños (La Matanza, Argentina). Inmaterial. Diseño, arte y sociedad, Vol. 3(5): 53-80.

Sobral Santos, M.L. & Gutberlet, J. (2018) Transformando relações entre sociedade e resíduos. Caderno Diálogos Socioambientais na Macrometrópole, nº1 (Dez.): 30-37.

Gutberlet, J. & Uddin, S. M. N. (2018) Household waste and health risks affecting waste pickers and the environment in low- and middle-income countries. Int J of Occupational and Environmental Health.

Uddin, S. M. N. & Gutberlet, J. (2018) Livelihoods and health status of informal recyclers in Mongolia. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 134: 1–9.

Gutberlet, J. Kain, J.H., Nyakinya, B, Oloko, M., Zapata, P., Zapata Campos, M.J. (2017) Bridging Weak Links of Solid Waste Management in Informal Settlements, Journal of Environment & Development, 2017, Vol. 26(1) 106–131

Gutberlet, J.; Carenzo, S.; Kain, J-H.; & de Azevedo, A. M. M. (2017) Waste Picker Organizations and Their Contribution to the Circular Economy: Two Case Studies from a Global South Perspective. Resources 6 (52): 1-12.

Carenzo, S. (2017) Invisibilized creativity: Sociogenesis of an “innovation” process developed by "cartoneros" for post-consumption waste recycling. International Journal on Engineering, Social Justice and Peace (IJESJP), 5(1-2), 30-49.

Book chapters
Carenzo, S. 2017. “Fétichismes de la matière jetée: une économie morale de la gestion des déchets dans la région métropolitaine de Buenos Aires, Argentine”. In: Anstett, E. y N. Ortar (Eds). Jeux de pouvoir dans nos poubelles. Économies morales et politiques du recyclage au tournant du XXIe siècle. Paris: Ed. Petra. ISBN 978-284-743-172-8

Gutberlet, J. (2018). Waste in the City: Challenges and Opportunities for Urban Agglomerations, Urban Agglomeration, (Ed.), InTech, DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.72047.

Reports

- Kain, JH, Oloko, M, Zapata, P, Zapata, MJ (2017) Co-production of Waste Management Services in Informal Settlements. Swedish Research Center for Local Democracy. ICLD: Malmö. ISBN 978-91-86725-24-2 https://www.icld.se/projekt/kc-kain-j-oloko-m-zapata-p-zapata-m-2017-co-production-of-services-in-informal-settlements
- Inclusive Waste governance and Grassroots Innovations for Social, Environmental and Economic Change, Göteborg: University of Gothenburg & Victoria University ISBN 978-91-984547-3-4 http://www.wiego.org/reports/inclusive-waste-governance-and-grassroots-innovations-social-environmental-and-economic-chan

Conference papers

Acevedo, A. Carenzo, S., Goodluck, C., Gutberlet, J., Kain, J.H., Oloko, M., Pérez Reynosa, J., Zapata, P., Zapata Campos, M.J., ‘Waste picker organisations and grassroots innovation movements’, Development Research Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden, 22-23th August 2018.

Carenzo, S., Goodluck, C., Gutberlet, J., Kain, J.H., Oloko, M., Pérez Reynosa, J., Zapata, P., Zapata Campos, M.J. Recycling networks. ‘Grassroots resilience tackling climate, environmental and poverty challenges’, Latin American European Organisation Studies Conference, Buenos Aires, 22-24th March 2018.

Carenzo, S. 2018. The B side of social innovation. Grassroots technologies development and waste picker cooperatives in Greater Buenos Aires (Argentina), 7th Social & Technology Studies Italia Conference, Padova (Italy), June 14-16th.

Carenzo, S. 2018. Del “reciclador permitido” a una “economía circular desde abajo”: escenarios y desafíos. Seminario “Promoviendo la incorporación de los Recicladores de Base (RB) como Gestores de Residuos”, organizado por la Fundación “La Ciudad Posible”, Fundación “Tierra Viva” y el Movimiento Nacional de Recicladores de Base de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Jueves 2 de agosto 2018.

Gutberlet, J. & Carenzo, S. Waste pickers at the heart of the circular economy: a perspective from the Global South. SUM2018 Symposium on Urban Mining in Bergamo, Italy (21. – 24.05.2018)

Policy Briefs

Grassroots innovations for an inclusive and sustainable waste governance (2021) Zapata Campos María José, Jaan-Henrik Kain & Patrik Zapata , ICLD:17 (PB1)

Zapata Campos, María José, Jaan-Henrik Kain & Patrik Zapata (2022) Innovaciones de base para una gobernanza de residuos inclusiva y sostenible, Policy Brief 1: 2022 Spanish version

Zapata Campos, María Jose, Jaan-Henrik & Patrik Zapata (2022) Inovações de Base para uma governança de resíduos sustentável e inclusiva, Policy Brief 1: 2022 Portuguese version

Carenzo, Sebastián (2022) Waste pickers’ contributions to the transition towards aCircular Economy in the global South, Policy Brief 2: 2022 English version

Carenzo, Sebastián (2022) Contribuciones de recicladoras/es de base para la transición a una economía circular en el Sur global, Policy Brief no 2: 2022 Spanish version

Carenzo, Sebastián (2022) Contribuições dos catadores para uma transição rumo à Economia Circular, Policy Brief no 2: 2022 Portuguese version

Gutberlet, Jutta & Michael O Oloko (2022) Organized Waste pickers as environmental educators: peer-to-peer and bottom-up generated knowledge informing public policy, Policy Brief 3: 2022 English version

Gutberlet, Jutta & Michael O Oloko (2022) Recicladores organizados como educadores ambientales: conocimiento popular informando la formulación de políticas públicas, Policy Brief 3: 2022 Spanish version

Gutberlet, Jutta & Michael O Oloko (2022) Catadores organizados servindo como educadores ambientais: conhecimento popular informando políticas públicas, Policy Brief 3: 2022 Portuguese version

Charles, Urasa Goodluck (2022) Sustainability of Social Enterprises Involved in Waste Collection and Recycling Activities, Policy Brief 4: 2022

Seminars and Workshops

Organized by the Recycling Networks and/or Waste Governance project:

Campamento de Innovación por el medioambiente, Managua, Nicaragua, 26th July 2021

II International Recycling Networks & Waste Governance Conference, 29th April – 5th May 2019, in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar in Tanzania

International Conference ‘Recycling Networks & Waste Governance’, Kisumu, Kenya 23th-28th April 2018

International Workshop “Innovación e Inclusión para una Economía Circular de los residuos”, Buenos Aires, October 12th 2018.

Workshop (Re)thinking Circular Economy “from below”, proposed and accepted to be included in the Academic Symposium Circular Economy Disruptions – Past, Present and Future, University of Exeter, UK - June 17 - 19th 2018. Coordinators: Sebastián Carenzo and Lucas Becerra - The Institute for Science and Technology Studies, National University of Quilmes (IESCT-UNQ), Argentina.

International Workshop “La linealidad del círculo: (re)pensando dinámicas tecno-cognitivas para el desarrollo inclusivo sustentable en la Economía Circular”, Buenos Aires, November 14th 2017.

Attended
Pérez-Reynosa, J. H. November 2019, Rio de Janeiro, “Recycling movements, resistance and the urban commons. Stories from the resilient community La Chureca”, paper presented in poster session at 22nd TWAS LACREP young scientist conference and 1st TYAN regional conference for Latin America and Caribbean region.

Pérez-Reynosa, J. H. October 2019, Managua, “Redes de reciclaje. La resiliencia de base abordando los desafíos del clima, el medio ambiente y la pobreza (Caso Managua, Nicaragua)”, research project presented at IV Congreso Nacional: La educación superior nicaraguense innovando y aprendiendo para el desarrollo sostenible.

Zapata Campos, M.J. 28 September 2018, Paris, "Infiltrating urban commoning practices in city policy-making, experiences from Managua and Göteborg”, paper presented at BISCOTE International Workshop" “Urban Commons and Territorial Development” http://www.urbanisme-puca.gouv.fr/projet-biscote-biens-communs-et-territoire-communs-a1491.html

Carenzo, S. 8-11 January 2019, Bonn, Germany.
“Grassroot innovations and waste management: developing a holistic perspective from the global South”, speech presented at the German Development Institute (Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik -DIE).

Carenzo, S. 15 September 2017, Lyon, France.
“L’économie circulaire des déchets”, paper presented at the Atelier “Deuxième vie des objets”, Institut des Sciences de l'Homme

Carenzo, S. 8 février 2017. Paris, France
“Défis pour une ethnographie collaborative dans des secteurs populaires: vendedores ambulantes [vendeurs ambulants] et recuperadores de residuos [ramasseurs de déchets] à Buenos Aires”, paper co-authored with M.I. Fernandez Alvarez, presented at Atelier d'ethnographie de la maison Archéologie & Ethnologie, René-Ginouvès, Université Paris Nanterrre, mercredi 8 février 2017.

Gutberlet, J. I Simpósio Internacional do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Enfermagem, VIII Encontro da Rede/Roda de Pesquisa-ação Participativa, Maringá, 7.12.2018. A universidade e o seu compromisso com transformações socioambientais face às mudanças climáticas: Avanços e desafios

Gutberlet, J. Taller Innovación e Inclusión para uma Economía Circular de los Resíduos. La Matanza, Provincia de Buenos Aires, 12.10.2018. Modelos de gobernanza de los residuos e inclusión social en el Sur global.

Gutberlet, J. III Simpósio do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos de Cultura e Território, I Seminário Internacional do Programa de Pós-Graduação dm Estudos de Cultura e Território, Araguaína, Tocantins, 11.09.2018. Pesquisa-ação e participação universitária nas transformações socioambientais: Teoría e prática da experiência do trabalho com catadores de materiais recicláveis

Gutberlet, J. Desafíos metodológicos del hacer con cartoneros y recuperadores desde espacios universitarios, públicos y comunitarios. Workshop: Experiencias de Investigación acción con cartoneros en Brasil y Canadá. University of Buenos Aires, 5 de Julio 2017