Community Innovation and Local Wisdom
People across the country are already inventing things to address problems related to livelihoods, the environment and safety in their communities. We help refine these ideas, provide seed funding and share them more widely with other communities.
Translated from Thai · reviewed by the CF team
Ongoing research over more than 5 years in more than 30 provinces across the country has found that many people in communities have the experience and practical skills to solve their own problems. They simply lack someone to help refine their ideas, seed funding and channels for sharing their inventions with other communities.
Community innovators often create their inventions by creatively adapting locally available waste materials or traditional tools. Sometimes they find new ideas by learning through online media such as YouTube and Facebook, then adapt them into tools of their own design. These tools cost less and are better suited to local conditions than ready-made products on the market. These strengths make grassroots innovations easy to access, learn about and understand.
At the same time, because these innovators have distinct characteristics and are not formally organised, they often have fewer opportunities to receive support from either the public or private sector. The complexity of existing support systems also creates barriers to expanding their work to other communities. As a result, many good innovations remain in use only by their inventors and are neither further developed nor shared with communities facing similar problems.
Appropriate support does not mean imposing technology from outside. It means identifying innovators, providing technical advice from experts and offering seed funding to develop prototypes. This helps each community innovator return to solve their own problems more effectively and share knowledge that other communities can adapt and use more widely.
Selected community innovators are spread across every region of Thailand. Over the past 5 years (B.E. 2562–B.E. 2569), the programme has reached more than 30 provinces, from Chiang Rai, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son in the north; Trat, Sa Kaeo and Phetchaburi in the central and eastern regions; to Khon Kaen, Buri Ram, Kalasin and Nakhon Ratchasima in the northeast. The programme works with CH. Karnchang Public Company Limited as its main supporter and ChangeFusion Institute as its implementer.
5 steps in the process of promoting and supporting community innovators
- 01 Selection—Open applications nationwide and score them based on the importance of the problem, creativity, potential to scale, social impact and feasibility of further development. Then visit the sites to see the work in person and select the 10 most outstanding teams.
- 02 Incubation—Provide online training in the essential foundations for developing inventions, such as design thinking, product design, online marketing, and finance and accounting.
- 03 Further development—Visit each team to provide advice from volunteer engineers, product designers, and marketing and finance experts, helping develop prototypes that are more practical and safer to use.
- 04 Connections—Organise an exhibition with partner organisations, giving community innovators the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with one another and connect with organisations that may be able to provide further support.
- 05 Scaling up—Provide additional funding to the teams with the clearest potential for further development, to help their innovations reach more communities.
Grassroots Innovators
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What change does this work create, and how do we know it is effective?
We provide seed funding and advice to develop grassroots innovations, and all 10 projects had a B/C ratio of more than 1 based on a 1-year projection, which was an internal assessment.
The Grassroots Innovators Project helps makers develop inventions that address problems in their own communities, while supporting further development and the sharing of their work with other communities. We assess the results and select some teams to receive scale-up funding. This Issue ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- Grassroots Innovators In year 5, we assessed the return on investment for 10 projects based on a 1-year projection and found that every project had a B/C ratio of more than 1, in line with the project’s criteria. UpdateSocial impact assessment: all 10 innovations provide returns that justify the investment
- The assessment was conducted internally by the project team and has not been verified by an independent external organisation, so it should be read as a projection, not as a confirmed long-term result. UpdateSocial impact assessment: all 10 innovations provide returns that justify the investment
- 3 teams received scale-up funding of 100,000 baht each to strengthen their prototypes and make them usable more widely. UpdateShowcase, funding award ceremony and announcement of scale-up funding results
- We do not yet have an official summary report of the total number of grassroots makers or households that have benefited over the 5 years.
How was this work carried out, and what lessons can be applied going forward?
We select grassroots innovators, incubate them, provide team-by-team mentoring and connect them with funding to scale their work. The key lesson is to build on communities’ knowledge and needs, rather than imposing technology from outside.
Our approach is to start with the inventions and experience that grassroots innovators already have, then help them develop further, rather than bringing in technology from outside and imposing it. This Issue ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- Grassroots Innovators has 5 steps: selecting participants based on the importance of the problem, creativity and potential to scale; incubating them in foundational knowledge; providing team-by-team mentoring to develop prototypes and improve safety; connecting them to opportunities to share experiences and meet potential supporting organisations; and providing additional funding to teams with a clear plan for further development. ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- In year 5, online incubation covered design thinking, product design, online marketing, and finance and accounting, before each team’s plan was used to guide on-the-ground mentoring. UpdateIncubating grassroots innovation through a 2-day online programme
- Field visits showed that progress and areas for improvement varied from team to team, so we provided on-site mentoring to assess each project and develop it in line with its needs. UpdateOn-site in-depth consultations for each team across 10 provinces nationwide
- A systemic lesson is that grassroots innovators who are not part of a formally organised group may find it difficult to access support, while complex support systems can obstruct the transfer of innovation. ProjectGrassroots Innovators
What types of areas is this approach suitable for, and what do we need to get started in our area?
This approach works with communities that have skilled makers and problems they want to solve, using local knowledge and materials. We have not yet documented the requirements or steps for starting work in a new area.
This approach focuses on areas where community members have experience or skills in making things, and have inventions that address their own problems. They may use leftover materials or tools available locally. This Issue ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- Grassroots Innovators works with makers selected from across the country. The selection criteria cover the importance of the problem, creativity, potential to scale, social impact and feasibility for further development. ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- The support process includes selection, incubation, team-by-team advice, connections to networks, and additional funding for teams with potential to scale. This Issue
- In year 5, the advisory team visited all 10 selected teams to provide advice, with experts in engineering, product design, online marketing and finance. UpdateOn-site in-depth consultations for each team across 10 provinces nationwide
- We have outlined the approach and support components, but have not yet documented the requirements or steps for local organisations that want to start work in a new area.
What methods or tools can we start using right away?
It can start by selecting challenges and inventions from local innovators, then using design thinking and advice on products, marketing and finance to make prototypes more practical and safer.
What can be adapted is the process of helping innovators develop inventions based on challenges they encounter in practice. It starts with understanding the problem and what is already available, then developing the prototype to suit its intended use. This Issue ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- Local innovators use design thinking and product design knowledge to help organise ideas and improve inventions. UpdateIncubating grassroots innovation through a 2-day online programme
- On-site advice from experts in engineering, product design, marketing and finance helps each team develop prototypes, safety systems and ways to take their work further, according to what each project needs. UpdateOn-site in-depth consultations for each team across 10 provinces nationwide ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- Examples of improvements made in practice include increasing the thickness of a roasting pot to retain heat more effectively, and replacing the control box for a firebreak system with a material that is waterproof and heat-resistant. UpdateOn-site in-depth consultations for each team across 10 provinces nationwide
- As prototypes are further developed, connecting artisans so they can exchange experiences and meet organisations that may be able to provide further support is another step in the process. ProjectGrassroots Innovators
How does this work connect to systemic issues, and what kind of collaboration is needed?
We address the barriers that make it difficult for community innovators who are not formally organised to access support and expand their work, including the need for knowledge, technical advice, seed funding and referral channels.
Many community innovators have skills and come up with inventions to solve local problems, but not being formally organised and the complexity of support systems make it difficult for them to access help. As a result, innovations may remain with their inventors and not be passed on to other communities. This Issue ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- Grassroots Innovators designs support that starts with finding and selecting projects, providing technical advice from experts, and offering seed funding to develop prototypes, rather than imposing technology from outside. This Issue
- The collaboration described in the process includes experts in engineering, product design, online marketing and finance, as well as networks that help community innovators meet and exchange ideas and connect with organisations that may be able to provide further support. ProjectGrassroots Innovators
- The next steps are to mobilise funding and knowledge to select and incubate a new cohort of community innovators, with seed funding and funding for scaling up as set out in the plan. This Issue
Raise funds and gather expertise for the next round of selecting and incubating new community innovators in the coming year.
- Seed funding of 50,000 baht for each of the 10 selected teams.
- Follow-on funding of 100,000 baht for each of the 3 teams that demonstrate outstanding further development potential.
- Volunteer experts in engineering, product design, online marketing and finance to advise each team.