Purpose:
The purpose of this assessment is to test whether you are familiar with different categories of innovation, their relationship with wider systemic change and how they can contribute to specific framings of sustainability. An appreciation of context-sensitivity and an ability to clearly apply the theoretical ideas in the module in an academic style is also being assessed.
Details:
You are required to write a short, 500-word descriiption of an innovation that you think has made a significant contribution to sustainability and development within a particular context. This should have taken place over the past 50 years and can be global, regional or national in its scope.
You will need to:
1. describe the innovation and how it works (20 marks)
2. explain whether it was ‘new to firm’/ ‘new to market’/ ‘new to world’ (5 marks)
3. explain what type of product/ process innovation it was, according to the Oslo Manual typology (5 marks)
4. discuss whether it was ‘incremental’ or ‘radical’ (5 marks)
5. critically evaluate whether/ how it contributed to a change in socio-technical system or techno-economic paradigm? (15 marks)
6. explain whether this had an impact on resource intensity, energy use and/or one or more of the planetary boundaries (specify which), and how? (15 marks)
7. discuss any social implications/ consequences (positive or negative) of the innovation (10 marks)
8. explain how the context (technological, socio-political, socio-economic, cultural) enabled the innovation to emerge (10 marks).
9. adopt an academic style of writing and include at least fifteen appropriate references (15 marks for five correctly-formatted references, at least five of which are from the academic peer-reviewed literature). In all cases, use Harvard referencing style. Note that your references do not count toward the 500 word limit.
