Elements of Social Innovation for Promoting Sustainable Consumption: The Validation of a Framework With Experts

Abstract

This study's objective was to validate a framework with the elements of social innovation that can contribute to the promotion of sustainable consumption. To this end, exploratory research was carried out with a qualitative approach, using the Focus Group technique in which eight experts participated. The first elements of the framework were extracted from the literature and were organized in three dimensions: 1) social transformation; 2) new production and consumption practices. After the experts' analysis, the results of the Focus Group made it possible to conclude that social innovation can contribute to sustainable consumption through the following dimensions: Actors, Innovation, Cultural and Social Change, and Social Transformation. For each of these dimensions, their categories of analysis were discussed and listed. It is considered that the identified elements can contribute to sustainable consumption because they seek to produce with fewer resources, taking advantage of local potentialities, promoting the adoption of new production and consumption practices that are reflected in structural changes. However, the advance in sustainable consumption structures through social innovations depends on mechanisms for raising awareness, education, and institutionalization of social practices. That address issues not only of satisfying needs but of politicization at the base of society and articulation between social, organizational, and institutional actors.