Innovation in resource access for sustainable development: addressing the sustainability challenge of the energy-water nexus

Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
An ‘innovation in resource access’ paradigm is proposed for an equitable distribution of natural resources (water and energy) for the agriculture sector of the developing countries to achieve the goal of sustainable development in rural areas of newly developed countries. On the contrary, the prevailing ‘innovation and access to technology’ paradigm has often found to be skewed towards the elites of societies in the developing world due to its emphasis on mechanization and capital intensity. The paradigm of innovation in resource access seeks to encourage scholarly attention to institutional reforms in governance, innovative re-designs in policies, and evidence-based management practices for innovation in access to water and renewable-energy in the agriculture sector. Innovation in resource access (especially in the energy-water) and services they can provide, and to the knowledge development, decision making, planning and governance processes needed to decide best uses of resources and services they provide. Using a bottom-up approach, the dissertation offers arguments for why this approach has promise for the pursuits of sustainable development. Following the framework of Kuhn’s analysis, this research treats the existing paradigm of innovation and access to technology as ‘normal science’ and evaluates its anomalies. This evaluation leads to the study of determinants of innovation in resource access to sustainable water and energy for the agriculture sector of the Punjab. Furthermore, the Punjab, Pakistan case study has been presented for in-depth contextual and socio-economic understanding of innovation in resource access.
Description
Keywords
Applied sciences, Social sciences, Earth sciences, Access, Agriculture, Energy-water nexus, Innovation, Natural resource, Policy
Citation