Grassroots Innovation is the voluntary generation and development of innovations by any member of an organization, regardless of function or seniority.
[1] It is considered a form of bottom-up innovation (see Top-down and bottom-up design), whereby innovation resides 'deep in the bowels' of an organization,[2] i.e., it is seen as a responsibility of all members of an organization.
Grassroots innovation offers several benefits to companies:[3] Grassroots innovation is, however, associated with two important risks: Researchers in the fields of sustainability and technology have used the term grassroots innovation to refer to "a network of activists and organizations generating novel bottom-up solutions for sustainable development and sustainable consumption; solutions that respond to the local situation and the interests and values of the communities involved",[6] or as innovations generated by economically disadvantaged people who find practical and creative solutions for the needs of people at the bottom of the pyramid.
[7] These definitions are logically consistent with the definition above but refer to the society or community as the macro-unit of analysis, rather than a firm or organization.
As such, they are a direct manifestation of the broader concept of grassroots movements in society.