Conceptualizing community innovation

Matthew M. Mars and Craig Talmage

Community Development, 2026, vol. 57, issue 4, 507-532

Abstract: It has been over two decades since Bhattacharyya theorized community development as a process that turns on initiating and scaling community by way of solidarity and agency. In this essay, we expand on Bhattacharyya’s work by conceptualizing innovation as a principal goal of community development. To this end, we conceptualize community innovation as the intentional, bottom-up disruption and equitable and just transformation of the structures and systems that shape the quality of life within individual communities. We bring greater nuance and specificity to Bhattacharrya’s theory with an emphasis on fostering and leading community change and transformation through bounded solidarity and collective agency. Further, we articulate community innovation as a bottom-up phenomenon that is intentionally advanced through hyper-local experimentations and micro-innovations. The equitable, just, and inclusive nature of community innovation is linked to empathic collaboration, and cultural stewardship and innovation ethnography. Recommendations for application and future research are provided.

Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2025.2579226

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