Editing Appropriate technology

{{Topic notice}}

[[File:IMG 8457.JPG|thumb]]

'''Appropriate technology (AT)''' is [[technology]] that is designed to be "appropriate" to the context it is intended for - including environmentally, culturally and economically.

The main [[Appropriate technology#Characteristics|characteristics]] of most ATs are that they should be ''sustainable'', ''small'' and ''appropriate''. To be effective in practice, it should be easy to maintain. To be effective for many people and have a wide impact, it must be affordable.

It can also be described as the simplest level of technology that can effectively achieve the intended purpose in a given [[Appropriate technology#Contexts|location]]. In [[developed countries]], the term ''appropriate technology'' takes a different meaning, often referring to engineering that takes special consideration of its social and environmental ramifications.<ref name="nytimes08">Schneider, Keith. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/business/businessspecial2/26degree.html?scp=2&sq=%22appropriate+technology%22&st=nyt "Majoring in Renewable Energy."] 26 March 2008.</ref>

Some prefer to capitalize the term as '''Appropriate Technology''', to distinguish it from other situations where the words "appropriate technology" might be chosen. Synonyms are [[intermediate technology]], simple technologies and technologies for the poor.

== On Appropedia ==

There are [[:Category:Appropriate technology|hundreds of pages]] related to appropriate technology on [[Appropedia]]. Here are a few selected examples:

<gallery heights="90" mode="packed-overlay">
File:Solar-cooker-homepage.png|link=Solar cooker
File:Photovoltaic-homepage.png|link=Photovoltaics
File:Solar-hot-water-system-homepage.png|link=Solar hot water system
File:Solar-dehydrators-homepage.png|link=Solar dehydrator
File:Solar-stills--homepage.png|link=Solar still
File:Rainwater-harvesters-homepage.png|link=Rainwater catchment
File:Greywater-systems-homepage.png|link=Greywater systems
File:Water-testing-system-homepage.png|link=Water quality testing
File:Water-filters-homepage.png|link=Water filters
File:Water-pumps-homepage.png|link=Water pump
File:Vertical-gardens-homepage.png|link=Vertical gardens
File:Living-roofs-homepage.png|link=Living roofs
File:Greenhouses-homepage.png|link=Greenhouse
File:Aquaponics-homepage.png|link=Aquaponics
File:Compost-bins-homepage.png|link=Compost bin
File:Natural-paints-homepage.png|link=Natural paints
File:Composting-toilets-homepage.png|link=Composting toilet
File:Rocket-stoves-homepage.png|link=Rocket stove
File:Bike-trailers-homepage.png|link=Bike trailer
File:Bike-powered-generators-homepage.png|link=Pedal powered generator
File:Adobe-construction-homepage.png|link=Adobe
File:Cobb-construction-homepage.png|link=Cobb constructions
File:Bamboo-constructions-homepage.png|link=Bamboo constructions
File:Straw-bale-constructions-homepage.png|link=Straw bale constructions
File:Ecoladrillos-homepage.png|link=Ecoladrillos
</gallery>

== Principles ==

{{Excerpt|Principles of appropriate technology|bold=yes}}

== Contexts ==

{{Excerpt|Contexts of appropriate technology}}

== History ==

{{To Catch the Sun}}

=== Gandhi: self-reliance ===

Mohandas Gandhi{{W|Mohandas Gandhi}} (known as Mahatma Gandhi) advocated small, local, mostly village-based technology to help India's villages become self reliant, resisting the dependence associated with colonialism, to aid in the freedom struggle against British and wealthy Indians.

Gandhi promoted the philosophy of "swadeshi" or self-reliance. He did not believe that technological development was inherently synonymous with progress. He believed the powers of technology should be produced and used artfully and the benefits should be close to the individual and widely produced and distributed in a decentralised fashion. Gandhi stated that his favorite technologies were the sewing machine, because it was invented out of love, and the bicycle, because it kept one's feet close to the ground. He felt that technology should not disenfranchises people or be used for violence - rather that it should be used to empower people broadly. The movement for self-rule was based on local economies, and Gandhi championed the spinning wheel, or ''charka'', employed in the [[khadi]] movement in the 1920s, which produced cloth locally in an act of civil disobedience, causing the British monopoly on textiles to collapse. The spinning wheel is today seen at the center of the Indian national flag,{{W|Flag of India}} and the flag itself must, by law, be made of khadi.

In the movement for ''Swaraj{{W|Swaraj}}'' (home rule), Gandhi believed in a revolution of production, saying "It is not about getting rid of the tiger and keeping the tiger's nature". Saying "it is better for a machine to be idle than a man to be idle", Gandhi rejected the factory model of industrialization. He raised money to offer a reward for someone to invent a spinning wheel that could employ people in the same way, while producing more thread.

=== Schumacher: ''Small is Beautiful'' and intermediate technology ===

[[E. F. Schumacher|E. F. "Fritz" Schumacher]] was an economist who acted as an advisor to governments. The concept of ''intermediate technology'', or ''appropriate technology'', was promoted by [[E. F. Schumacher]] from the 1950's through the 1970's,<ref name="Varma">[https://www.unm.edu/~varma/print/BSTS_Schumacher.pdf E. F. Schumacher: Changing the Paradigm of Bigger Is Better], Roli Varma, 2003.</ref> culminating in the publication of his book ''[[Small is Beautiful]]''.

He was strongly influenced by Gandhi's philosophy, and took Gandhi's village development ideas further, coining the term "intermediate technology". Through his book ''[[Small is Beautiful]]''<ref name="SMALL">Schumacher, E. F.; ''Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered: 25 Years Later...With Commentaries''. Hartley & Marks Publishers ISBN 0-88179-169-5</ref> and later by creating the Intermediate Technology Development Group (now [[Practical Action]]), he pioneered appropriate technology in development work.

Schumacher's term '''intermediate technology''' is similar to appropriate technology. It refers to tools and technology that are significantly more effective than traditional methods, but still an order of magnitude (one tenth) cheaper than developed world technology. Such items are generally within the economic reach of poor people, and according to proponents can lead to greater productivity with minimal social dislocation. Intermediate technology can also be built and serviced largely using locally available materials and knowledge, with minimal input from outside. This is conducive to decentralization, compatible with ecology, gentle in its use of scarce resources, and designed to serve humans and avoid making them the servants of machines.

In ''Small is Beautiful'', Schumacher also proposed "Buddhist Economics," which "tries to maximize human satisfactions by the optimal pattern of consumption," as opposed to mainstream Western [[economics]], which "tries to maximize consumption".

Further reading:

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185339/http://gandhifoundation.org/2011/11/25/who-was-fritz-schumacher-by-diana-schumacher// Who Was Fritz Schumacher? by Diana Schumacher], November 25, 2011, gandhifoundation.org

=== Papanek: ''Design for Human Scale'' ===

Victor Papanek{{W|Victor Papanek}} wrote about similar concepts in the context of design of everyday products. His writing is full of examples of appropriate and inappropriate designs (without necessarily using those terms) and are an inspiring introduction to design.

Papanek's books include

* Design for the Real World
* [[Design for Human Scale]]

=== Albertson and Faulkner: Appropriate hard and soft technologies ===

According to Dr. Maurice Albertson{{W|Maurice Albertson}} and Faulkner, appropriate hard technology is "engineering techniques, physical structures, and machinery that meet a need defined by a community, and utilize the material at hand or readily available. It can be built, operated and maintained by the local people with very limited outside assistance (e.g., technical, material, or financial). it is usually related to an economic goal." Some have explored the use of classroom projects for university-level physics students to research, develop and test appropriate hard technology.<ref>Joshua M. Pearce, "Teaching Physics Using Appropriate Technology Projects", The Physics Teacher, 45, pp. 164-167, 2007. [https://mtu.academia.edu/JoshuaPearce/Papers/1540232/Teaching_Physics_Using_Appropriate_Technology_Projects open access]</ref>

Albertson and Faulkner consider "appropriate soft technology" as technology that deals with "the social structures, human interactive processes, and motivation techniques. It is the structure and process for social participation and action by individuals and groups in analyzing situations, making choices and engaging in choice-implementing behaviors that bring about change."<ref>Faulkner, A. O. and M. L. Albertson. "Tandem use of Hard and Soft Technology: an Evolving Model for Third World Village Development" International Journal of Applied Engineering Education. Vol. 2, No. 2 pp 127-137, 1986.</ref>

=== The Water Decade: Village-level operation and maintenance ===

[[Water pumps]] came to demonstrate the importance of appropriateness and context in the application of technology.

During the International Drinking Water Decade (1981-1990),{{W|International Drinking Water Decade, 1981-1990}} [[water wells]] with pumps were provided to villages in developing countries around the world, paid for primarily with [[foreign aid]]. This tended to be done in a [[top-down]] manner, with little attention to the local context. While claims are made for great strides in access to water, counter-claims are made that many of the water pump projects failed.

A key problem was that the pumps were difficult to maintain at the village level - parts were not easily accessible or repairable, and/or specialized skills were required that did not exist in the typical village. After the water decade, "[[village-level operation and maintenance]]" pumps, or VLOM pumps, were introduced. Such an approach reduces the dependency of villages on governments and donors.

This lesson - the ability to maintain equipment locally - continues to be re-learned in many aid and development projects, decades on. '''The above concern about maintaining hand pumps is still true. There are now VERY low cost 12v pumps that should be considered!'''

=== Paul Polak: ''The Death of Appropriate Technology organizations'' ===

More recently, Paul Polak stated that the flowering of the Appropriate Technology movement in decades past had no major impact on the poor, and many organizations devoted to appropriate technology have closed or scaled-down.

He provocatively argues that the production of "appropriate technology" has died as the organizations producing appropriate technology did not apply business models with an emphasis on financial viability.

In two blog posts on "The Death of Appropriate Technology" he states:

<blockquote>
The appropriate technology movement died because it was led by well-intentioned tinkerers instead of hard-nosed entrepreneurs designing for the market.
</blockquote>

His arguments are found at:

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130511071426/http://blog.paulpolak.com:80/?p=376 The Death of Appropriate Technology I: If you can't sell it don't do it]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514070926/http://blog.paulpolak.com:80/?p=392 The Death of Appropriate Technology II: How to Design for the Market]

He talks about technology for the poor, as distinct from the earlier appropriate technology movement which he argues did not take cost-effectiveness seriously, and therefore failed. However, initiatives such as Gunter Pauli's Blue Economy project {{W|The_Blue_Economy}} and products made by commercial companies (ie Tata Motors' Tata Nano,...) seem to show that there are still companies that do successfully marry low-cost design with keen business insight.

=== Appropedia: appropriate technology goes online ===

{{Main|Appropedia:About}}

A new stage in appropriate technology has come with the introduction of the internet. The internet has facilitated the sharing of designs by AT organizations. These designs were already [[Open hardware|open design]], yet the sharing of the designs happened at too small a scale in the past. Designs of several devices/objects are now being shared across the internet using sites as Appropedia, Instructables, [https://permies.com/ Permies]... and reach people even outside the AT sector. In addition, kits and manuals sold by various organizations are now also being shared and help the poor in constructing complex, low-cost objects. The use of the Internet combined with digital technology enables people to learn about and apply the principles of [https://permaculture-design-course.com/ appropriate technology at home.]

=== Other practitioners and advocates ===

Well known advocates and practitioners of appropriate technology include:

* [[Paul Polak]]
* [[Buckminster Fuller]]
* [[Paul Wheaton]]
* [[Amory Lovins]]{{W|Amory Lovins}}
* B.V. Doshi{{W|B.V. Doshi}}<ref>see http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/5799/ and BV Doshi as AT founder</ref>
* M.K. Ghosh<ref>http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/5799/</ref>
* Arne Næss{{W|Arne Næss}} (1912–2009)
* William Moyer{{W|William Moyer}} (1933–2002)
* John Barrie{{W|The Appropriate Technology Collaborative}}
* Sanoussi Diakité{{W|Sanoussi Diakité}}
* Johan Van Lengen{{W|Johan Van Lengen}}
* Amy Smith

== See also ==

* ''[[A Guide for the Perplexed]]''
* [[Alternative technology]]
* [[Appropedia:About]]
* [[Community-based economics]]
* [[Cradle-to-cradle design]]
* [[Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT)]]
* [[Do-It-Yourself]] (DIY)
* [[Ecovillages]]
* [[E. F. Schumacher on appropriate technology]]
* [[Permaculture]]
* [[Practical Action]] (charity formerly known as Intermediate Technology Development Group)
* ''[[Small Is Beautiful]]''

[[File:Appropriate technology wordle.png|600px|Wordle created from Appropriate technology article with "Appropriate technology" terms removed.|link=https://www.appropedia.org/File:Appropriate technology wordle.png]]

== External links ==

* [[Wikipedia:Appropriate technology]]
* [[Wikipedia:Appropriate technology Africa]]
* Wikiversity:Topic:Self-sufficiency
* Wikiversity:Environmental community building
* Wikiversity:Appropriate technology designs
* International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering (IJSLE) - Peer-reviewed, semi-annual online journal, covering appropriate and sustainable technologies and related areas.
* [http://www.grat.at/ GrAT - Center for Appropriate Technology] - GrAT is a scientific association for research and development of Appropriate Technology in Vienna, Austria.
* [http://aprovecho.org/ AproveEcho] - An environmental education center with a focus on living with appropriate technologies.
* [https://permies.com/f/464/tech Low tech forums] at [https://permies.com/ Permies.com]
* [https://permies.com/c/7 Sustainable Energy forums] at [https://permies.com/ Permies.com]
* [https://permies.com/c/6 Natural and off-grid building forums] at [https://permies.com/ Permies.com]
* [https://permies.com/wiki/65386/hours-video-Permaculture-Design-Technology#556654 177 hours of video: the Permaculture Design Course and Appropriate Technology Course]at [https://permies.com/ Permies.com]
* [https://wheaton-labs.com/permaculture-tech/ Permaculture Technology Jamboree] at [https://wheaton-labs.com/Wheaton&#x20;Labs Wheaton Labs]

== Further readings ==

* [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/00213624.1988.11504765 Basic Needs Approach, Appropriate Technology, and Institutionalism]. ''Journal of Economic Issues'', (1988), '''22'''(2), 363-370. DOI:[https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.1988.11504765 10.1080/00213624.1988.11504765]
* [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360137824_Environmentally-appropriate_technology_under_lack_of_resources_and_knowledge_Solar-powered_cocoa_dryer_in_rural_Nias_Indonesia Environmentally-appropriate technology under lack of resources and knowledge: Solar-powered cocoa dryer in rural Nias, Indonesia]. ''Cleaner Engineering and Technology'', (2022), '''8''', 100494. DOI:[https://researchmap.jp/cpmsianipar/published_papers/36938776/attachment_file.pdf 10.1016/j.clet.2022.100494]
* [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352835554_Technological_appropriateness_of_biomass_production_in_rural_settings_Addressing_water_hyacinths_E_crassipes_problem_in_Lake_Tondano_Indonesia Technological appropriateness of biomass production in rural settings: Addressing water hyacinths (''E. crassipes'') problem in Lake Tondano, Indonesia]. ''Technology in Society'', (2021), '''66''', 101658. DOI:[https://research.rug.nl/files/175679190/1_s2.0_S0160791X21001330_main.pdf 10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101658]
* [https://cpmsianipar.com/publication/design-technological-appropriateness-survivability.html Design and technological appropriateness: The quest for community survivability]. ''Journal of Sustainability Science and Management'', (2014), '''9'''(1), 1-17. DOI:[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266144345_Design_and_technological_appropriateness_The_quest_for_community_survivability 10.46754/jssm.2014.06.001]
* [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705814010637 Quantitative assessment of Appropriate Technology]. ''Procedia Engineering'', (2014), '''78''', 345-358. DOI:[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.07.076 10.1016/j.proeng.2014.07.076]
* [https://cpmsianipar.com/publication/environment-appropriate-technology-supply-chain.html Environmental forensics on Appropriate-Technology-enhanced supply chain of rural commodities]. In A.Z. Aris et al. (eds), (2014), ''From Sources to Solutions'', ch. '''11''', pp. 55-60. Singapore: Springer. DOI:[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258795895_Environmental_Forensics_on_Appropriate-Technology-Enhanced_Supply_Chain_of_Rural_Commodities 10.1007/978-981-4560-70-2_11]
* [https://cpmsianipar.com/publication/design-methodology-appropriate-technology.html Design methodology for Appropriate Technology: Engineering as if people mattered]. ''Sustainability'', (2013), '''5'''(8), 3382-3425. DOI:[https://researchmap.jp/cpmsianipar/published_papers/31512879/attachment_file.pdf 10.3390/su5083382]. '''NOTE:''' Featured by [https://cpmsianipar.com/press/news/communities-design-methodology.html Engineering for Change] (E4C).
* [https://cpmsianipar.com/publication/seven-survivability-appropriate-technology.html Seven pillars of survivability: Appropriate Technology with a human face]. ''European Journal of Sustainable Development'', (2013), '''2'''(4), 1-18. DOI:[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236658117_Seven_Pillars_of_Survivability_Appropriate_Technology_with_a_Human_Face 10.14207/ejsd.2013.v2n4p1]

== References ==

<references />

{{Page data
| keywords = appropriate technology, sustainability
| authors = User:Chriswaterguy, User:RichardF, User:Lonny
}}

[[Category:Appropriate technology]]
[[Category:Sustainability]]