Scribd
Upload
79 views14 pages

Week 14 Appropriate Technology

The document discusses appropriate technology, which aims to meet local needs through small-scale, sustainable, and affordable solutions. It defines appropriate technology, outlines its key characteristics and development over time, and discusses its relationship to the environment, politics, and poverty reduction.

Uploaded by

Atif Syed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
79 views14 pages

Week 14 Appropriate Technology

The document discusses appropriate technology, which aims to meet local needs through small-scale, sustainable, and affordable solutions. It defines appropriate technology, outlines its key characteristics and development over time, and discusses its relationship to the environment, politics, and poverty reduction.

Uploaded by

Atif Syed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

ENVIRONMENTAL

MANAGEMENT AND
TECHNOLOGY
WEEK 14
APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY

LMS SEGi education group 1


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Able to describe different technologies in environmental


development

LMS SEGi education group 2


LEARNING OUTCOMES

Able to propose appropriate technologies in given


scenarios.

LMS SEGi education group 3


INTRODUCTION

Defined as technology that encompasses suitable


technological choice and application that is efficient and
environmentally sound
Also known as intermediate technology
An idea of Ernst Friedrich Schumacher, who published
Small is Beautiful in 1973

Production by the masses, not mass production

LMS SEGi education group 4


4 CHARACTERISTICS

Small in scale to fit into small market situations


Simple, to avoid sophisticated manufacturing skills,
organization and finance
Cheap, not capital-intensive to reduce cost per
workplace
Non-violent means that the technology would be
completely under human control, that it would not have
unintended side effects and would not cause social or
environmental disruption

LMS SEGi education group 5


REFINED DEFINITION

AT is any productive process or any piece of equipment


that meets all of the following criteria:
Meets the needs of the majority of a community

Employs natural resources, capital and labour in


proportion to their long-term sustainable availability
Ownable, controllable, operable, maintainable within
the community it serves
Enhances skills and dignity of those employed by it

Non-violent to both the environment and people

Socially, economically and environmentally


sustainable

LMS SEGi education group 6


WEAKNESS OF AT

Most organizations treat it as an alternative technology


aimed at simpler, less wasteful lifestyle, often ignoring
the poor of the Third World

LMS SEGi education group 7


DEVELOPMENT OF AT (1)

1960s First development decade :


testing and adapting ideas

Improvement of traditional technologies

Simplification of modern technology

1980s Arrogant phase:


Dominated by technology and hardware

Problems arose here where information dissemination and


diffusion were essential

1990s madly off in all-direction phase:


Participation and sustainability were more prominent

LMS SEGi education group 8


DEVELOPMENT OF AT (4)

There is growing recognition in the West as a whole that


Big is not better.
Example, The most successful Japanese firm focuses on
customer preference, needs and taste. Within the best
firm, emphasis is put on innovation, close and
personalized coordination between divisions, managers
and the shop floor. An average Japanese car-maker only
produces 30% of the automobile parts themselves, and
sub the rest to the smaller firms. The sub contractors sub
their own work to third tier or fourth tier firms Small is
beautiful

LMS SEGi education group 9


AT AND THE ENVIRONMENT

In the north, AT may be appropriate as the needs of the


people have already been taken care of
In the south, AT may not seem practical where people
are in poverty and they rely on the environment for
immediate survival
So the environment may be affected if AT is
implemented in this region because people need
immediate supplies or services and sometimes in large
amounts, fast.
Even if they are not the consumer but are producers,
they would need to be able to produce or provide more,
and fast.

LMS SEGi education group 10


AT AND POLITICS

Informal sector has been neglected by government. AT


cannot be moved forward without formalizing informal
sector
Informal sector has to be expanded to accommodate
new entrants
Cost per workplace at the formal sector has to be
reduced
Greater integration of the informal sector requires
economic reconstruction which often occurs in poor
countries

LMS SEGi education group 11


REFERENCE

Smillie, Ian (2000), Mastering The Machine Revisited:


Poverty, Aid and Technology, ITDG Publishing.
Korten, David, Third Generation Strategies; a Key yo
People-Centered Development, World Development,
Volume 15, Supplement, Oxford, 1987, and Korten,
David, Getting to the 21st Century, Kumarian Press,
West Hartford, 1990

LMS SEGi education group 12


KEY TERMS

Appropriate technology - any productive process or any


piece of equipment that are at minimum cost and
produce great outcome. Appropriate technology should
be small, simple, cheap and non-violent.

LMS SEGi education group 13


Focus area for final exam

There are 5 short answer questions


1. Risk management (Chap 8)
2. EIA (Chap 9 and 10)
3 Sustainable development (Chap 11)
4. International Treaties (Chap 12)
5. Technology (13 and 14)

LMS SEGi education group 14

You might also like