Appropriate technology

Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing <a href="/facts/Technology/9Uav5WVR">technological</a> choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by its users, <a href="/facts/Labor-intensive/UUoSR0Ss">labor-intensive</a>, <a href="/facts/Efficient_energy_use/8K8vBAVk">energy-efficient</a>, <a href="/facts/Environmentally_sustainable/9oYH9mAs">environmentally sustainable</a>, and <a href="/facts/Localism_(politics)/XcUYxR1n">locally autonomous</a>. It was originally articulated as intermediate technology by the economist <a href="/facts/E._F._Schumacher/6YEEGWzt">Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher</a> in his work <a href="/facts/Small_Is_Beautiful/JoHD599g">Small Is Beautiful</a>. Both Schumacher and many modern-day proponents of appropriate technology also emphasize the technology as <a href="/facts/People-centered_development/dsEd2xVT">people-centered</a>.
Appropriate technology has been used to address issues in a wide range of fields. Well-known examples of appropriate technology applications include: bike- and hand-powered water pumps (and other <a href="/facts/Self-powered_equipment/XGggyYmw">self-powered equipment</a>), the <a href="/facts/Bicycle/nxBVrlBF">bicycle</a>, the <a href="/facts/Universal_nut_sheller/PYbFeFIw">universal nut sheller</a>, self-contained <a href="/facts/Solar_lamp/NU7KPhFm">solar lamps</a> and <a href="/facts/Solar_street_light/erlxHhDM">streetlights</a>, and <a href="/facts/Passive_solar_building_design/wr8DcDEm">passive solar building designs</a>. Today appropriate technology is often developed using <a href="/facts/Open_source/7X9rCdz4">open source</a> principles, which have led to <a href="/facts/Open-source_appropriate_technology/mktH41vk">open-source appropriate technology</a> (OSAT) and thus many of the plans of the technology can be freely found on the <a href="/facts/Internet/Xw1rVvJU">Internet</a>. OSAT has been proposed as a new model of enabling <a href="/facts/Innovation/aa7hadLw">innovation</a> for <a href="/facts/Sustainable_development/zGqWBsaK">sustainable development</a>.
Appropriate technology is most commonly discussed in its relationship to <a href="/facts/Economic_development/4KRrMBaM">economic development</a> and as an alternative to <a href="/facts/Technology_transfer/PVLwHDq1">technology transfer</a> of more <a href="/facts/Capital_(economics)/lLkzDdoB">capital</a>-intensive technology from <a href="/facts/Industrialized_nations/sqwTSDHm">industrialized nations</a> to <a href="/facts/Developing_countries/eTfS4kxl">developing countries</a>. However, appropriate technology movements can be found in both developing and developed countries. In developed countries, the appropriate technology movement grew out of the <a href="/facts/Energy_crisis_of_the_1970s/aI5XG4gL">energy crisis of the 1970s</a> and focuses mainly on environmental and <a href="/facts/Sustainability/9oYH9mAs">sustainability</a> issues. Today the idea is multifaceted; in some contexts, appropriate technology can be described as the simplest level of technology that can achieve the intended purpose, whereas in others, it can refer to engineering that takes adequate consideration of social and environmental ramifications. The facets are connected through <a href="/facts/Robustness/WVKMsXkn">robustness</a> and <a href="/facts/Sustainable_living/q63zn1Cj">sustainable living</a>.

Appropriate technology open-in-new

Appropriate technology