Page 10 RAIN January/February 1985 A. T. ·Goes to Grad School by David Bid~le In.the lesser developed countries.(LDCs), where c·apital intensive development schemes have contributed to the current foreign debt crisis, leaders are becoming more interested in developing indigenous resources through appropriate technologies. The success of winged bean technologies by the Dian Dasa group in Indonesia, the tremendous potential of palm oil manufacturing techniques brought about by "TOOLS" in Cameroon, and a great many other financially successful ·projects around the world are slowly giving appropriate technology (A.T.) a new-found credibility. Yet there are few professionals well trained for development planning in the Third World. Each country and region has its own set of constraints to development-cultural, environmental, and economic. Technologies rriust be tailormade for people. Professionals are needed who understand how to combine solutions to all these constraints without jeopardizing existing social systems and networks of economic interaction. · The first generatiort of planners who sought to instigate more appropriate forms of development than giant dams and state-of-the-art factories is perhaps best exemplified by E. F. Schumacher, Julia Porter and George McRobie, the founders of the International Technology Development Group (ITDG). These people took conventional economic methods and technology assessment and molded them to fit the needs of A. T. development. They also recognized that for international development to succeed and for appropriate technology transfer to become the mainstay of planning, the second generation of advocates and planners would need to learn A. T; development skills as systematically as possible before they went out into the field. Lucy <;:::reevey and Stephen Feldman of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pe'nnsylvania (Pen~) turned this.idea into a reality. In January 1984 they launched the Appropriate Technology and Energy Management for Development (ATEMD) graduate studies program. The first graduate program of its type in the U.S., it offers four diffetent degrees: D M. S. in Appropriate Technology for Development,- stressing (!ll aspects of basic human needs-shelter, . water, health, .food production, and so on; D M.S. in Rural Technology and Industrial Diversification, emphasizing technology choice and assessment from an engineering perspective, but consid~ring socioeconomic issues as well; D M.S. in Energy Use and Management considers energy management in terms of conservation and costeffectiveness. D Certificates ii) either Appropriate Technology for Development or Energy Management for Development for non-degree candidates. This emphasis allows LDC countries to send planners to Penn for a one-year, relatively low-cost education. · George McRobie, author of Small Is Possible, has joined the staff as a visiting lecturer for spring semesters. McRobie, who is presently on the board of both A. T. I~ternational (a non-profit corporation funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development) arid ITDG, is probably the leading spokesperson for the appropriate technology movement. Last year he taught two classes in ATEMD: "Technology Choice and Social Development" and "Alternative Energy and Environmental Development." The A. T. movement has come a long way since Schumacher and McRobie began their work on the Indian subcontinent nearly 30 years ago. Students in ATEMD are being trained to use computer models and to develop data bases for planning and program management.
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