Page 24 RAIN Nov 1975 ( APPROPRIATE .TECHNOLOGY ) Volunteers in Asia (VIA), Appropriate Technology Project Ken Darrow Box 4543 Stanford, CA 94301 415-323-2724 VIA is involved in the delivery of information to Asians on developments in "a simpler technology appropriate to the needs of short-on-capital, long-onlabor developing areas." They are located within an American university with a regional office in Asia (Kotak Pos 2733, Jakarta, Indonesia). VIA sees itself as a link between the overdeveloped, information-rich countries and the organizations and people who are helping to adapt a reasonable technology to devdoping countries. VIA plans to deliver relevant information to Asians from several sources, including: Intermediate Technology Development Group (England), Brace Research Institute (Canada), Gobar Gas Research Institute (India), The International Rice Research Institute (Philippines), Volunteers for International Technical Assistance (U.S.), as well as various schools of engineering around the world, community development organizations and domestic.volunteer programs. VIA has focused most of its attention on agriculture. Examples of appropriate agricultural technology include: simple irrigation pumps, seeders that simultaneously inject fertilizer, grain storage bins, composting methods, simple methane digesters and animaldriven power gear. VIA has outlined a proposal for a "data service," They plan to filter and select relevant and useful information for Asian and third world countries. Ken is collecting and disseminating plans for equipment and descriptions of techniques of the kind of intermediate technology that is relevant to Asia. If you can give him any help in his tool search, write him. For this service will also benefit the 1st and 2nd world countries. The appropriate application of technology is just as relevant in our culture as others. We are having a difficult time maintaining our high (energy) standard of living (leisure). The long term future looks more realistic if we make an investment in a reasonable technology that can be sustained. (Partially reprinted from Tilth, vol. 1, no. 7, pp. 11-12, $5/yr., P.O. Box 2382, Olympia, WA 98507. Article by Evan Brown, Ecotope Group) Cooperative Community Development Joe Falk, Ed. The Future Associates, 197 5 P.O. Box 912 Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66201 Subtitle: A Blueprint for Our Future. A good, solid "how-to" on organizing a cooperative neighborhood, block by block. Real estate acquisition, rehabilitation, new construction; cooperative purchasing and rental of all kinds of goods and services; creation of neighborhood jobs and other home income producing opportunities; and the creation of a neighborhood capital base through a neighborhood investment fund, volunteer labor bank and credit union, plus good working relationship with local financial institutions. It's all laid out in such loving detail that it's obvious he's had a lot of experienceand faith. And it comes out of Kansas! "The irony of all this is that those now making decisions for us all live on a block, in a neighborhood, with their family, so they are also one of us; they just do not realize it and therefore we have not been a factor in their decisions and actions. This approach we are taking should change this situation almost overnight and thus start every organization cooperating with us while they are pursuing their own interests." The Community Organizer's Guide to Appropriate Technology National Council for Public Assessment of Technology 1785 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20036 202-462-3 338 John Ussery putting this directory together, with base information gathered on a nationwide trip (when we met as he toured t.he NW). The guide to be published in early '76 is to focus attention on the uses of appropriate technology in various segments of society, especially those not now given adequate attention. They are looking for input. The Laboratory for Maximum Potential Systems School of Architecture University of Texas Austin, TX 78712 Max's Pot, the research group working with Pliney and Daria Fisk at the School of Architecture at the University of Texas, Austin, is continuing their excellent and practical experimentation with simpler and more appropriate energy sources and conversion devices at a new location. Their combination of solid technical and engineering skills and strong concern to develop things that are simple, wise, effective and home-builqable is producing excellent results. Among their current projects is an elegantly simple waterfilled concrete block Trombe wall, heat storage units using water-filled beer cans, muffin tin solar-air collectors, and a quite detailed series of charts bringing together information on appropriate building materials, bioclimatology, waste systems, conditions affecting choice of heat source, etc. They've moved from the Balcones experimental site and are now located in a former church on the edge of the campus at Austin. Community Industry in Vermont Vermont Alliance 1975 S State Street Montpelier, VT 05602 $1. These folks have written up a lot of the ideas we've all been having about small-scale, labor-intensive, cooperative industry (i.e., appropriate). The report argues well the need for regional and community self-reliance and also deals with problems and issues of a range of existing examples of self-management. Nice bridge between philosophy and practicalities. We've written to find out where they're going from here. Biggest Little Conglomerate in the World Barry Stein Center for Community Economic Development 1878 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140 $1. 25 pages on community development in Kentucky through the Job Start Corporation and the Knox County Corporations. Disappointing in the lack of detail on how they work, but it gives a brief look at what is possible at the grassroots level.
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