gree of national and even regi.onal differences on that continent. According to one observer, French activists seem to be the more theoretical- chiefl,y concerned with changing government as the single greatest barrier to implementing new ideas. But when a government acts, as in La Rochelle, amazing things can happen. German and Austrian a.t. people are more hardware-oriented, but feel very repressed by government and tend to tie into neo-Marxist perspectives. The German-language alternative catalogues are widely respected as among the most comprehensive resources for appropriate technology in Europe. The Scandinavians appear to be more practical about getting things done, just going ahead and doing it without necessarily having government sponsorship or sanction. Their apparent skill at "process" and democratic decision-making has helped give rise to such inspiring projects as the student-built wind generator at Tvind School (RAIN Jan. '78) and the Danish-instigated Community Action in Europe, a true international network linking grassroots change groups across the continent. Iriterestingly, these observations-general as they are- seem to find resonant parallels among a.t. doers in our country, • from the need to broaden the political appeal of our strategies to trying to avoid the stifling effect of large institutions in implementing them. Another theme from Europe that sounds familiar came up at the recent United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development in A Rural Community in Europe 2000 The sum result of an inter-European planning study filling some twenty volumes, Europe 2000 was drawn together by an international team ofacademics, managers and forecasters. Yet, its transitional ideology leans heavily on Schumacher, Illich and Robert Pirsig. In itself, it may be a sign of change to come. Consider the following speculations: "One typical European family of the year 2000-we can call them the Dumills or the Deuxmilles or the Zweitsausends-live in a converted 18th century farmhouse on the edge of a hill area between 70 and 150 kilometers from a major ~ity . .. with the aid of a government grant under the EEC Energy Conservation Act of 1982, our family has converted it into a Low Energy Living Unit. They have further insulated it to reduce heat loss. They have installed a windmill for electric power, though they can still draw from the electric grid.... The farm is one of a group forming a small rural hamlet. It is occupied by a number of families that moved into them and reoccupied them after they were abandoned in the late 1950s, during the great age of European agricultural depopulation.... To speak of families, though, gives a wrong impression. Many of the children have broken away during adolescence and have joined other groupings, sometimes with other adults, sometimes with each other. The main point is that each person has a number of primary affinities: with a blood-related group, with a work group, with one or more groups of like-minded people.. . . " . . . During the day almost every member of every living group is involved in some kind of work: this applies to the youngest and the oldest in the community... . The critical point about these groups, and about the whole society, is the extreme flexibility of roles. People do not follow lifetime careers. Very few do just one job from nine to five. Instead, people mix different roles.... Most of these jobs can be done locally. There are a couple of distinguished restaurants which employ a score of chefs; there is a research institute serving as an input channel to the Open University of Europe; there are a great variety of small craft workshops which work up wool, leather, locally smelted metals and a variety of other indigenous materials ... the big multinational companies have decentralized many of their operations to small workshop units Vienna, where a series of events were held as part ofan alternative f arum organized in large part by European a. t. groups. While the official conference was considered by many to be a failure, there were good exchanges to be had between representatives of non-governmental organizations and the a.t. people on soft energy paths, self-help housing, low-cost transportation and more. Yet, true to its title, the alternative forum was.reported as coming over much too late-'60s-hippie. It looks as if our counterparts, too, may have something to learn in sorting out the difference between New Age and old hat, The range ofgood things happening in Europe are too broad and deep to be so simply tagged. The fallowing short pieces attempt to give a hint of that diversity as a way of opening up our reflections on the other side. From the grounded observations of Nordic activists to the curiously appropriate visions of a pan-European planning forecast, it's apparent the continent is rich in change. But there's work to be done in bringing out the details. I'm reminded of an earnest Dane who recently contacted RAIN concerning a visit Stateside to learn about U.S. renewable energy developments. As it turns out, his itinerary is two months long! We should be doing the same. -Steven Ames Thanks to Gregg Shadduck, Bill Ellis, Peter Lundberg and Richard Lee Stevens. Coming Up: Access to groups and resources. Contributions? Send ASAP. consisting of between ten and fifty people, which are given a great deal of autonomy.... Most of them produce goods of high quality and great durability which is indeed required under the EEC Industrial Quality Law of 1992.... " ... Most members of the community do some work on the farms, especially at peak periods such as harvest, when there is a general custom that other work stops. Farming in an area like this is necessarily mixed farming in that it is quite laborintensive, so that overall more people work on farms in the year 2000 than in 1976.... Such a dispersed rural pattern of life, it might be thought, must place big demands on resources for transportation. But those demands have been limited in a number of ways. First, because of the varied character of the rural population, it is able to satisfy so many more of its social and cultural needs locally. Secondly, the development of information technology has been so rapid that many needs are met in this way without having to travel at all. ... Thirdly, because the age of expensive energy has created its own response in the form of more energy-conserving vehicles and organizational arrangements. To move about locally, most villagers use small mopeds in which the motor is used only as a supplementary device. To move longer distances, they rely on a system of shared rides whereby anyone leaving the village is under obligation to offer seats in his car, truck or van. In return he receives tickets for a national lottery.... In this way, Europe 2000 actually manages to generate more personkilometers of travel than the Europe of 1976 with fewer energy demands. " ... Perhaps the most striking change about this society is that it marks a partial return to the extended family, or caring group, of earlier ages. It is in a real sense a community. Within it, very many more tasks are performed by people simply as members of the community, often on a part-time basis, without the need for exclusive professionalism. ... Roles are less well-defined; people are again generalists rather than specialists . . . . " Europe 2000, edited by Peter Hall, 1977, 274 pp., 12 pounds hardcover, from: Duckworth, Ltd. The Old Piano Factory 43 Gloucester Crescent London NWl, England November 1979 RAIN Page 11
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