ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the history and origins of as well as the means to develop and design ‘appropriate’ and ‘intermediate’ technology. The idea of appropriate technology refers to technology that eschews an unthinking search for ‘high’ technology and postulates that we need to make the right decisions in the design of technology so that it benefits the people who will use it and the ecosystem wherein it will be used. Appropriate technology development draws on action research methodologies that were developed in the context of international development, but adapts these for local application. This chapter describes small-group and large-group methodologies that can be used to develop appropriate and intermediate technology. It shows the necessary steps and presuppositions and indicates how these methodologies can be adapted to very specific ends.
