Memo+34+Pilot+Research+and+Findings+(Dan+F)

Research on this project began in 2011 in the form of undergraduate research under the supervision of Kim Fortun at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Kim Fortun has a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Rice University and a BA in History and Philosophy from Duke University. The goal of the research was to create an online bibliographical resource on products and methods that were sustainable by design.

During the first two semesters I worked on the project I focused on sustainable cook stoves for the developing world. The results of the work were presented at an undergraduate research symposium and concluded that a single-solution approach to stove use and dissemination would not be sustainable or very successful. Whether the intuitions providing stoves were nonprofit, for profit, or charitable in nature (many of them were a combination) the common factor was that they all advocated a specific technology where ever they sought to help. Different regions have different materials and requirements. A single approach to every type of climate on earth is impractical and creates damaging unified resource demands that cannot be sustained. The advocated stoves were not used in more developed countries either which likely has a negative impact on whether stoves are accepted even if they are better then stoves currently being used. The overall conclusion of this research was that institutions disseminating stove technology should advocate multiple solutions rather then providing a single approach, care should be taken to prevent too much dependency on external institutions, and advocacy of adopting new stove systems should at least originate internally. In other words, I theorized that transfer would be more successful if the groups targeted to alter cooking approaches if the need was established by an individual or community rather then institutions going to locations and showing the people why their product was better. I felt this conclusion was warranted because all too often some form of subsidy allows stove systems to be cheaper then they actually were and sometimes even free. Under these conditions the desire of the target population for the proposed solution is artificially inflated because they are getting something for almost nothing in some cases. When it comes time for repair, support for a particular stove usually has to come from external sources and because of access issues and cost, it is unlikely that more efficient stoves use will be sustained long term.

Toward the end of the second semester of research I altered the course of research slightly because I felt that I had adequately covered the types of technologies and purveyors surrounding the clean cookstove movement. My focus shifted to architectural practices that were sustainable and could be used as effectively in resource poor as resource rich countries. This stint of research is not the focus of the research I am proposing to continue, but the conclusions are relevant. I independently developed criteria for sustainable practice in developing and more developed countries. This criterion was focused on architecture but it applies to any sustainable system so it is useful to include here since it supports my conclusions on the stove movement. The primary factor of importance is mitigating dependency. Removing dependency does not mean isolation or some for of protectionism spawn by feeling of anti-globalization. It simple refers to the practical components of sustainable use. To ensure sustainability material use and production should be local. The immediately apparent flaw is that this would prevent interaction in the global free market that so many believe to be the most efficient system of allocation. It is therefore necessary to adopt a compromise in which interaction is allowed but under conditions that allow for sustained use. All construction and material allocation cannot be practically taken from internal resource bases. Many of these resource bases are already damaged or depleted. The compromise is the global market can provide (although global physical limits make this a dangerous policy) materials and even produce the goods in question, but the ability to acquire the resources and construct the item in question must be available locally as well. If local support is not provided then highly volatile dependence is created that requires financial means that do not always exist where they are most needed. The next component to sustainable use applies more directly to architecture but still applies to any product in question. Sustainable products and systems in the developing world should be disaster resistant to some degree. Disasters wipe away resources and level populations’ ability to function. Having to reacquire material components of society leads to a perpetual cycle of absolute poverty in the material society the global market system has encouraged. The third component to sustainability is sustainable material use. Specialization allowed by the current free market system depletes local finite and renewable resources. A compromise is needed that prevents overall depletion. The majority of interactions between the global north and south have depleted the south more than the north so wealth is flowing away from supposed aid-targeted areas. This compromise may include slowing surplus development for the sake of future generations. Without a resource base of any kind, ultimate poverty will ensue. As my research on this subject began rather early in my academic career, the last two components are components heavily espoused among appropriate technologists. At the time I was not aware of the understanding already developed on the subject, but clearly these are old concepts that are nonetheless extremely important. The components in question are low technical skill and low cost. The actual level of either of these components will vary from region to region, but the important point is that the cost and skill reflect the abilities of the regions general populace. Without this kind or requirement, development is uneven and out of order in ways that can be harmful to a regions current and future prosperity. This uneven development will be analyzed more thoroughly in future research.

A lot of my college courses have added to my understanding of phenomena relating to this subject matter, but nothing has been as influential as a student exchange I took in the summer of 2013. Along with a group of other students from Rensselaer Polytechnic and African students, I worked on building parabolic solar reflectors in Ghana at KNUST. These high energy reflectors were originally used to try and make charcoal but were repurposed after negative feedback from target groups to help produce Adinkra Ink. This experience confirmed my theories about the impact of student development projects. These theories include the idea that student projects are too short to have a lasting impact, are widely inefficient because if they do continue over a multiple years they often include new students that need to be retaught what the other groups have already established, help the students learn more than they help the visited region, require exceedingly high technical skill in some cases, are often not continued in the absence of the outsiders who start the project, transfer cultural values inadvertently and on purpose, and generally require material to be brought in from a more developed country. This is based on extensive notes and attempts to encourage beneficial practices that went largely unheeded. These findings are backed up by four years forth of students working on this development project. The project was largely unsustainable and does not reflect all student projects, but does provide some preliminary findings that are significant. Further analysis will be required to confirm this and will likely be based on future interviews and existing literature.