What exactly is an Appropriate Technology Course?

With the upcoming PDC and Appropriate Technology courses at Wheaton Labs just around the corner, I thought maybe it was time to start a thread on just what an AT course is exactly. If I'm being perfectly honest, when we first started putting this event together, I didn't know either.

Basically an appropriate technology course is typically one that is more associated with architectural and engineering aspects of sustainable/permaculture lifestyles. While a PDC is likely to cover things like harvesting rainwater and touch on natural building, an AT course goes into greater detail exactly how these systems are put together.

Tim Barker will be the instructor for our upcoming AT course - to give you an idea, topics he plans to cover are:

rocket mass heaters
biochar
composting toilets
rainwater catchment

While some of that is in a PDC course, his projects go a little beyond that, using rocket mass heaters to create hot water systems, and creating composting toilets that don't just get the job done, but do so in a way that is code compliant and very low odor. Here are a few pictures from some of his projects:

Rocket Hot Water Heater





Pedal Powered Washing Machine



Barrel Oven with Mass



Kinda cool, right? This stuff gets into the engineering behind some of the concepts you'll have to mull over when building a life around permaculture - how you'll cook your food, wash your clothes, where you'll poop - all of that good stuff.

While a PDC gets into the core concepts of the design and philosophy with food systems, an Appropriate Technology course is almost like a lifestyle course in comparison.

These courses are pretty few and far between, and soooo comprehensive, but I did find this really nice article on the concept by Circle Permaculture: Appropriate Technology on the Move

Kinda cool, right?

A bit more than cool. Fantastic comes to mind.

Does one have to take a PDC in order to take an Appropriate Technology course?

R Ranson wrote:

Kinda cool, right?

A bit more than cool. Fantastic comes to mind.

Does one have to take a PDC in order to take an Appropriate Technology course?

Nope! Totally separate courses! Of course, one definitely feeds the other, so it's helpful, but if you're already up to speed on PDC stuff, at least in my opinion, the AT course is the logical next step in your education.

To give you an idea of what attending the Appropriate Technology Course is like, this is a snippet of the ATC, as taught by Tim Barker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TMONVWAHME

Here is a snippet of the 2017 Appropriate Technology Course at Wheaton Labs.   Tim Barker covers one of the more important aspects of project work - planning.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/-TMONVWAHME