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Practical Action
 
 
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Practical Action is a development
Developing country

A developing country is a country that has often low standards of democracy, industrialisation, Social work, and Human rights for its citizens....
 charity
Charitable trust

A charitable trust is a Trust established for Charity purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization"....
 registered in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 which works directly in four regions of the developing world – Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, East Africa
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, Southern Africa
Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics, consisting of numerous territories....
 and South Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
, with particular concentration on Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
, Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
 and Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
.

In these countries, Practical Action works with poor communities to develop appropriate technologies
Appropriate technology

Appropriate technology is technology that is designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, social and economical aspects of the community it is intended for....
 in renewable energy
Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal energy and geothermal energy—which are Renewable resource ....
, food production, agro-processing
Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for ingestion by humans or animals either in the home or by the food industry....
, sustainable transport
Sustainable transport

Sustainable transport is a concept developed in reaction to things that have gone visibly wrong with transportation policy, practice and performance through much the world over the last half of the twentieth century....
, water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
, sanitation
Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the hazards of wastes to promote health. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease....
, small enterprise development, building and shelter, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction
Disaster risk reduction

Disaster Risk Reduction is a term used for techniques focus on preventing or minimising the effects of disasters. For instance, certain areas of a city that are prone to flooding may have development restricted or building codes may be implemented that protect up to a specified level of shaking, to protect against earthquakes....
.

Lessons from Practical Action’s grassroots experience are spread through consultancy services, publishing activities, education resources, advocacy and an international technical enquiries service, .

Until 2005, Practical Action was known as the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG).

965, radical economist and philosopher E. F. Schumacher
E. F. Schumacher

Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher was an internationally influential economic thinker with a professional background as a statistician and economist in United Kingdom....
 had an article published in The Observer
The Observer

The Observer is a United Kingdom newspaper published on Sundays. In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, it takes a Liberalism/social democratic line on most issues....
, pointing out the limitations of aid based on the transfer of large-scale technologies to developing countries which did not have the resources to accommodate them.






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Practical Action is a development
Developing country

A developing country is a country that has often low standards of democracy, industrialisation, Social work, and Human rights for its citizens....
 charity
Charitable trust

A charitable trust is a Trust established for Charity purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization"....
 registered in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 which works directly in four regions of the developing world – Latin America
Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, East Africa
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, Southern Africa
Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics, consisting of numerous territories....
 and South Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
, with particular concentration on Peru
Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
, Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
 and Nepal
Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and is the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by India....
.

In these countries, Practical Action works with poor communities to develop appropriate technologies
Appropriate technology

Appropriate technology is technology that is designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, social and economical aspects of the community it is intended for....
 in renewable energy
Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal energy and geothermal energy—which are Renewable resource ....
, food production, agro-processing
Food processing

Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for ingestion by humans or animals either in the home or by the food industry....
, sustainable transport
Sustainable transport

Sustainable transport is a concept developed in reaction to things that have gone visibly wrong with transportation policy, practice and performance through much the world over the last half of the twentieth century....
, water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
, sanitation
Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the hazards of wastes to promote health. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease....
, small enterprise development, building and shelter, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction
Disaster risk reduction

Disaster Risk Reduction is a term used for techniques focus on preventing or minimising the effects of disasters. For instance, certain areas of a city that are prone to flooding may have development restricted or building codes may be implemented that protect up to a specified level of shaking, to protect against earthquakes....
.

Lessons from Practical Action’s grassroots experience are spread through consultancy services, publishing activities, education resources, advocacy and an international technical enquiries service, .

Until 2005, Practical Action was known as the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG).

History

In 1965, radical economist and philosopher E. F. Schumacher
E. F. Schumacher

Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher was an internationally influential economic thinker with a professional background as a statistician and economist in United Kingdom....
 had an article published in The Observer
The Observer

The Observer is a United Kingdom newspaper published on Sundays. In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, it takes a Liberalism/social democratic line on most issues....
, pointing out the limitations of aid based on the transfer of large-scale technologies to developing countries which did not have the resources to accommodate them. He argued that there should be a shift in emphasis towards intermediate technologies based on the needs and skills possessed by the people of developing countries.

Encouraged by the response, Schumacher and a few of his associates, including George McRobie and Professor Mansur Hoda, decided to create an 'advisory centre' to promote the use of efficient labour-intensive techniques, and in 1966 the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) was born.

From its origins as a technical enquiry service, ITDG began to take a greater direct involvement in local projects. Following initial successes in farming, it developed working groups on energy, building materials and rural health, and soon grew to become an international organisation. The group now has seven regional offices, working on over 90 projects around the world, with a head office in the UK.

In July 2005, ITDG changed its working name to Practical Action.

Project work

Practical Action works in partnership with poor people and their communities, building on their own knowledge and skills to come up with innovative, sustainable and practical solutions. The organisation's project work is based around four international programmes:

  • Coping with environmental change and conflict - reducing the vulnerability of poor people affected by natural disasters, conflict and environmental degradation.
  • Making markets work - enabling producers to improve their production, processing and marketing.
  • Improving access to services - helping poor communities gain access to basic services such as clean water, food, housing and electricity.
  • Responding to new technologies - helping poor communities to access effective new technologies


Awards

  • Practical Action's post-tsunami reconstruction work in Sri Lanka was selected as a finalist for the 2008 World Habitat Awards
    World Habitat Awards

    The World Habitat Awards were established in 1985 by the Building and Social Housing Foundation as part of its contribution to the United Nations International Year of Shelter for the Homeless....
     .
  • Practical Action's work in renewable energy
    Renewable energy

    Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal energy and geothermal energy—which are Renewable resource ....
     in Peru was awarded the 2008 UNEP Sasakawa prize for making a substantial contribution to the protection and management of the environment .
  • Practical Action Bangladesh's Disappearing Lands project, which works on river erosion in Gaibandha, won the 2007 Ryutaro Hashimoto APFED Award for sustainable practices shown in this project. .
  • In 2007 Practical Action in Peru won an Ashden Award for its work using micro hydro
    Micro hydro

    Micro Hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power. They are often used in water rich areas as a Remote Area Power Supply ....
     schemes to bring electricity to remote villages.
  • In 2004 Practical Action (then ITDG) in Kenya won an Ashden Award for its work using pico hydro
    Pico hydro

    Pico hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power generation of under 5kW. It is useful in small, remote communities that require only a small amount of electricity - for example, to power one or two fluorescent light bulbs and a TV or radio in 50 or so homes....
     schemes to bring electricity to remote communities on Mount Kenya.


See also

  • Appropedia
    Appropedia

    Appropedia is one of several sites for collaborative solutions in sustainability, poverty reduction and international development, with a particular focus on appropriate technology....
     - holding many Practical Action designs and open for editing
  • Biofuel
    Biofuel

    Biofuel is defined as solid, liquid or gaseous fuel derived from relatively recently dead biological material and is distinguished from fossil fuels, which are petroleum#formation....
  • Hydro power
  • Small is Beautiful
    Small Is Beautiful

    Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered is a collection of essays by British economist E. F. Schumacher. The phrase "Small Is Beautiful" came from a phrase by his teacher Leopold Kohr....


External links