Appropriate Technology
Description
From wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriate_technology
“Appropriate technology (AT) is technology that is designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, social and economical aspects of the community it is intended for. With these goals in mind, AT typically requires fewer resources, is easier to maintain, has a lower overall cost and less of an impact on the environment compared to industrialized practices.[1]
In developing nations, the term is usually used to describe simple technologies suitable for use in developing nations or less developed rural areas of industrialized nations. This form of appropriate technology usually prefers labor-intensive solutions over capital-intensive ones, although labor-saving devices are also used where this does not mean high capital or maintenance cost. In industrialized nations, the term appropriate technology often refers to engineering that takes special consideration of its social and environmental ramifications.“
The type of appropriate technology most closely tied to the P2P movement is Open Source Appropriate Technology.
More Information
Appropedia (homepage) is an appropriate technology wiki with lots of useful documentation on low-tech and sustainable solutions. See the [http://www.appropedia.org/Portal:Appropriate_technology Appropriate Technology Portal.