Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Innovating from constraint and contradictions

So, maybe I've missed something from Ethan Zuckerman‘s post ‘Innovating from constraint‘, but doesn't ...

"2. Don’t fight culture (If people cook by stirring their stews, they’re not going to use a solar oven, no matter what you do to market it. Make them a better stove instead.)"

totally contradict with

"4. Innovate on existing platforms (We’ve got bicycles and mobile phones in Africa, plus lots of metal to weld. Innovate using that stuff, rather than bringing in completely new tech.)"

After all it's not in most people's traditional culture to talk via a mobile phone and yet that new technology is being used by people who walk miles each day to get wood to fuel the fire to cook. How did the mobile phone become so prevalent in rural Africa? If you believe Paul, that kind of new technology is against the culture and therefore not worth bothering Africans with.

I think the big thing to learn is that Amy Smith and Paul Polak (in the same article) probably hold the best secret ... essentially listen to the people who have the problem.

I believe the key to providing a better solution is to listen and also to not assume that people don't want something because it is new technology. It may be that describing how a mobile phone works would be very difficult to a person who possibly hasn't even seen or used a fixed telephone. But quite obviously once people had tried it out for themselves, the technology spread quickly across the continent. Being able to try a technology out rather than being "marketed" at helps, especially if the techology is a affordable, easy to fix and creates jobs and/or time.

The women in this video cooking with solar ovens, having cooked a traditional meal with the solar oven (even getting to stir it) look positively happy. Perhaps because they can foresee that they and their children won't have to walk miles to get fuel for the stove, and that with that extra time they could do something else - the children would have time to go to school for example.

Sorry, didn't expect to rant so early on in the mission.

Views: 30

Comment by Michele Baron on April 5, 2011 at 1:12pm
listening and sharing knowledge-- people cannot really choose between unknowns, but only guess, after all. It is better to be able to understand
Comment by Ternura Rojas on April 5, 2011 at 2:04pm
Hello, for some reason I can't see the super powers chart. I would vote +1 SPARK on this one. Really nice work! I'll be checking back in order to vote. Please do not forget to add the GUEM tag so our team's work can be more easily compiled, thanks and keep on!
Comment by Morag on April 5, 2011 at 2:53pm
@Michele, many thanks for the +1 Local insight vote - sharing knowledge is key, yes far better to be able to understand

@Ternura, thanks for the pending +1 Spark vote. Thanks for the heads up about the GUEM tag - added and pending approval
Comment by Buffy B on April 13, 2011 at 6:40am
Great blog Morag, I see you've got some insight from reading the backgrounder, well done! +1 Spark
Comment by Thys van der Veer on May 21, 2011 at 6:32pm
@Morag This was a nice read. As if looking into the heads of others, especially mothers, thinking of not having to spend time to collect wood anymore. And children having more time for pondering about anything; like going to school. And power-voting is a natural habit of true agents.

Comment

You need to be a member of Urgent Evoke to add comments!

Join Urgent Evoke

Latest Activity

Ning Admin is now a member of Urgent Evoke
May 17, 2023
N updated their profile
Sep 25, 2020
Sophie C. commented on Asger Jon Vistisen's blog post Stinging Nettle
"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
Aug 19, 2020
Meghan Mulvey posted a blog post

Fourth of July on the Lake

This past weekend was the annual celebration at the lake house in Connecticut. It is amazing that the lake is still so clear and beautiful after all these years. The watershed association has done a wonderful job protecting these waters from the damaging effects of development.The wood grill was finally ready to cook on, so we didn't miss the propane tank fueled grill anymore. The food actually tasted fresher than in the past and was easy to keep fueled.Dad was very proud of the solar hybrid…See More
Jul 6, 2020
Asger Jon Vistisen posted a blog post

Stinging Nettle

In this blog post I will focus on a plant that is abundant in our nature, and which is immensely nutritious. It's of course the Stinging Nettle. Let's start with the chemical constituents of this plant:37 % Non-Nitrogen-Extracts19 - 29 % Ash9 - 21 % Fiber4 % Fat22 % ProteinOnce the leaves are drid, their protein content can reach an astounding 40 %, which is much higher than beef, which even under the best of circ**stances can never exceed 31 % protein. In addition the Stinging Nettle consists…See More
Apr 13, 2020
Jonathon McCallum posted a blog post

The meal

It is 7'oclock, I was late home from work due to an assignment that i wanted to get ahead on. By the time I get home I am feeling extremley tired and I cannot be bothered to make a proper meal. I walk to the fridge and open it to see what there is for me to eat. All of the out of date foodstuffs have been automaticaly thrown away by the fridge, they will be recycled tomorrow as animal feed or something. I see i have organic local eggs and some local cheese. Foods are vacc** sealded for easy…See More
Mar 10, 2020
Jean Paul Galea shared a profile on Facebook
Mar 1, 2020
Kevin posted a blog post

Future

FutureToday is 2020/1/1. It is just like yesterday. The war is still continuing. It has started since 2010. In 2010, that year was a horrible year. Almost every energy ran out. Every country’s governments were crushed down at the same time. There were riots everywhere. All of the big company’s bosses were killed xdeadx in the riots. Troops fought each other everywhere. Food was bought up xawayx at once. There were no more food supplies in any shops. The economy was all crushed down. All the…See More
Jan 1, 2020
Namwaka Mooto posted blog posts
Jan 13, 2016
T D updated their profile
Sep 3, 2015
Brook Warner posted blog posts
Aug 25, 2015
Santiago Vega posted blog posts
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega commented on Santiago Vega's blog post Act 8
May 5, 2015
Santiago Vega posted photos
May 5, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted blog posts
May 2, 2015
Rico Angel Rodriguez posted a photo

public servants

The exchange works directly for state and public workers and servants. It gives them credit in exchange for the amount of public work they contribute to the community. The more constructive they are based off a base rate the more credit they recieve.
May 2, 2015

Follow EVOKE on Twitter




Official EVOKE Facebook Page




EVOKE RSS Activity Feed










© 2024   Created by Alchemy.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service