Convivial Technology for Sustainable Coastal Development

Daniel Mohammad Rosyid

, Masroro Lilik Ekowanti

Department of Ocean Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, Indonesia

Department of Public Administration, Universitas Hang Tuah, Surabaya, Indonesia

Keywords: coastal zones, sustainable development, freedom, convivial technology

Abstract: Coastal areas, including those in small islands, are vulnerable to natural disasters and extractive activities that

are detrimental to the coastal environment. Growth-obsessed policy is a direct threat to sustainable

development of these productive zones. With limited access to energy and a fragile environment, we propose

convivial technologies -as proposed by Illich (Schoemacher calls it appropriate technology) and much later

on by Pauli- to be adopted in conjunction with development policy which is oriented more towards equity

rather than growth. We have to reformulate development not as an expansion of material production, but more

as extension of our freedom. In this view, the adoption of convivial technologies to retool the society will

largely depend on the learning culture of the coastal community.

1 INTRODUCTION

In our attempt to reduce the risk of natural

disasters and extractive human activities in coastal

areas, we need to consider a development policy

which is directed more to equity rather than growth.

Some researchers call it de-growth. From

technological point of view, we need to adopt

convivial technologies (Illich, Tools for

Conviviality, 1973). This technology is characterized

primarily by its low energy consumption and its

potential to promote creativity and independence.

Schoemacher called it appropriate technology

(Schoemacher, 1973). Later on, (Gunter, 2010)

introduced an approach which he termed blue

economy, in which the role of technology is not to

replace humans as productive subjects, but to

creatively solve the problems of production

characterized by these features: zero waste, creating

values, using renewable source of energy and creating

jobs.

Coastal areas in developing countries are under

serious pressure from anthropogenic activities. The

mantra of development in these countries is,

mistakenly, growth. Although some authorities call it

quality growth, in practice this is easier said than

done. We then see a progressive destruction of the

coastal environment in a massive scale. At the same

time, we see a growing gap between the rich and the

poor in local, national, regional and global scales.

This trend is immoral and has to be stopped. Under

Donald Trump, the US withdrawal from climate

change multi-lateral agreement is a serious blow to

our attempt to save us from global environmental

collapse. Chomsky repeatedly said that the

Republican Party in the US is the most dangerous

organization in the world.

In Indonesia, the situation of most coastal areas

including those in small islands is not very much

different from those described above. Policies and

regulations to manage environmental degradation

have been in place, but the pressure to degrade coastal

environments seems unstoppable. This paper

attempts to analyse how convivial technologies can

promote coastal community to improve their capacity

to sustainably appropriate coastal resources and to

invest in resilience against upcoming disasters.

2 CONVIVIAL TECHNOLOGIES

AND DEVELOPMENT AS

FREEDOM

(Amartya, 1999) has proposed that in order to

sustainably live a happy life for most peoples, we

have to rethink development not as an expansion of

material production, but rather as an extension of our

freedom. Dependance on excessive material

production has proven to be unsustainable and yet

failed to lead people to live happier. To live happier,

378

Rosyid, D. and Ekowanti, M.

Convivial Technology for Sustainable Coastal Development.

DOI: 10.5220/0008908800002481

In Proceedings of the Built Environment, Science and Technology International Conference (BEST ICON 2018), pages 378-380

ISBN: 978-989-758-414-5

we have to be more not to have more. This view of

development has its technological consequences.

Societies have to be provided with new set of tools to

maintain its productive life. In this case, a vibrant

learning culture of a community is key to develop

new tools for sustainable production.

Convivial technology was proposed by Illich in

his attempt to provide alternatives for living

sustainably. His thinking came almost at the same

time as Schoemacher introduced Small is Beautiful as

a very serious criticism to a growth-obsessed world.

Schomacher has indicated that this growth-obsessed

model of development is clearly unsustainable and he

proposed appropriate technologies to retool societies.

A group of scientists in MIT has produced a report to

the Club of Rome indicating that the then

development model will lead to global environmental

collapse by the end of the 20th centuries. This

prediction has proved to be accurate enough to

describe the present global environmental condition.

Technology itself can be defined as a system of

capabilities to create values. The capability to create

values is not merely dependent much on hard

engineering artefacts, but also to a softer, social set up

such as institutions, rules and regulations. In this case,

schools and banks as institutions need to be further

analysed. Technologies as an interaction between

human and its surrounding materials develop in a

certain social, economic and political environment.

Technological development does not occur in a

vaccum, in particular relevant to this digital era, but it

occurs continuously in an information flood and

cloud environment. Convivial technology as may

have been perceived by Illich has to benefit from

information and communication technology.

Schools are not convivial institutions since they

lead to hamper informal learning. Schools

transformed education into a scarce commodity,

while learning is an emergent phenomenon that does

not need school formalism. Schools have created a

manipulated education demand leading to some form

of learning dependence of the society. School has

transformed the needs of learning into wants and

demands for schooling. Banks are definitely not

convivial institution too. Schools created the culture

of debt for the banks to provide loans. At the end,

community that lives on debts will ultimately lose its

freedom.

3 RETOOLING THE COASTAL

COMMUNITY

Since technology is a result of intimate

interactions between human and the surrounding

materials, this interaction has to be observed much

more closely. The most fundamental interaction

between human and the surrounding materials is

learning. So, learning is fundamental to convivial

technologies. In particular, when learning is replaced

by schooling, this interaction has led to extractive,

exploitative kind of technologies that we see today,

degrading our independence and environment. Our so

called modern way of life is characterised by hyper-

consumption driven by unsustainable, high-energy

technology. This has also led to unhealthy, instant life

styles, and, more seriously, breakdown of our family

values.

So, deschooling of our coastal community is the

first step in developing convivial technology to retool

the community. Top-down, standard quality-obsessed

mass forced schooling formalism has to be replaced

by a more informal, flexible, bottom-up, relevance-

orientated, self-organized learning nodes in a learning

web. Mass forced schooling has deprived subjects

from their freedom and led them to mere factor of

mass production. Schools are in fact designed, from

their very beginning, as a technocratic instrument to

prepare mass labours. Saying that schooling is a mean

to educate subject is a public deception. As what

Gatto (2007) said, what really happened with mass

schooling is the miseducation of the mass.

Developing a healthy learning culture via learning

webs is the first step to retool our coastal community.

(Mitra, 2010) has proposed Self Organized Learning

Environment (SOLE) as an alternative to schooling

system. This is a community-based initiative in which

collaborative efforts are geared to foster informal

learning in small scale units. There is no formal and

rigid curriculum determined by a central authority.

The most important SOLE in a typical learning web

is family as both an educative and productive entity.

A healthy family is the basis for the development of

convivial technologies.

Learning activities that cannot be performed by

family are to be taken care of by mosques in a typical

Indonesia muslim coastal community. Mosques can

function as resource centres with library collection

and internet access. A simple carpentry and

woodworking workshop can be placed in the mosque

areas for young people to learn practical skills

required by the surrounding community. Various

enginering artefacts can be produced in the workshop

Convivial Technology for Sustainable Coastal Development

379

to equip the community to cope with upcoming

natural disasters. Mosques can be repositioned to

function as a platform to facilitate coordinated

responses in cases of emergency.

As a simple example of an unsustainable, high-

energy technology is the widely inappropriate use of

concrete for buildings in coastal community in

Lombok. This technology has proved to be useless in

facing earthquakes. The use of massive concrete

structures in coastal buildings such as governmental

offices, mosques, market, terminals and private

housings is only at present proved unjustified.

Concrete and its reinforced form is heavy, unfriendly

to the environment (requires lots of water in its

production) and vulnerable to tension resulted from

earthquake motion. The use of light structures using

bamboo or glugu (coconut tree) which are readily

available locally is very much better and earthquake

resistance. The widespread perception that concrete

structures represent modern living is misleading.

Coastal urban areas are increasingly crippled by

traffic jams resulted from inappropriate use of private

cars and motorbikes. Private cars are definitely not a

convivial technology. This also represents a serious

inequality in energy consumption leading to areas left

behind in development. This is incorrect terms since

what actually happens is that planners have

intentionally left the areas.

We propose a wider adoption of transit (the use of

bodily metabolics) technology rather than

transportation technology to provide sustainable

mobility to coastal community. The use of bikes and

horse-pulled buggy is highly recommended

especially in small islands where speed is not a

necessity. The limited resource of energy such gas

and oil can be used for other, productive purposes.

The use of wind and solar energy are to be developed

to support coastal and small island development.

Information technology application to promote better

bargaining positions of farmers and fishermen in

trading their produce is also highly encouraged.

We also propose the development of Integrated

MultiThropic Aquaculture (IMTA) for coastal areas

in small islands. This will shift fish catching activities

to marine aquaculture. A marine tourism initiatives

can also be built upon IMTA..

4 CONCLUSIONS

A convivial technology for coastal development

has been briefly discussed with several examples for

application. Schools and banks are to be closely

observed since they are not convivial institutions that

make it difficult for people to develop convivial

technologies. IT will be largely convivial since it

promotes creativity, sharing and collaboration. The

selection of appropriate technology needs to be

formulated within the context of promoting a more

equitable development throughout the archipelago.

This will also create values and jobs for farming and

marine aquaculture activities as the bases for a

possible tourism development.

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