Natural Sciences (Videos)

The use of low-cost, small-scale technologies in developing countries was promoted in the 1960s by Dr E. F. Schumacher, who published "Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered" in 1973. "Small is Beautiful" has been widely translated and has been described as one of the 100 most influential books of the last fifty years.

The publication of the "Small is Working: Technology for Poverty Reduction" video and associated booklet, thirty years after "Small Is Beautiful", is intended to present, review, revitalize and promote the contribution of smaller-scale and intermediate technology to poverty reduction and sustainable development.

The video is produced in three versions

a 30 minutes TV broadcast version *** (above)

a 'conference opener' version of 10 minutes and

a "video news release" version of 6 minutes

The booklet, of 60 pages, is designed to provide further information to support the video as a stand-alone document. UNESCO is fully committed to promoting the "knowledge society" at all levels, including the grass roots, and looks forward to further addressing the vitally important challenge of promoting the application of technology for poverty reduction.

SUBTITLE: "Conservation through ethnobotanical training"

This video shows some of the practical outcomes of the global People and Plants Initiative for field conservation, starting with botanical inventory as one of the most basic, yet most necessary, steps for conservation and resource management. It then illustrates the types of approaches taken in combining training and research on solutions to field conservation problems.

It covers People and Plants projects in Africa, Asia and the. South Pacific where applied ethnobotanical work takes places in key sites representing eight of the Global 200 priority eco-regions, five of which are critically endangered.

Because the link between people and plants is so fundamental to the conservation of both biological and cultural diversity, it concentrates on the core of our capacity building: training in applied ethnobotany, providing people with inter-disciplinary skills highly relevant to conservation action.

The video ends with an answer to the question: what happens when the People and Plants Initiative ends?

The objectives and framework of Small Islands Voice, --including exchanges during an inter-regional workshop held in Palau in 2002. It also contains a rap poem 'Mother Earth's Dying Cries', as well as a promotional jingle.

The use of low-cost, small-scale technologies in developing countries was promoted in the 1960s by Dr E. F. Schumacher, who published "Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered" in 1973. "Small is Beautiful" has been widely translated and has been described as one of the 100 most influential books of the last fifty years.

The publication of the "Small is Working: Technology for Poverty Reduction" video and associated booklet, thirty years after "Small Is Beautiful", is intended to present, review, revitalize and promote the contribution of smaller-scale and intermediate technology to poverty reduction and sustainable development.

The video is produced in three versions

a 30 minutes TV broadcast version *** (above)

a 'conference opener' version of 10 minutes and

a "video news release" version of 6 minutes

The booklet, of 60 pages, is designed to provide further information to support the video as a stand-alone document. UNESCO is fully committed to promoting the "knowledge society" at all levels, including the grass roots, and looks forward to further addressing the vitally important challenge of promoting the application of technology for poverty reduction.

WWF and UNESCO initiative, in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, to promote ethno botany and the increasing involvement of local communities in conservation and sustainable use of plant resources.

Since 1992, People and Plants has mounted integrated programmes of individual and group training, production of information and guidance materials and institution-building in selected countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the South Pacific. Field activities have focused on places and themes of prime conservation importance.

This video illustrates methods used to assess the history and the impact of the carved wood trade and why there is a need for responsible sourcing of woodcarvings. It illustrates the history of the Kenyan woodcarving industry from two perspectives.

On one hand, the Kenyan woodcarving industry as an incredible rural development success, on the other, as a major ecological problem. The video illustrates methods used in a series of research projects funded by the People and Plants Initiative, supporting researchers at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), East African Wildlife Society (EAWLS) and Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). It ends by introducing the concept of certification and the common interest carvers should have in a sustainable future of carved wood use - for no wood means no work.

This video has been very versatile in its use, having been seen for example by woodcarvers at Wamunyu (Kenya), 200 woodcarvers in the Masvingo area, Zimbabwe and 200 woodcarving retailers at Nanyuki (Kenya). It has also been shown twice on Kenyan national television (to several million people) as well as being used by at least five African universities.

This video shows some of the practical outcomes of the global People and Plants Initiative for field conservation, starting with botanical inventory as one of the most basic, yet most necessary, steps for conservation and resource management. It then illustrates the types of approaches taken in combining training and research on solutions to field conservation problems.

It covers People and Plants projects in Africa, Asia and the. South Pacific where applied ethnobotanical work takes places in key sites representing eight of the Global 200 priority eco-regions, five of which are critically endangered.

Because the link between people and plants is so fundamental to the conservation of both biological and cultural diversity, it concentrates on the core of our capacity building: training in applied ethnobotany, providing people with inter-disciplinary skills highly relevant to conservation action.

The video ends with an answer to the question: what happens when the People and Plants Initiative ends?

'Rays of Hope' tells the story of renewable energy in a region which served as a laboratory for the trial of RE technology, where countries stand a real chance of becoming the first 'renewable energy economies' in the world - which is the aim of several countries of the region.

Pacific islanders have been using renewable energy ever since they sailed into and around the region on wind power, cooked with biomass, dried crops under the sun and now, with international cooperation, are applying RE technologies in hydro power, for solar electricity generation, water heating and pumping, improved cooking stoves and use of coconut oil as diesel fuel.

'Rays of Hope' tells the story of renewable energy in a region which served as a laboratory for the trial of RE technology, where countries stand a real chance of becoming the first 'renewable energy economies' in the world - which is the aim of several countries of the region.

Pacific islanders have been using renewable energy ever since they sailed into and around the region on wind power, cooked with biomass, dried crops under the sun and now, with international cooperation, are applying RE technologies in hydro power, for solar electricity generation, water heating and pumping, improved cooking stoves and use of coconut oil as diesel fuel.

'Rays of Hope' tells the story of renewable energy in a region which served as a laboratory for the trial of RE technology, where countries stand a real chance of becoming the first 'renewable energy economies' in the world - which is the aim of several countries of the region.

Pacific islanders have been using renewable energy ever since they sailed into and around the region on wind power, cooked with biomass, dried crops under the sun and now, with international cooperation, are applying RE technologies in hydro power, for solar electricity generation, water heating and pumping, improved cooking stoves and use of coconut oil as diesel fuel.

'Rays of Hope' tells the story of renewable energy in a region which served as a laboratory for the trial of RE technology, where countries stand a real chance of becoming the first 'renewable energy economies' in the world - which is the aim of several countries of the region.

Pacific islanders have been using renewable energy ever since they sailed into and around the region on wind power, cooked with biomass, dried crops under the sun and now, with international cooperation, are applying RE technologies in hydro power, for solar electricity generation, water heating and pumping, improved cooking stoves and use of coconut oil as diesel fuel.