OpenSource LowTech

I'm an open source low-tech alternative infrastructure designer. This is a title I created myself to describe the work I am doing: designing and making tutorials for new devices that people can make themselves from recycled materials which allow them to generate their own energy, purify water, cook, communicate, and fulfil their basic needs.

I travel the word looking for overlapping projects to collaborate in on and 
people working on anything that I could be helpful on. This project has taken me so far from the UK to Guatemala and from India to Uganda, where I have ongoing installations of my designs in local communities and I am in contact with them for ongoing maintenance and data collection.

I am committed to solving the issue of the lack of accessibility and reliance on supply lines that are far too globalised (i.e. not localised enough) and have several gatekeepers in addition to often broken existing infrastructure.

My project is localised alternative low-tech that are easily replicable and maintainable by the communities themselves.I propose to train people locally so they can install and fix their local infrastructures for their livelihood income, almost as a cottage industry.

This project would elevate humanity by enabling and empowering people to building their own grids and reclaim ownership over their basic needs, such as health, food, infrastructure, communications, water sanitation, and energy, and all at a relevant price point.

I am working to solve the twinned issues of the lack of accessibility of basic needs, and the over-reliance on globalised supply lines that are neither owned nor operated locally by and for the people in remote communities. The existing infrastructure is often broken and unfit for purpose, while gatekeepers limit access and therefore hamper human and economic development of the area.This problem affects people globally, hence a global action, but the most vulnerable are also the most at risk of the health issues and poverty deriving from a lack of access to the means to fulfil their basic needs.

My project is to design, build, and train people in how to make localised alternative low-tech infrastructures (all open source) that are easily replicable and maintainable by the communities themselves.

The model I have developed follows several phases: design & prototype, build & test, train & evaluate. I teach people locally so they can install and fix their local infrastructures as a form of income to ensure true independence from national grids and private companies whose service is often unaffordable and unreliable.

My project serves all communities: I have installed water turbines in remote areas of Guatemala and wind turbines in the Scottish Highlands! I specifically target people in developing countries whose needs are greater, so I can maximise my impact on their lives and directly and meaningfully improve their living conditions. 

I spend a lot of time in the communities before starting a build, such as living in a slum in Delhi for several months in 2014 in order to make sure that I truly hear and honour their needs, and contextualise my designs to suit their climate, culture, customs, etc. Giving people exactly what they need, rather that what I think they would benefit from, is something I am passionate about. No project can truly help people if it is carried on with arrogance and widely misses the mark.

The OpenSource LowTech project relates to the first dimension of the The Elevate Prize (Elevating opportunities for all people, especially those who are traditionally left behind) by targeting remote communities in developing countries who have been left behind in many cases by technological progress, and the second dimension (Elevating issues and their projects by building awareness and driving action to solve the most difficult problems of our world) insofar as I aim to drive action and global change by building a new civilization around networks of localised, self-reliant, independent infrastructures. 

I started working on the Solar Flower prototype in 2009, it was my first design and build as I was looking for a way to be useful to the world. I left a career in 3D animation to pursue my vocation as an inventor, and OpenSource LowTech was born from there. Today I have 6 complete designs that address very different needs, and collaborators on all continents forming a global network of DIY makers.

Growing up in New Zealand, I always felt somehow isolated from the world and its wider issues, even as I was learning key skills and mindsets of resourcefulness and ingenuity. In my early 20s I travelled the worlds and gained fresh insights on the problems facing local communities, and I felt immediately drawn to helping out in whatever way I could be useful. In our current troubled world, we need more than ever to change the way humans interact with their environment and each other on a global scale to reverse ecological collapse and build a new civilization based on peace and prosperity for all. 

I have been working on this project for 11 years on a local scale in various areas of the world, and I am keen to expand the impact of OpenSource LowTeach on a global scale. I have gain a unique set of skills in designing and prototyping alternative infrastructures made with recycled materials readily available in the Global South and already built a number of those prototypes, which I am currently collecting data for in order to keep improving them. This makes me uniquely positioned to solve the problem of a lack of access to means to fulfil their basic needs for poor people in developing countries. The Elevate Prize would allow me to deploy OpenSource LowTech on a large scale, hire permanent collaborators, and drive real change for humanity.

I have had many a prototype explode while testing! The water turbine I developed during the fall and winter of 2019 for example pose a number of engineering problems, which I persevered through and managed to solve after 4 distinct iterations and a number of optimizations. Failure is an integral and unavoidable part of the creative process, and the only way to learn and move forward!

When I was in Uganda, I was staying in a refugee camp and was inspired by the courage and resilience of the displaced people I lived with at the time. A few young boys observed my builds, learning the moves and following which part went where, and eventually they approached to help and participate in the process. 

Through working together and sharing our stories, we connected on a deep spiritual and emotional level which I will never forget - perhaps they will even become inventors or engineers themselves!

I work by myself but looking to get a team together and found an organization, potentially as a hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit.

My project is innovative and disruptive in its focus on empowering local communities to build and maintain their own alternative infrastructures. It brings them not only technological but also economic self-reliance as well as the means to fulfil their basic needs with dignity.

While many charities answer to their funders or Board of Directors, and sometimes have a mixed reputation among the people they are trying to help, I have the freedom to truly listen to marginalised voices and tailor each build to their needs. No-one else works like that, to my knowledge, and The Elevate Prize would allow me to spread this model on a global scale for optimal impact.

My theory of change is to think global and act global, while always paying attention to the local context. 

Upskilling and empowering people who have been traditionally left behind by technological and economic progress in the Global South to create and maintain their own infrastructure will lead directly to improved standard of living, self-esteem, and happiness. 

On a global scale, this will shift power dynamics between corporations, state apparatus, and the people in favor of the latter, leading to a more symbiotic relationship with the Earth's natural resources and a reversal of the current climate crisis. Where there is no profit to be made, there is no reason to overexploit and irrevocably damage our environment.

Currently about 100 people are served through my work, i.e. have warm/clean water or power their house using my designs. 

Being awarded The Elevate Prize would dramatically increase the number of people that would benefit from the outcomes of OpenSource LowTech in the next year and the next 5 years. All would be directly and meaningfully affected by getting their basic needs met and earning an income.

In the next year I want to complete the final optimizations of the water turbine, have more testing in the field, and gather enough data to confidently install as many versions of it as needed.

The wind turbine, which is a complete and fully tested model, will be installed in several locations around the world.

Plus similar results and outcomes for the other designs and technologies, including the water filter, air cooler, refrigerator, communications dish, and others.

In the next 5 years, I want to increase the global reach of my designs to help more people and elevate humanity by proposing an alternative model to the existing structures that govern energy, food production, sanitation, and communications.

One major barrier is the fact that I do not yet have a team of collaborators to deploy OpenSource LowTech projects, train local communities, gather data, and co-create new designs. Another one is the financial challenge of working with poor people in low-income areas the world without being funded myself. As it stands, many people in the Global South contact me directly through my YouTube channel and social media groups but the only way for me to be able to travel on site, assess their needs, and tailor a solution to their community and environment, is if they can pay for my airfare and accommodation, which is not ideal and means my movements as restricted and I couldn't afford a team.

Being awarded a grant and the accompanying publicity would allow me to overcome both barriers by being able to fund my movements across the globe to visit the communities who contact me about installing one (or several) of my designs. Moreover, I would hire a team of creative humanitarian engineers and makers to work together on growing OpenSource LowTech and reach my goal to elevate humanity globally.

CEPEK Permaculture Cooperative

CADUS e.V. - Redefine Global Solidarity

POC21 Innovation Camp and Community

Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement

ROG

To make the project financially sustainable, I plan to sell ready-made builds while continuing to share the plans and instructions for free. In addition, sustained donations though a subscription model would allow donors to see how their money is being used in very practical terms. Once trained, the low-income clients would be encouraged to set up local cooperatives or work as independent traders in their community. 

I have thought more about how to make the participation in Open Source LowTech of the populations I serve financial sustainable, rather than my own.

I earn around 200USD per month through my YouTube channel through views, plus 20USD a month on average of donations on my website, one-off builds in Western countries which I get paid for around 200USD per installation, and occasional crowd funds (1000USD in the past year). This revenue allows me to keep working on the Open Source LowTech project, but it doesn't yet stretch beyond my own basic needs to expanding the reach and elevating humanity. 

I am seeking to raise 500.000USD to set up a social enterprise to scale up OpenSource LowTech and hire staff to develop and deploy alternative infrastructures with me, train people in local communities, and encourage the establishment of viable economies. I would need to partner with an expert in entrepreneurship to guide me through the logistics and administrative aspects.

I only have personal expenses, since the Open Source LowTech project is not-for-profit and people who ask me to come install my designs cover the (low) costs of materials.

I believe my project Open Source LowTech is a good fit with The Elevate Prize as it aims to upskill and empower people in low-income communities to fulfill their basic needs. 

The main barriers are the lack of funds and the fact that I work by myself and both would be solved not only by the prize money but also the coaching, amplifying, and networking aspects of an award.

As an inventor well-versed in designing, prototyping, testing, optimizing, monitoring, and evaluating, I am seeking support specifically in the areas of funding, staff recruitment, and mentorship. I already have a robust presence of social media and have been featured in international news outlets such as Al-Jazeera and Le Monde, although additional exposure to reach out to isolated communities and potential collaborators in the OpenSource LowTech global movement is always welcome. I would be interested in pursuing any other partnership opportunity that you may recommend.

Precious Plastics is one potential partners I have already been in talks with, and pursuing this avenue is definitely on the books.