Haven't we been hearing or a long time that that human innovation and technology will be the thing that gets us through the projected crisis' ahead, from the environmental, to the social and political. Yet even as we are seeing an unprecedented increase in affordable technologies, these solutions still tend to consolidate power in the hands of a few as most are proprietary by design.
Wasn't it Wendell Berry that said a solution is not a solution if it is not available to all? It's a rational that resonates with a lot of the opensource and farmhack ethos of simple, user designed, accessible technologies and practices. Because beyond just being accessible, open source innovations respond to the needs of a community rather than being prescriptive solutions coming from outside.
We're excited about this little project by some folks from France called The Gold of Bengal. The group has been sailing a boat made of recycled material, navigating the the world in search of different interesting initiatives. Their current voyage began in 2015 and for the next 3 years they are documenting low-technology innovations that they encounter along the way.
Three cheers for community led, decentralized, open innovation!
You can find out more info about the Nomade des Mers voyage here and look at some of their low-tech lab documentation here. And while you're feeling inspired maybe you want to contribute some of your own low tech solutions to the farmhack tool list.