Michigan-based NonProfit Wins Global Sustainability Award
Press Release – ANN ARBOR, MI – The Appropriate Technology Collaborative (ATC), a Michigan-based non-profit organization, is being recognized today as a global leader in creating sustainable solutions to promote clean energy, access to clean water and economic development for the world’s poorest citizens.
ATC’s Mayan Power and Light project assists low-income women in rural Guatemala in starting and maintaining clean energy businesses. A short video about the project is available here.
The Appropriate Technology Collaborative is among the world’s top 100 leaders in global sustainability according to results announced today by Sustainia, a Copenhagen-based firm working in partnership with the United Nations Sustainable Development Program.
ATC, a cutting-edge training and technical assistance organization, incubates environmentally sustainable microbusinesses in rural communities in Guatemala, Nicaragua and India. The organization was founded in 2007 by architect John Barrie, who now serves as executive director.
“What a great tribute to our partners in Guatemala and volunteers from the U.S and the United Kingdom who make this work possible,” said Barrie. “There’s nothing quite like seeing a solar-powered light go on in a small Guatemalan village that has never had electricity before. Everybody in the village can see that light, and so can villages across the valley. We’re changing people’s lives, and doing it in a way that is rooted in local communities and responsive to local markets and consumers.”
“Mayan Power and Light makes it possible for us to reach thousands of people with the essential technologies of solar energy, clean water and firewood saving stoves, thereby improving the lives of those who have little access to basic services,” said Natalia Xec Poz. Poz, who lives in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, is director of sales for Mayan Power and Light.
ATC’s Mayan Power and Light is a cross-border, collaborative project that includes U.S.-based staff and volunteers, technical assistance from Engineers Without Borders at Rutgers University, as well as teachers, trainers and microentrepreneurs based in Guatemala.
Recent accomplishments include:
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) training for 175 Guatemalan women, with specific information about environmentally sustainable appropriate technologies.
- Kick-starting 13 small businesses in rural Guatemala since 2015. These women entrepreneurs now serve 10,000 people, selling solar panels, clean cook stoves, and other appropriate technology at prices that are affordable for rural agricultural workers.
- Incubating Soluciones Energeticas Apropiadas (SEA), a self-sustaining small business with six employees, providing small-scale solar panels and large solar power systems in rural Guatemalan villages.
- Providing clean cook stoves to families in rural Guatemala. These concrete-cast stoves burn less fuel, with significantly less indoor air pollution, than conventional models, saving money for low-income families and improving their health at the same time.
- Repairing and renovating the water supply system in Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, a village in the Sierra Madre mountains of Guatemala’s western highlands. More than 4,000 rural residents now have access to clean, reliable water.
So far, ATC’s Mayan Power and Light project has installed small-scale solar lighting for 3,000 Guatemalan people, and is serving thousands more with larger-scale systems installed at schools, community centers and other public facilities. The project now has capacity, says Barrie, to install solar power for up to 10,000 people every year.
Barrie, formerly an architect based in Ann Arbor, Michigan has served as an adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Michigan. Since founding the Appropriate Technology Collaborative in 2007, Barrie has worked with engineers, designers and technologists around the world and has traveled extensively in Central America.
Sustainia, an organization focused on finding market opportunities to advance the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 by the United Nations, annually recognizes 100 top leaders in the field.
As one of the Sustainia 100 for 2016, ATC’s Mayan Power and Light project is eligible for the grand Sustainia Award, to be selected by a committee led by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and presented this coming fall in Copenhagen.
For more information, please visit apptechdesign.org.
