The Role of Renewable Energy Technology in Holistic Community Development

This Ph.D thesis, "The Role of Renewable Energy Technology in Holistic Community Development", documents almost twenty years of Alex Zahnd's work on the development and implementation of a new approach to holistic community development in remote and disadvantaged villages in the high-altitude valleys in Nepal. It describes the theoretical basis of the work, the main research activities, and the practical outcomes of the implemented programs. One of the fundamental cornerstones of holistic community development is the provision of appropriate and sustainable solutions for the long-term development of local communities. This requires that people’s own identified needs be recognized and addressed in partnership with them in holistic ways. The author explains the many synergies that result from this holistic approach to community development. Another cornerstone of his approach is to utilise the communities’ locally available renewable resources for long-term sustainable development.

The thesis demonstrates that tapping into locally available renewable energy resources and converting them, through contextualized and locally manufactured renewable energy technologies, has a central role in long-term holistic community development programs. Such programs have the chance in the long-term to be successful because they provide both appropriate technologies and life-changing experiences for the local users involved for generations to come.

The front matter and back matter can be read online and downloaded for free.