Message-ID: <1565.991201@acnet.net> Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 01:34:33 -0600 From: Douglas Hinds <mailto:dmhinds@acnet.net> Subject: Re: Opening of China & Transferring Environment-Related To: mailto:DEVEL-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Hi Turlough,I see you're still asking for input relative to this issue. I don't recall whether I let you know this or not (if not, I should have), but I thought that what you sent me was quite good - very well done.
And while perhaps I am biased due to having been cited in it, the true order of things really *does* require taking these kinds of priorities to heart. Failing to so will simply prolong the frustrated attempts to penetrate a condition not well understood by those continuing to insist on a primarily product oriented, rather than a cultural context / practical need oriented approach.
Why should farmers whose lives are grounded in a substantial and palpable (if technologically austere) physical reality, accept concepts and goals unrelated to their paradigm, simply because foreign businessmen who themselves have lost their own traditions and become abstracted by the promotion of discrete processes more related to their own aspirations and incomplete preconceptions, have failed to give importance to these farmers perceptions?
Those desiring to "penetrate developing markets" would do better to first get close enough to understand those whom they want to convince, as well as the biological existence these farmers are currently living; an original and authentically localized set of phenomena, that they have adopted as their own.
This is the gateway to what whoever ordered the study really wants, but they are going to have to appreciate the message you began and take it to heart. (I say this because I suspect that your having reposted the message may indicate an at least partial dissatisfaction on the part of those who asked for the study).
These concepts have been embodied in a set of policy guidelines that we are currently implementing when establishing formal relationships with the groups of farmers we work with, and part of what we do involves helping them become organized in ways that will permit them to both achieve their own goals and comply with any external standards (legal or qualitative) that must be met.
As things stand, we don't have plans to circulate these, as the implementation varies with the conditions and possibilities of each group and an evaluation of that is done at the outset.
Also, although as a third world non profit corporation our loyalty is first and foremost to the farmers themselves, these general issues can often be best resolved by our serving as a bridge or link between the existing culture and the possibilities offered through use of a new technology, where real advantages do exist for the farmers, within the perceptual limits of their present existence.
It is part of our job then, to help convey that perception. When this is difficult, we need to find a common denominator that will permit the germination and development of the concepts involved with the present context.
For that reason, by being selective in terms of the projects in which we participate, it wouldn't be unthinkable to consider forming part of a project motivated originally from without, if those projects were clearly of potential benefit to the farmers themselves.
While in the past we did publish general guides illuminating appropriate concepts and providing effective methodologies for accomplishing a given goal, experience has confirmed our current belief that many situations best respond to operations that can not so easily be prescribed, but rather performed by competent specialists well prepare to deal with any exigencies that may arise.
If this approach continues to be of interest to you and you want to look into this further with me, please don't hesitate to do so.
Best regards,
Douglas Hinds, Dir. Gral. - CeDeCoR, A.C. Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, Asociacion Civil (Center for Rural and Community Development, a non-profit organization) Cordoba, Veracruz; Cd. Guzman, Jalisco & Reynosa, Tamaulipas Mexico Apdo. Postal No. 171 Fortin de las Flores, Veracruz 94471 Mexico Tel: 011 522 713 2888 (Direct at present) U.S. Voicemail (email linked) 630 300 0550 U.S. Fax Mailbox (email linked) 630 300 0555 mailto:dmhinds@acnet.net, cedecor@acnet.net
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Turlough> Greetings:
Turlough> I am interested to learn about some of the successes Turlough> (and failures) you may know of with regard to western companies & Turlough> individuals attempting to transfer environmental technologies into China and Turlough> SE Asia. I am particularly interested in Australian companies [but do not Turlough> want to limit discussion to these if other have relevant experience].
Turlough> To give you more context,I am distilling key learnings from individuals and Turlough> companies who have been involved in bringing Turlough> technology (particularly those technologies with an Turlough> environmental focus and derived from Australia) into mainland China and more Turlough> generally, into SE Asian countries. And that includes both "hard" and "soft" Turlough> technologies, i.e. environmental management advice.
Turlough> Specifically, I am interested to know:
Turlough> 1. Why have certain activities of technology transfer been successful and Turlough> others not?
Turlough> 2 What is unique (if anything) about transferring Australian Turlough> environmental technologies to China and SE Asia and what have we (i.e Turlough> practitioners)learnt so far?
Turlough> 3. What are the specific technical areas (examples) where Turlough> Australian entrepreneurs might successfully sell environmental technologies Turlough> to China and SE Asia?
Turlough> 4. What are the related areas (that the government and private sector) Turlough> should be pursuing in research?
Turlough> 5. How do existing government policies (in Australia, China or Turlough> elsewhere)favour (or hinder) the transfer to China of particular Turlough> environmental technologies?
Turlough> I look forward to reading your comments.
Turlough> Turlough
Turlough> ************************************************************
Turlough> TURLOUGH F. GUERIN
Turlough> ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISER
Turlough> 14 Scotts Road, Turlough> Far East Plaza #19-07
Turlough> REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE 228213
Turlough> Phone: 65-731-4427 Turlough> Fax: 65-235-3316