In common engineering educations, the idea of technological appropriateness is only learned in as part of a specific learning subject, which results in a siloed understanding. On the other hand, liberal arts deliver unique ways to learn something through subjects that have an indirect or almost no relationship with it. It gives an opportunity in which the abstract meanings of appropriateness might be learned based on interconnected understandings. This article aims to discover the opportunity to learn Appropriate Technology from the perspective of liberal arts. It would be useful for engineering educators to deliver a wider coverage in understanding technological appropriateness without giving excessive numbers of specific subjects to students.
Triple-Helix
New article in American Journal of Tourism Management
A new journal article titled “Preserving Cultural Heritage: The Harmony between Art Idealism, Commercialization, and Triple-Helix Collaboration” has been officially published in American Journal of Tourism Management (Am. J. Tour. Manage.), volume 2, no. 1, pages 22-28. American Journal of Tourism Management is an international journal published by Scientific & Academic Publisher (SAPUB), an Open-Access publisher headquartered in Rosemead, California. The article is hence published based on Open-Access scheme, meaning that it is publicly available for free download.
Preserving cultural heritage: The harmony between art idealism, commercialization, and Triple-Helix collaboration
Many initiatives had been done since the emergence of each cultural heritage preservation, cultural tourism, art idealism, and Triple-Helix concept. However, there was a lack of full combination between these perspectives. This study deals with their real implementation. Exploratory study was conducted to construct complete overview of the idea. Qualitative approach was used in order to gather in-depth understanding of archival information and to develop direct observation as well as interviews with field actors. Saung Angklung Udjo, a UNESCO’s recognized institution in preserving cultural heritage (Angklung), was taken as the focus of the study. Discussion was concluded into an overview that preserving cultural heritage in tourism business could be seamlessly done through the harmony of art idealism, commercialization, being boosted and balanced by using Triple-Helix collaboration. Surrounding issues were solved through good marketing strategy, joint-cooperation, and local economic development. This study enlightened preservation of cultural heritage through Triple-Helix collaboration in a full profit-oriented tourism business which spurs local economic development and supports youth participation in heritage preservation, without losing the authenticity of art itself.
NGO as Triple-Helix axis: Some lessons from Nias community empowerment on cocoa production
Community empowerment is one of the main purposes of development in developing countries. While development only result in a ratio between the ‘before’ and ‘after’ condition, empowerment can keep the continuity of the development through the good relationship between related parties, in terms of knowledge production and field application. Since the parties in community empowerment are tightly related with Triple-Helix model, Non-governmental organization (NGO), as a non-profit organization in community empowerment projects, should catch its opportunities as the axis of those three helices. The case of Nias community empowerment on cocoa production presents some lessons which seek to illustrate the links between parties in a community empowerment project. While each of three helices makes its movements by itself, NGO fill-in the gap in interactions between helices as well as interaction among sub-entities in each helix. The convergence between helices builds opportunities for each connection, so it is analyzed carefully through internal information to find the most appropriate relationship in the field. By focusing on the gathering of new thought of the Triple-Helix approach, this paper proposes a simple model as the initial step to develop new applications of the concept, then emerges a new thought that Triple-Helix can be implemented in wider phenomenon among societies, and give opportunities for further research around it.
