Solar Water Heating System Codesign and Do-It-Yourself Approach for Appropriate Technology Diffusion: The Médina Case Study (Dakar, Senegal)

Abstract

In order to develop an effective method for appropriate technology diffusion, as in the solar water heater (SWH) case, the technical aspects (appropriate technology) and the planning aspects (stakeholders participation, training, and skills transfer, etc.) are both fundamental. Appropriate technologies must always take into consideration many aspects beyond the purely technical so that they can provide beneficial social, economic, and environmental impacts on the local context. This paper examines a multi-stakeholder participative approach that is focused on SWH technology diffusion and application. The integration of multiple stakeholder roles in the local context has been proposed and applied to the “Centro di Formazione Médina” (CdF Médina) or the “Médina Training Center” project and extended to the Médina neighborhood in Dakar (Senegal). The introduction of a codesign method involving engineers, engineering students, local stakeholders, and migrants, coupled with the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technique, has been tested and recently implemented locally to permit the start-up phase of diffusion and local repeatability among trained artisans. Furthermore, with the involvement of local partners, stakeholders, and Senegalese migrants, the idea of creating a local and artisanal enterprise of SWHs has been developed, and a feasibility analysis has been carried out.