Events

artefact is a non profit making organization dedicated to the application and dissemination of economically viable, ecologically and socially appropriate technologies for regionally and internationally sound and sustainable development.

The Centre for Appropriate Technology and International Development Cooperation maintains a seminar and conference building erected with innovative architecture from three continents, the use of local resources for energy efficient and healthy construction technics and
with its own power generation: solar energy, wind power and biomass guarantee electricity surplus throughout the year.

Germany´s first Energy Infotainment Park with other internationally relevant demonstration and trial plants attracts ten thousands of visitors every year and is the ideal training ground for workshops, specialist seminars and application tests: Indian biogas plants, Nubian
vaults, fire wood saving cookers, irrigation and electrification systems for different climatic conditions are tested and operated. - and evaluated for their compatibility or modification in order to fit into other framework conditions. Technology adjustment, participatory
appraisal, project management and private-public partnership are the artefact keys for sustainable development.

Success stories can be seen next door: EVN Ltd. installing biomass gasification and cogeneration plants in the region, Pro Lehm manufacturing straw adobe tiles and building recyclable houses for the regional market - reasons for selecting them together with artefact as
decentral WORLD EXPOSITION 2000 PROJECT.

artefact, the 1998 European Solar Price winner, master drafts courses in cooperation with partners such as

• German Foundation for International Development DSE
• Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft
• Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology
• International Network for Sustainable Energy INforSE

and many other governmental, non-governmental and church organizations

All lecturers and practioners of our courses have professional experience abroad. Flensburg University with is institute „Sustainable Energy Systems and Management“/Appropriate Rural Technologies and Extension Skills is a close cooperation partner.

The department of media and communication is a joint facility of the Catholic and Lutheran Churches that provides educational media and audio-visual devices on a rental basis and offers other services related to media education. Our services are primarily, but not exclusively, directed towards educators who work in parishes, schools or in adult education in the Munich-Freising archdiocese and the Lutheran district office in Munich.

Our rental service includes 16-mm films, videos, DVDs, slides, transparencies and books; all media are included in the printed catalogue or in the online version of our database. The services we offer to our customers include: consultation in person or over the phone, information on new acquisitions at regular intervals, providing opportunities to browse through our materials.

Our second main focus is on involvement in media and communication education, which is accomplished through training courses, lectures, and other events for teachers in adult education and school teachers. The aims of these activities are:

1. teaching people to use multimedia for instructional purposes,
2. raising awareness for the importance of communication processes, and
3. reflecting on these matters within the context of a theology of communication.

The results of our efforts find their way into the muk publication series (ISSN 1416-4244), which we are continuously expanding; the magazine includes a wide range of topics from suggestions for the practical work to theorizing on basic principles.

In reference to our aims and services our motto is: "We teach literature - and the literature of our age is the media." (John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications)