Appropedia is a website designed by the Appropedia Foundation to develop and share collaborative solutions on sustainability and international development. In this regard, its main objective is the documentation of initiatives related to Sustainable Development, appropriate technologies, and open knowledge for the benefit of communities. The platform is considered an online community that promotes practical ways of addressing issues related to environmental conservation, social justice, and local development.
Founded in 2006, thanks to a collaboration between people from the United States and Australia, Appropedia is based on the principle that open knowledge, along with innovation, can play a crucial role in promoting more environmentally conscious lives. Therefore, the main vision of this organization is to build a more sustainable world through the creation of a dynamic library of resources among organizations and individuals working for a better future. In this sense, the platform presents enormous potential because it allows for better knowledge management, which is usually done collaboratively. The wiki is composed of experts, researchers, students, activists, and innovators and offers a wealth of information as shown in Figure 1.
Through all these available contributions, the basic principles governing open knowledge are guaranteed, which are complemented by the use of open licenses or public domain declarations. This allows for the proper management of not only legal aspects but also technical, administrative, and other issues.
Currently, Appropedia receives 118,000 monthly visits, has around 15,777 pages of content, of which 2,683 are related to projects, and has 2,356 authors. Among the projects that can be found on the wiki are topics on appropriate technologies, renewable energy, poverty reduction, climate action, sustainable agriculture, international development, science, education, culture, etc.
Appropedia encourages people and organizations to collaborate in building more sustainable and equitable societies through a commitment to disseminating practical open knowledge solutions that can address local and global issues.
