Development
Eco Doctor's newest frontier is environmental work in developing countries. The push for this comes from the view that the world's most urgent problems are more apparent in these countries. Issues like clean water supply, improved sanitation, disease control, education and personal freedom become far more important when people depend on the goodwill of richer nations to assist. Because so many live in poverty in developing countries, it is much harder for them to fund solutions themselves. Most do not even have enough money to move away from problem areas. Eco Doctor has worked enthusiastically in some developing countries, sometimes with the backing of aid agencies.
Work in developing countries
Eco Doctor projects in and with developing countries include the following:
Organisation and hosting of a UN sponsored tour of 8 delegates from Hanoi, Vietnam, looking at waste and composting technologies in New Zealand.
Advice and training on the social and environmental impacts of the extraction and use of landfill gas from landfills in Manila, Philippines, for conversion into electricity. This work has been done in conjunction with Philippine officials from PNOC EC and NZAID.
Carried out field work in isolated rural areas of Sumbawa and Flores, Indonesia, for environmental feasibility studies for two proposed 3.5 MW geothermal power plants. This work was done in conjunction with Indonesian officials from the Rural Electrification Scheme and the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Social and environmental Capacity Building and training for the Philippines Landfill Gas project, for PNOC EC and ADAF. (NZAID)
Preparation and presentation of environmental seminars and training courses on environmental impacts of geothermal development, for members of the industry operating in Indonesia.
Investigation, research and preparation of requirements and recommendations for the pilot composting programme at Cau Dien, Hanoi, Vietnam.
