FAQ

Low-tech Lab’s mission is to share solutions and the spirit of low-tech with as many people as possible. Allowing everyone to live better with less. You can find more information about the association on this page.

• By joining or creating a local community near to where you live.
• By researching and learning about low-tech systems on the tutorial platform.
• By helping to translate our content. To do that, you can email us here: hello@lowtechlab.org
• You can reference the low-tech initiatives in the directory by using this form
• You could organise a screening near to where you live. A list of films and series which link to low-tech can be found in our database of documentaries.
• Financially, you could become a patron or donate using our HelloAsso.

You will find all the job offers (civil service, internships and paid work) on our social media accounts. If you would like to send us a direct application, you can use this email address: hello@lowtechlab.org, we would be happy to receive new applications and will contact you when a new vacancy appears.

The professional world of low-tech grows and develops a little every year. This is great news because we need new craftspeople and organisations who are involved with low-tech solutions (self-construction, training, local and affordable fabrics, re-employment, free documentation, user-based design, collaborative research, etc.).

Firstly, we would like to invite you to check out the project “the Low-tech Lab Investigations” which highlights various models of organisation based on the low-tech approach. After that, why not look at the directory to find some initiatives and also look over the job opportunities there. Finally, we also try to share offers (jobs, internships and civil service positions) on our social media platforms.

Thank you for asking, we are happy to welcome new people into our community ! You can begin by looking for a community close to you and get in contact with any groups you find. If a group does not exist already, why not create one? Everything you need to know about creating one is in this tutorial.

The term comes from the software sector where open source refers to a source code which is freely available. Today, the term can equally refer to objects, productions, research and designs that are available to everyone. Allowing the public to make, modify, distribute and use the product in question. Some open-source licenses protect and limit these activities (for example: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike, GNU General Public License, CERN Open Hardware License, TAPR Open Hardware License).

All this information can be found in the article titled “Making a low-tech site?”
To design our low-tech website, we worked with Sylvain Julé and Derek from Pikselkraft on the website design and with Les Raisonnées on our communication strategy. We developed the idea of a low-tech website with Gauthier Roussilhe.

We receive a lot of requests to visit our workshops and it is complicated to see everyone at once. Also, our base in Concarneau consists mainly of offices.
However, surely many low-tech organisations exist near you. So, reach out to them about workshops too. You can find them in the Directory.

Here is schedule for independent visits to the tiny house Konk Ar Lab, 2 rue des Charmes in Concarneau:
Wednesdays 2 pm until 7 pm,
Thursdays 5 pm until 7 pm
Saturdays 10 am until 12 pm
Please respect these opening times, we are trying very hard to keep this project accessible to all.

In the Low-tech Habitat, each technical system is presented but while waiting to visit us, we invite you to rediscover through images a year in the life of this prototype house of the future: En quête d’un habitat durable and related construction tutorials. To find more detailed information, we would encourage you to read the report of the experimentation.

We advise you to contact a tiny house manufacturer directly. In terms of our tiny house, we worked with “Atelier Bois” who operate in Langolen. They are using more and more low-tech in their constructions.

In addition, there is a report detailing the scientific process, feelings and conclusions related to this experiment. All tutorials related to the systems used are available on our tutorial platform.

You will find all this detailed information in the tutorial “Setting up a Local Community”.

To find these initiatives, you can use the Directory that lists them. Feel free to contact the initiatives and meet them, alone or in groups, inspired by the “Low-tech Tour”(translation of the article in progress). This is the best way to form a link and start a small network of local low-tech participants in a friendly setting!

No, our association does not sell low-tech systems. The low-tech approach defends the idea of appropriate technology and aims to encourage people to celebrate the liberty of knowledge. The Directory lists professionals who offers support for self-construction and artisanal design. However, you will also find several participants offering self-designed products, for domestic or professional use.

We do not offer audit services. To find a professional near you, you can use our
Directory.

We are unfortunately too small of a team to answer all your questions. However, you can ask the question in the “Comments” part of the tutorial. You can also ask your questions in the Low-tech Lab France Facebook group. Perhaps our community of enthusiasts can help to answer your question

Our collaborative tutorial platform allows everyone to share their creations in connection with low-tech (see our definition and examples of low-tech on the platform). The “How-to of how-tos” will show you how to add a new tutorial.

If you used our platform tutorials to build a system, please use the “I did it” button and use the “Comments” section to share any changes you have made. These opportunities to share your work are very valuable to the community.

Sometimes Low-tech Lab leads specific projects, some of these include media productions:

• Such as the series of 25 documentaries which is called “Nomade des Mers: Other projects include: A film called “Les escales de l’innovation”, and two documentaries called “Quatre mois sur ma Biosphère” and “Cuba, voyage dans une nation low-tech”, whose broadcast authorisation must be requested from the production company Mediatika. Please send an email to communication@lowtechlab.org with a carbon-copy included for contact@mediatika.fr. Information that must be included in the email is a follows: the name of the event, the venue, the date of the screening and if access is free.
• The film “Wave of Change” for which public screening permission is required from Picture Organic Clothing can be requested from the following email: yann.l@picture-organic-clothing.com
• Two web series are available titled “En Quête d’un Habitat Durable” and “Les Enquêtes du Low-tech Lab” they are both able to be shown without authorisation. Please send an email to communication@lowtechlab.org so that we can encourage others to attend these projections.

We receive a lot of requests from our small team, and we often have a hard time responding to everyone. Depending on your request, we would encourage you to :

• Browse the many resources available on the topic of low-tech on our site.
• Please contact us at hello@lowtechlab.org with your request and questions, if your subject covers a specific topic or idea.
• We would also encourage you to contact other people involved in low-tech projects on the Low-tech Lab France group or in the Directory.

If you work in graduate education, we invite you to join the LowTRE (Low-tech, Research and Teaching) forum, you can introduce yourself and explore the discussions and resources available on this platform.

We invite you to join the LowTRE(Low-tech, Recherche et enseignement) forum, where you can introduce yourself and explore the discussions and resources available on this platform.

Unfortunately, no, we receive a lot of requests from our small team, and this makes it hard to visit and respond to everyone. Do not hesitate to contact the members of a Local Community or a low-tech initiative near you by using the Directory.