LT4SUSTAIN’s objective was to raise awareness of low-tech among European teachers and students through open hackathons and to provide them with the skills to undertake entrepreneurial adventures on sustainable solutions. Our objectives included improving students' awareness of the low-tech ecosystem, aligning education with resource, environmental, and climate challenges, and designing replicable territorialised hackathons. All of that while improving inclusiveness in the design and appropriation of technology, facilitating LowTech knowledge established in educational modules and supporting entrepreneurship in frugal innovation and ecological transition. The collaboration among the partners of the project ensured the appropriation of LowTech open knowledge topics for established innovation/entrepreneurship courses and teachers taking into account different cultural contexts in Europe. LT4SUSTAIN opens the discussion on sustainable design and the role of entrepreneurship towards an ecological just transition. The LowTech Handbook produced, proposes a framework to address the current socio-ecological challenges with sustainable societal and technological solutions based on a model of strong sustainability.
Following an increasing awareness of society, the youth in particular, regarding environmental and climate challenges as well as a demand for social justice, higher education institutions need to align their pedagogical strategy to prepare future executives and decision-makers to efficiently deal with these challenges. The LT4SUSTAIN addressed the need to raise awareness about low-tech(s) and empower learners, teachers, researchers and practitioners to find sustainable solutions to current and future societal needs. The project addressed in particular the need for higher education students to understand resource depletion, environmental challenges, and the development of sustainable solutions based on the needs of our current societies. Societal change can be triggered through the development of innovative, multidisciplinary, and territory-anchored low-tech education. By adopting the LowTech framework and encompassing its three pillars: usefulness, accessibility, and sustainability of technology, LT4Sustain generates knowledge that will enable society to generate ideas and future technologies leading to minimal resource and energy consumption, responding to needs, and moving towards a transition to sustainability.