UNDP's Human Development Report, 1992, provides data to illustrate the truth behind Rabindranath Tagore's statement quoted at the beginning (see Figure 0.1). It is clear that unless the problems of poverty and social inequity are addressed by scientists and technologists as well as by policy makers and political leaders, we will not be able to come. to terms with an economic and ecological situation in which "the few are more than the many". This is why there is a need for educational •• approaches and institutional devices which can help to strengthen the livelihoods of the rural poor through a combination of ecologically sound enterprises and socially relevant delivery systems. For this purpose, a proactive interaction between technologists and social scientists on the relation between the social. and environmental impacts of new technologies will be very helpful. It is our conviction that development which
is\not equitable will not be sustainable and that a better common present is essential for a better common future.
