From development to sustainable development in the Cook Islands

This thesis contributes to the academic understanding of the role of technology transfer in underpinning sustainable development in developing countries. This contribution has two main components. First, the thesis offers a multidisciplinary review of academic literatures in developing a model of technology transfer from developed to developing countries that achieve sustainable development outcomes. Second, the thesis offers a detailed case study of an on-site wastewater management technology in the Cook Islands. The innovative on-site sewage treatment technology used in this project has been developed by the author over the past twenty years. The project took the form of a 'demonstration' Evapocycle system was installed at the recently completed education centre built by the non-government organisation Youth With a Mission on the island of Rarotonga. The problems of wastewater treatment in the Cook Islands, which are exacerbated by tourist development, are described. It is argued that the Evapocycle system could reduce problems associated with 'conventional' septic tank systems in use on Rarotonga, thus leading to a more sustainable development. The technology transfer model developed by Kedia and Bagat is reviewed and is applied to the chosen example. The thesis concludes that problems experienced in introducing the on-site treatment system to the Cook Islands can be explained by the model.