Ernst Friedrich Schumacher was a German-British statistician and economist who is best known for his proposals for human-scale, decentralised and appropriate technologies. He served as Chief Economic Advisor to the British National Coal Board from 1950 to 1970, and founded the Intermediate Technology Development Group in 1966.
Photograph of Schumacher from the cover of Small Is Beautiful, 1973
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and given to smaller factions within it.
Alexis de Tocqueville
Decentralization was one of ten Megatrends identified in this best seller.
Pierre Joseph Proudhon, anarchist theorist who advocated for a decentralist non-state system which he called "federalism"
The Living Machine installation in the lobby of the Port of Portland headquarters which was completed and ready for occupation May 2010. The decentralized wastewater reuse system contributed to the headquarter's certification as a LEED Platinum building by the U.S. Green Building Council.