Research and Technology Transfer Department (V)
© ROBERT BERGEMANN
TU Dialogue Platform Ideas Conference 2018

Digitization and sustainability:
win/win or win/lose?

Review

"Lots of research questions" and a "new TU sense of community"

From 28.02. to 02.03.2018, the TU Berlin Ideas Conference 2018 took place on the topic "Digitization and Sustainability: win/win or win/lose?". The conference was organized by the First Vice President of TU Berlin, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christine Ahrend, and the TU Dialogue Platform.

Over the course of three days, approximately 80 people worked intensively on research and research network ideas on the conference topic - together and in subgroups. About half of the participants were professors, from the TU Berlin department heads from 5 of the 7 faculties participated. The other half were experts mainly from non-university research, but also from business and politics, as well as personally invited young scientists. Click here for the conference program.

Several collaborative initiatives have emerged and agreed on concrete follow-up activities. They continue to be supported by the dialogue platform.

According to feedback forms, the participants took away "a lot of inspiration" and "many research questions. The "many dialogues" and "flat hierarchies" were particularly praised. In addition, the format enabled real "interdisciplinary exchange" and a "new TU community feeling" emerged.

Panel Chair Prof. Dr. Felix Creutzig (Department of Sustainability Economics of Human Settlements, Faculty VI)  resumed: "The ideas conference was helpful and successful, it was very good to bring the different people together. In my panel we agreed on two concrete third-party funded projects. I can recommend the format."

Panel head Prof. Dr. Julia Kowal (Department of Electrical Energy Storage Technology, Faculty IV) says: "I found the format very good and helpful. I thought it was great that you could participate in different topics and thus also come into contact with people from completely different disciplines. I was impressed by how similar the topics were and at the same time how different they were. It was also good that the moderators adapted the methods to the groups. We definitely want to meet again to further concretize our ideas.“