Socio-Ecological Transformation

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Rebound risks and sufficiency opportunities of digitization

Final Conference of the Junior Research Group "Digitalization and Socio-Ecological Transformation"

How digitization must be designed as a social process in that it contributes to the transformation towards sustainability? That has been the subject of intense debate for several years. The research group "Digitization and Socio-Ecological Transformation" at the TU Berlin and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research has actively worked to put this question on the political and public agenda. Over a period of six years, the BMBF-funded research group conducted interdisciplinary analyses on this topic and developed practice-oriented solutions. At the final conference, the results of this work will be presented to the public and discussed with scientists, policymakers and civil society.

First, conceptual research results will be presented concerning the title of the conference: What are the risks for various rebound effects and mechanisms associated with digitization, and what opportunities does it offer for sufficiency practices - by consumers as well as by companies? Subsequently, research results from four fields of application will be discussed in depth based on the following questions: 1. What effects does digitization have on the decoupling of economic growth and energy consumption? 2. How does digitization affect consumption, and what potential does this hold for sufficiency-oriented consumption? 3. What are the direct environmental effects and potential savings of digital devices in the " smart home"? 4. Does digitalization lead to an acceleration of the pace of life, and how does this affect feelings of (time) stress? Finally, the conference would like to discuss key points for an application-oriented research agenda that serves both technology advancement and sustainability goals.

© Forschungsgruppe „Digitalisierung und sozial-ökologische Transformation“