Innovation is often framed as the solution to humanity's greatest challenges, yet new technologies rarely arrive without a cost of their own. In this talk, Armin Grunwald confronts one of the defining puzzles of our era: technological progress generates unintended consequences that demand still more innovation. This unending spiral has shaped the Anthropocene so far. Grunwald argues for a responsible path between blind faith that new technology will fix what old technology broke, and nostalgic longing for a pre-industrial world. Instead, he calls on science, engineering, politics and society to jointly navigate this cycle toward a genuinely better Anthropocene. Following the talk, the following scholars will respond to Grunwald’s thesis: Mallory James Lauren Keeler Harro van Lente Rob Melnick Carl Mitcham Clark Miller Register here

Das Projekt TTNB lädt zur Podiumsdiskussion ein. Dabei sprechen Expert:innen aus Deutschland und der Schweiz darüber, wie nachhaltige Kooperationen zwischen Hochschulen, Kommunen, Unternehmen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen entstehen und welche Rolle Schnittstellen-Koordinator:innen dabei spielen. Diskutiert werden insbesondere der Aufbau der Schnittstellen, Anbahnung und -betreuung transdisziplinärer Projekte sowie die Verankerung an der Hochschule.   Anmeldung: ttnb@icnachhaltigkeit-bw.de

Panagiotis Kavouras will give insights into the Athens Statement, which is the latest international guidance on Research Integrity (RI) that was released in May 2026. It provides a set of evidence-based recommendations to embed RI in research collaborations between academia and industry and in engagement of researchers with policymakers. The Athens Statement is comprised of four high-level recommendations that aspire to promote academic freedom, fairness, and trust in such collaborations, as well as to promote transparency in the interaction of researchers with policymakers.    🔗 Register now!   Recordings of past webinars can be found here.

ITAS invites you to the international conference “Beyond the Crisis reflex? Potentials of long-term governance in research and practice”, taking place 6-8 April 2027 at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany (in-person).   The main objective of this conference is to bring together researchers and experts from various fields of research and practice who investigate ways to best address these major challenges and long-term problems facing society and politics. The event will provide opportunities for debate about approaches to dealing with these challenges and problems at the interface between science, society, and policy from a governance perspective. A particular focus will be placed on gathering expertise from a wide range of scientific disciplines that touch upon the complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity of long-term governance problem solving. The conference therefore aims to provide an interdisciplinary space for exciting exchange, networking opportunities, and future cooperation.     The conference features keynotes by Prof. Eefje Cuppen (Rathenau Institute) and Prof. Benjamin Sovacool (Boston University), as well as a panel discussion on the potentials and constraints of long-term governance in research and practice.    Abstracts (max. 300 words) on six topic areas are welcomed, ranging from institutional configurations and multi-level governance to time/temporality and normative foundations of long-term governance (Link to call for contributions).    More information about the conference, including details on how to submit an abstract, can be found here.