News 2021

The winter semester 2021/2022 is about to start. For the first time, KIT students will be able to enroll in the elective subject “Technology Assessment (TA)”.

Science and society are shaping the future together. Real-world labs provide the space for, in which sustainability is advanced and researched. ITAS research projects advocate for more diversity among the participants of their Real-world labs.

Wood has a long tradition – and is the world’s most important renewable raw material in terms of quantity. A project group of acatech with the participation of ITAS explores the role wood can play in a bio-based economy in Germany in the future.

TAB-Arbeitsbericht No. 188 examines the possibilities of a comparative sustainability assessment of agricultural systems in order to generate more differentiated information on agricultural sustainability.

Since the mid-2000s, Gregor Wolbring has been involved in TA projects on such topics as neurotechnologies, human enhancement and assistive technology. The permanent ITAS fellow has now been appointed full professor by the University of Calgary.

With local investments in clean energy technologies, communities can improve food security, health, human rights and more. The initiative “Let communities lead” by ITAS and ASU aims to empower marginalized communities in planning their energy futures.

Leading TA researchers have presented a comprehensive account of their research field. Their handbook describes the history, theory, and practice of TA as well as its institutional entrenchment – and opens up new perspectives for its further development.

In March 2022, the international TA community will meet in Karlsruhe to discuss the digital transformation and its challenges for policy, society, economy, environment, and research. Abstracts can be submitted until 15 June 2021.

How must design processes for new batteries be organized to ensure that all their materials can be reused in a “circular economy”? A new project at ITAS in cooperation with POLIS and CELEST is looking for ways to achieve this ambitious goal.

ITA and ITAS, the two major TA institutions in Austria and Germany, are currently trying to figure out the role of technology assessment in a world that is shaped by COVID-19.

ITAS – and the tasks for its heads – have grown steadily in the recent past, along with new challenges and fields of activity. In view of this development, Rafaela Hillerbrand and Torsten Fleischer have been appointed as new deputy heads of the institute.

During the pandemic, 3D printing technologies proved to be very helpful. Experts at a public event on Tuesday, 23 March 2021 will discuss which potentials the technology offers for our society after Corona.

In the short videos, researchers present their work – comprehensibly, vividly, and to the point. The first part of the series is about future visions of 3D printing technologies and the question of how society can benefit from the technology.

Rising temperatures, droughts, and pollutants threaten forests worldwide. The ITAS research group Sylvanus is looking for ways to improve their resilience. Its goal is to combine the technical with the societal perspective.

Energy transition, autonomous driving, and the transformation of agricultural systems change our society. Researchers reflect on the role of TA in analyzing and shaping these far-reaching transformations in the recently published conference proceedings.

Cities and municipalities play a central role in the energy transition. In the ZuSkE project, ITAS is working with three municipalities to find ways of coupling individual sectors locally in order to save resources and CO2 emissions.

Astrofuturism and the GDR’s visions of the future on the one hand, current visions of technology on the other hand: A new anthology bridges the gap between the science of history and TA and asks how the two disciplines can complement each other.