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In the face of persistent sustain ability problems challenging economic development, ecological integrity as well as social justice, transformational changes are crucial. Proposed changes shall include, for instance, large-scale transitions of practices, infrastructures as well as values and priorities. In Germany, real-world laboratories are proposed for research in and with society, aiming to understand and contribute to transformations.
Nach vielen Jahren einer disziplinären und fast ausschließlich innerwissenschaftlichen Exzellenzorientierung steht seit einiger Zeit die Rolle von Wissenschaft in der Gesellschaft erneut zur Diskussion. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeichnet die Debatte zur Bedeutung von Wissenschaft in gesellschaftlichen Umbruchsphasen nach und zeigt auf, welche neue Formen der Demokratisierung diskutiert werden und wo künftige Herausforderungen liegen.
Questions regarding the societal impact of research, how to reach impact and what is needed to stabilize the effects are rising from various sides. Societal impact is seen as part of a social contract that exists between science and society. This entails that research must address pressing social issues which in turn implies a number of core challenges such as gathering evidence or the creation of actionable knowledge. The transdisciplinary research approach "real-world laboratory" is discussed as possible way to address and to overcome some of the challenges. A "real-world laboratory" currently being established in the city of Wuppertal serves as case study, linking conceptual and empirical investigations.
"Sufficiency" is beginning to emerge as a new value throughout Western societies and the question asked in this article is: Can we observe cases with actual opportunities to link successful business strategies of incumbents to principles of sufficiency? Thus, how feasible is sustainable entrepreneurship for incumbents? As an innovative conceptual approach, it will be analyzed how brand claims function as narrative translation mechanisms in situations where tensions emerge between corporate narratives and unexpected societal trends, e.g. the emergence of sufficient lifestyles. It will be shown that even though these are still a niche phenomenon, a focus on powerful brands and the narratives connected to them are an important element in understanding the role of incumbents in transitions to sustainability.
Armin Grunwald (2015) hat kürzlich in GAIA das Programm einer transformativen Wissenschaft gegen Kritik von Vertreter(inne)n etablierter Forschungseinrichtungen verteidigt. Insbesondere Peter Strohschneider (2014), Präsident der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), hatte in seinem Aufsatz Zur Politik der Transformativen Wissenschaft eine eindrucksvolle Frontalkritik daran geübt. Transformative Wissenschaft sei ein Programm der De-Politisierung und der Preisgabe wissenschaftlicher Wahrheitssuche. Die vorliegende Replik zeigt, dass genau das Gegenteil der Fall ist.
Idee Bürgeruniversität
(2015)
Bürgerwissenschaft und Universität wirken auf den ersten Blick wie nicht zu vereinbarende Fremdkörper: Auf der einen Seite findet sich die Universität als die institutionalisierte, am disziplinären Kanon orientierte Wissenschaft, auf der anderen Seite die freie Wissenschaft von Bürgern außerhalb fester Strukturen. Doch wenn sich Hochschulen zu "Bürgeruniversitäten" entwickeln, dann können Universitätswissenschaft und Bürgerwissenschaft eine äußerst fruchtbare Beziehung miteinander eingehen.
The transition towards a circular economy is high on the political agenda and support for innovative business models can be seen as one of the key strategies for its implementation. Nevertheless most of these business models rely on an increasing generation of waste and thus undermine the prevention of waste as top of the waste hierarchy. The paper aims to link this debate to more systemic eco-innovations that offer economic market potentials by reduced material inputs and waste generation. This directs the attention to sufficiency strategies that surpass the level of individual consumer choices and regards the potentials of entrepreneurial sufficiency strategies. It takes the example of waste contracting modelsin Germany as a possible approach of resource-light business models that provide existing utility aspects with altered consumption patterns and decreased resource consumption. It describes environmental and economic benefits and draws conclusions on necessary policy framework conditions.