In response to the issue’s theme, Imagining the Future of Digital Archives and Collections, a num... more In response to the issue’s theme, Imagining the Future of Digital Archives and Collections, a number of key players in the Dutch arena are invited to address a specific opportunity and challenge of digital infrastructures for archiving and exchange of cultural data: the issue of sustainability. While innovative digital infrastructures often receive project funding in the start-up phase, their technical, organizational, and financial sustainability are often challenging. What happens to these infrastructures when their funding period ends? What are the lasting impacts of such infrastructure projects? Does the project-based nature of these infrastructures undermine their attempts to create sustainable solutions within their fields? How can we safeguard and imagine sustainable projects in the future? The discussion is divided into three parts. Part one reflects on the concept of “imaginaries.” It explores how this concept might be made productive to assess the processes and outcomes of...
We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential ... more We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential benefits and risks, are not bound by, and do not respect, jurisdictional borders. A world that sees technological innovation as being an integral component of the Anthropocene, and resilience as being fundamental to our—and the environment’s—ability to flourish. With the age of the Anthropocene now upon us, there is increasing pressure on policy makers and scientists alike to develop robust agendas for socio-technical integration approaches, to innovate responsibly, and evaluate policy tools, methods and outcomes in real-time. Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, Responsibility and Emerging Technologies: Experiences, Education and Beyond critically examines the responsible research and innovation policy landscape for emerging technologies. The volume, and its authors, highlight the fundamental roles that reflection, education and ev...
We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential ... more We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential benefits and risks, are not bound by, and do not respect, jurisdictional borders. A world that sees technological innovation as being an integral component of the Anthropocene, and resilience as being fundamental to our—and the environment’s—ability to flourish. With the age of the Anthropocene now upon us, there is increasing pressure on policy makers and scientists alike to develop robust agendas for socio-technical integration approaches, to innovate responsibly, and evaluate policy tools, methods and outcomes in real-time. Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, Responsibility and Emerging Technologies: Experiences, Education and Beyond critically examines the responsible research and innovation policy landscape for emerging technologies. The volume, and its authors, highlight the fundamental roles that reflection, education and ev...
Over the last decade we have witnessed a significant maturation of the debate around the potentia... more Over the last decade we have witnessed a significant maturation of the debate around the potential impact of nanotechnologies and other emerging technologies. A global risk research agenda has been developed to address key areas of uncertainty, and we have seen a shift towards ‘responsibility’, ‘responsible development’ and ‘responsible innovation’ of these technologies and their products. But what do we mean by ‘responsible research and innovation’ (RRI)? And how is this concept being operationalized in relation to emerging technologies? Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, Practices of Innovation and Responsibility: Insights from Methods, Governance and Action examines the question of how RRI may be put into practice, via concrete methods and approaches, and as anticipatory practices designed to shape the innovation process itself.
Sustainability assessment (SA) is an increasingly popular term referring to a broad range of appr... more Sustainability assessment (SA) is an increasingly popular term referring to a broad range of approaches to align decision-making with the principles of sustainability. Nevertheless, in public and private sectors sustainability results are still disappointing, and this paper reflects on this problem and proposes a way forward. We argue that, because sustainability issues are generally wicked problems (i.e. a 'complex of interconnected factors in a pluralistic context'), effective assessments need to be reflexive about the definition of the issue and about the criteria for sustainable solutions. Based on a distinction of policy problems, we characterize SA as a form of problem structuring, and we distinguish three typical ways of problem structuring, corresponding to three different ways of integrating reflexivity in the assessment. We illustrate these routes in three examples. We discuss the way reflexivity is integrated in each example by discussing the mix of methods, SA process and epistemological balance. Rather than merely calling for more stakeholder participation, our aim is to call for more reflexivity integrated into the SA approach, and we conclude by proposing a process map for reflexive sustainability assessment to support this.
In response to the issue’s theme, Imagining the Future of Digital Archives and Collections, a num... more In response to the issue’s theme, Imagining the Future of Digital Archives and Collections, a number of key players in the Dutch arena are invited to address a specific opportunity and challenge of digital infrastructures for archiving and exchange of cultural data: the issue of sustainability. While innovative digital infrastructures often receive project funding in the start-up phase, their technical, organizational, and financial sustainability are often challenging. What happens to these infrastructures when their funding period ends? What are the lasting impacts of such infrastructure projects? Does the project-based nature of these infrastructures undermine their attempts to create sustainable solutions within their fields? How can we safeguard and imagine sustainable projects in the future? The discussion is divided into three parts. Part one reflects on the concept of “imaginaries.” It explores how this concept might be made productive to assess the processes and outcomes of...
We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential ... more We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential benefits and risks, are not bound by, and do not respect, jurisdictional borders. A world that sees technological innovation as being an integral component of the Anthropocene, and resilience as being fundamental to our—and the environment’s—ability to flourish. With the age of the Anthropocene now upon us, there is increasing pressure on policy makers and scientists alike to develop robust agendas for socio-technical integration approaches, to innovate responsibly, and evaluate policy tools, methods and outcomes in real-time. Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, Responsibility and Emerging Technologies: Experiences, Education and Beyond critically examines the responsible research and innovation policy landscape for emerging technologies. The volume, and its authors, highlight the fundamental roles that reflection, education and ev...
We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential ... more We live in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Where technology, and its potential benefits and risks, are not bound by, and do not respect, jurisdictional borders. A world that sees technological innovation as being an integral component of the Anthropocene, and resilience as being fundamental to our—and the environment’s—ability to flourish. With the age of the Anthropocene now upon us, there is increasing pressure on policy makers and scientists alike to develop robust agendas for socio-technical integration approaches, to innovate responsibly, and evaluate policy tools, methods and outcomes in real-time. Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, Responsibility and Emerging Technologies: Experiences, Education and Beyond critically examines the responsible research and innovation policy landscape for emerging technologies. The volume, and its authors, highlight the fundamental roles that reflection, education and ev...
Over the last decade we have witnessed a significant maturation of the debate around the potentia... more Over the last decade we have witnessed a significant maturation of the debate around the potential impact of nanotechnologies and other emerging technologies. A global risk research agenda has been developed to address key areas of uncertainty, and we have seen a shift towards ‘responsibility’, ‘responsible development’ and ‘responsible innovation’ of these technologies and their products. But what do we mean by ‘responsible research and innovation’ (RRI)? And how is this concept being operationalized in relation to emerging technologies? Bringing together contributions and perspectives from the multidisciplinary S.NET community, Practices of Innovation and Responsibility: Insights from Methods, Governance and Action examines the question of how RRI may be put into practice, via concrete methods and approaches, and as anticipatory practices designed to shape the innovation process itself.
Sustainability assessment (SA) is an increasingly popular term referring to a broad range of appr... more Sustainability assessment (SA) is an increasingly popular term referring to a broad range of approaches to align decision-making with the principles of sustainability. Nevertheless, in public and private sectors sustainability results are still disappointing, and this paper reflects on this problem and proposes a way forward. We argue that, because sustainability issues are generally wicked problems (i.e. a 'complex of interconnected factors in a pluralistic context'), effective assessments need to be reflexive about the definition of the issue and about the criteria for sustainable solutions. Based on a distinction of policy problems, we characterize SA as a form of problem structuring, and we distinguish three typical ways of problem structuring, corresponding to three different ways of integrating reflexivity in the assessment. We illustrate these routes in three examples. We discuss the way reflexivity is integrated in each example by discussing the mix of methods, SA process and epistemological balance. Rather than merely calling for more stakeholder participation, our aim is to call for more reflexivity integrated into the SA approach, and we conclude by proposing a process map for reflexive sustainability assessment to support this.
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