New TATuP issue on Energy Futures

Addressing climate change requires a transformation of our energy supply toward a system without fossil fuels. This goal is clear, but there are many ways to achieve it. Moreover, the necessary transformation is not limited to solving technical and economic issues. The population’s approval and the participation of a wide range of social actors are crucial to its success. The task of science is to describe possible paths for the future and to introduce this knowledge into public discourse.

Empirical and conceptual approaches

The TATuP special topic “Energy futures. Knowing, advising, and shaping” brings together innovative approaches that address this task empirically and conceptually – from the perspectives of inter- and transdisciplinary future research, technology assessment, and systems analysis. The editors of the special topic are Dirk Scheer, Lisa Nabitz, and Witold-Roger Poganietz from the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Interview: Privacy in the digital context

What are the implications of the increasing use of “smart” devices for the privacy of their users? Bernadette Kamleitner, head of the Institute for Marketing and Consumer Research at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, talks about this issue in the TATuP interview. With her expertise as psychologist and economist she argues that privacy should be understood as a complex relationship not only of technical but also of social aspects.

Also in the winter issue of TATuP: a research article on the political aspects of technology assessment, a review of the TA19 conference in Vienna, as well as other conference reports, reviews, and news from the community. (18.12.2019)

Further links:

• Full issue (PDF/HTML)