Suchergebnisse

Vor etwa drei Jahren wurde durch das Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Infrastruktur und Technologie das Impulsprogramm "Nachhaltig Wirtschaften" eingerichtet, im Rahmen dessen Forschungs- und Technologieprojekte zu den Themen "Haus der Zukunft" und "Fabrik der Zukunft" gefördert werden. Ein Charakteristikum insbesondere der Programmlinie "Haus der Zukunft" ist die gezielte Einbeziehung sozio-ökonomischer Forschungsansätze zur Analyse von nachhaltigen Technologien und zur Entwicklung technologiepolitischer Strategien. Nicht zuletzt durch die Anbindung an solche Technologieprogramme hat sich damit in Österreich ein hochinteressantes Anwendungsfeld für Techniksoziologie entwickelt, das eine zunehmende Anzahl von Forschungseinrichtungen anzieht. Basierend auf einer Analyse aktueller techniksoziologischer Forschungsprojekte in diesen Impulsprogrammen soll in diesem Beitrag eine erste Bilanz über dieses Forschungsfeld in Österreich gezogen und Überlegungen für weiterführende Forschungsperspektiven angestellt werden. Zwei beispielhafte Kernthemen, die in diesem Beitrag dargestellt werden sollen, sind: Die Rolle von AnwenderInnen in der Entwicklung und Verbreitung von Umwelttechnologien. Besonders im Themenfeld "ökologisches Bauen" wurde im Rahmen mehrerer Forschungsarbeiten die Perspektive von NutzerInnen ins Zentrum gestellt. Die techniksoziologische Annäherung an Innovations- und Diffusionsprozesse aus der Perspektive der individuellen und kulturellen Aneignung von Technologien rückt andere Aspekte in den Vordergrund als die bisher dominierende design-zentrierte Analyse von Technologien – so etwa Fragen der Ko-Evolution von Nutzungspraktiken und technischem Design. Einbeziehung von sozialwissenschaftlicher Technikforschung in die Entwicklung technologiepolitischer Strategien. Anschließend an internationale Diskussionen zur Nutzung techniksoziologischer Perspektiven für das Design von Technologiepolitik, wird in Projekten der angesprochenen Programmen versucht, Verfahren wie "Constructive Technology Assessment" oder "Transition Management" anzuwenden und weiterzuentwickeln. Ziel solcher Verfahren ist es, verbesserte Rahmenbedingungen für soziale Lern- und Reflexionsprozesse in der Technikgestaltung zu schaffen und technische Entwicklungen in den breiteren Zusammenhang 'soziotechnischer Regimes' zu stellen. Wie diese Beispiele zeigen, liegt das techniksoziologische Forschungsfeld, das in diesem Beitrag vorgestellt werden soll, an der Schnittstelle der Analyse von Umwelttechnologien in ihrem sozialen und kulturellen Kontext und der Praxis technologiebezogener Nachhaltigkeitsprogramme.

Introducing the perspective of science and technology studies (STS) to the analysis of the design and adoption of environmentally friendly technologies may help develop more effective and diversified strategies for an environmentally oriented technology policy. A case study of the organizational context and sociotechnical network of modern domestic bio-mass heating systems in Austria demonstrates the usefulness of such an approach. Mapping out the sociotechnical system and the guiding visions surrounding the domestic use of biomass and the dynamics of its development may help find effective levers for a technology policy focusing on regional and interactive strategies to influence the organizational context of a technology. In the case of biomass, the target of technology policy shifts from technological research and development to information programs and vocational training for installers, organizational infrastructures for the supply of wood chips, or the elaboration of innovative energy services.

Abstract
Mission-oriented innovation policies are increasingly recognized as an effective strategy for initiating and guiding far-reaching transition processes towards sustainability. In this article, we examine a successful early example of a national mission-oriented research and innovation (R&I) programme (Building of Tomorrow) that has had a significant impact on the building sector in Austria. The objective is to identify the factors and dynamics that contributed to the programme's success and helped maintain its momentum over a period of more than 20 years. By successively integrating different groups of researchers and practitioners, organizing programme development as an adaptive process of co-production, and regularly 'reinventing itself' by shifting focus and guiding ideas, the programme sustained its mission momentum. Several insights from this case study can provide valuable guidance for organizing mission-oriented programmes, particularly by avoiding an exclusive emphasis on 'mission orientation by design' at the expense of processes of sense-making, emergence, and reinvention.

Urban redevelopments create opportunities for experimenting with innovative infrastructural solutions towards transformative urban change. Novel solutions such as decentralised infrastructure systems can become essential strategies for helping cities meet multiple sustainability outcomes. However, achieving infrastructural change is a tremendous challenge given the obduracy of these large and complex systems. Assessing and monitoring ongoing infrastructure shift, transformative urban systems needs to provide a better understating of how to account for systemic change. This paper addresses the challenge of assessing and monitoring urban transformative change in a forward-looking and systematic way. A conceptual assessment framework is developed, which identifies key critical dimensions necessary to assess the transformative change potential in the context of urban redevelopment areas. These include the shaping of new expectations/visions, the establishment of new social networks, the creation of learning processes, institutional alignment, and the establishment of new modes of governance. The conceptual framework is applied in a case study of selected urban redevelopment sites in New Delhi, India. The framework was found useful which gaining a differentiated understanding of the transformation process and identifying the strengths and weaknesses within the urban redevelopment niche that can potentially support or obstruct the transition process.

Urban redevelopments create opportunities for experimenting with innovative infrastructural solutions towards transformative urban change. Novel solutions such as decentralised infrastructure systems can become essential strategies for helping cities meet multiple sustainability outcomes. However, achieving infrastructural change is a tremendous challenge given the obduracy of these large and complex systems. Assessing and monitoring ongoing infrastructure shift, transformative urban systems needs to provide a better understating of how to account for systemic change. This paper addresses the challenge of assessing and monitoring urban transformative change in a forward-looking and systematic way. A conceptual assessment framework is developed, which identifies key critical dimensions necessary to assess the transformative change potential in the context of urban redevelopment areas. These include the shaping of new expectations/visions, the establishment of new social networks, the creation of learning processes, institutional alignment, and the establishment of new modes of governance. The conceptual framework is applied in a case study of selected urban redevelopment sites in New Delhi, India. The framework was found useful which gaining a differentiated understanding of the transformation process and identifying the strengths and weaknesses within the urban redevelopment niche that can potentially support or obstruct the transition process.

Buildings are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. A transition to low-carbon housing requires the introduction of very energy-efficient buildings on a global scale and effective policy measures to support such a transformation. In this article, we study one such radical solution for energy-efficient buildings - the passive house - through a national case study in Sweden. We identify three societal domains where passive houses increasingly become embedded in the building sector: Firstly, the framing of passive houses in the public debate shifted from being presented as a radical alternative for a future low-carbon housing sector to being perceived as a specific low-energy building market segment. Secondly, passive houses have become part of a broader regional institutional and political context rather than a niche. Finally, passive houses have become a driving force for stricter building regulations but in a way that rather led to the assimilation of selected passive house features into existing sectoral structures. We conclude that the dynamics of change we find is rather a mainstreaming process of gradual adaptation of construction sector structures and passive houses than a radical transformation of the built environment or the diffusion of new building technology. ; Funding: Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten)Swedish Energy Agency

New building codes and stricter regulation of energy consumption and CO2 emissions have become key strategies to support the low-carbon transition of the housing sector. Such regulations rest heavily on setting performance targets for buildings and developing standardized calculation procedures for determining the compliance of new buildings with the building code. While developing such targets, standards and calculation tools are largely presented as a technocratic and expert-driven process; our argument is that these calculations are actually heavily imbued with politics. Empirically, the article analyses the implementation of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which makes nearly zero-energy buildings mandatory, into Swedish law. Studying the negotiations and controversies taking place in adapting the Swedish building code reveals how the power play of resourceful actors, the negotiation of interests and the different visions and valuations of what is regarded important for the future of the housing sector shape calculation procedures and how these are included in the new building code. Unpacking the political decisions and valuations underlying the calculative practices and technical details of the building code can be seen as an important step towards a more transparent public debate about the future of sustainable buildings. ; Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy Agency