Entries by Flurina Wäspi

Why digital and sustainable transformation must happen simultaneously

Several 2022 reports from government and academic organisations contain the key message that sustainable development can be achieved using digital technologies. The report  ‹Digital Reset› (Digitalization for Sustainability, 2022) calls for using digital technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and resource waste in the agriculture, mobility, industry, and energy sectors. The researchers see digitalisation as […]

The Future of Democracy: Why the Trends of Participation and Deliberation Give Hope

What can be done when citizens do not trust their governments or do not exercise their rights of participation? Innovative approaches are needed and are being tested worldwide, including in Switzerland. The second article from the project “Demokratielabor Basel” gives an insight into new forms of citizen participation and their promise for the democracy of […]

Digitization and the Environment: Opportunities, Risks and the Need for Action

Thanks to the radically changed living and working conditions in times of COVID-19 (Corona virus disease 2019), many people have become acutely grateful for the benefits of digitization, even while having to confront some challenges in the application of digital tools. The year 2020 is already being hailed as “the year of digitization”[1]. But digitization […]