Sustainable technology in society: introduction

We live in a technological world. In our everyday life we use technologies all the time when we cook, communicate and travel. Businesses cannot operate without technologies. Governments are also much concerned with technologies and innovation, e.g. as a problem solver for sustainability challenges, as engines of economic growth or as potential sources of major risks. In the learning line Technology in Societyyou develop a deep understanding of the interrelationship between technologies and their social and economic context. Challenging and enlightening cases are discussed, in particular from the field of sustainable innovation. Different perspectives from the field of Sustainability Transitions and Science and Technology Studies (STS) are offered to understand and govern these cases and relationships. These include among others large technical systems theory, actor-network theory, social construction of technology, sociotechnical scenario’s, strategic niche management and the multi-level perspective.

As an introductory course to the learning line Technology in Society, 0SV10 introduces students to
(1) basic concepts and theories about society (such as: social groups, stakeholders, progress, moral values, etc.);
(2) the intertwinement of sustainable innovation with social, political and ethical issues (basic introduction to the discipline of STS);
(3) the holistic study of innovation as a sociotechnical process in a specific time, place, and stakeholder setting (students learn to 'follow the process');
(4) tensions and controversies between stakeholders and ways how to analyze them;

0SV10 introduces these issues by means of exemplary contemporary and historical real-life innovation cases. It combines lectures & readings with group assignments, in which student groups study a particular sociotechnical controversy.

Knowledge:
After the course, students will be able to recognize, explain and analyze the interrelation of technology and society,  and the challenges this brings to sustainable innovation processes using basic concepts (e.g. stakeholders, progress, momentum, moral values, mediation, power relations, governance, trade-offs of SDGs, monitoring of sustainability) and theories of Science and Technology Studies (e.g. Large Technical Systems (LTS) framework and the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) framework). This way, students adopt a way of analyzing sustainable innovation holistically, as a sociotechnical process in a specific time, place, and stakeholder setting.

Specific learning outcomes
After this course, the student is able to:

• Explain the interrelation of technology and society and the challenges this interweavement brings to processes of sustainable innovation.
• explain basic concepts of sustainable innovation, such as development, growth, socio-technical system, stakeholders, mediation, politics of artifacts, governance of change and monitoring of sustainable development.
• discuss how sustainable innovation intertwines with organizational, social, political and ethical issues.
• discuss different types of relations between stakeholders, artifacts and issues in a process of sustainable innovation, such as power relations, synergies and trade-offs.
• analyze a case of sustainable innovation using different frameworks, including the large technical systems framework and the social construction of technology framework.

Skills:
After this course, students have improved their presentation skills.

Specific learning outcomes
After this course, the student is able to:

• Prepare and present a presentation in a limited time frame, in front of students and lecturers, in a formal setting, taking into account the structure of the presentation (opening, middle, ending), verbal and non-verbal behavior and visual aids (e.g. slides).

You must meet the following requirements

• Registered for a degree programme other than
• HBO-TOP Applied Physics, Pre-Master

• Assignment sources: required literature and self-searched additional material
• TU/e open source articles or book chapters