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Article by Josephine B. Schmitt and Samuel T. Simon in Weizenbaum series

Sustainability & Digitalization – What does our future look like?

Based on 100+ future visions, the article by Josephine B. Schmitt and Samuel T. Simon explores sustainability, digitalization, and collective future visions.

8. April 2025

What will the connection between sustainability and digitalization look like in 20 years? What challenges does digital transformation bring for our environment? And how can nature help us make digitalization more sustainable?

These questions are addressed in the article “What are people’s visions for the future when it comes to digital transformation and sustainability?” by Josephine B. Schmitt and Samuel T. Simon, published in the series of the Weizenbaum Institute by Nomos. Based on 109 drawn and painted visions of the future created at a festival in the Eifel in 2023, the study provides fascinating insights into collective future imaginaries. The paper offers a visual analysis of 109 future visions on digitalization, insights into creative research approaches beyond traditional settings, and concrete answers to the question of how digitalization can be made more sustainable.

Schmitt, J., & Simon, S. T. (2025). What are people’s visions for the future when it comes to digital transformation and sustainability? In T. Kox, A. Ullrich, & H. Zech (Eds.), Uncertain journeys into digital futures: Inter- and transdisciplinary research for mitigating wicked societal and environmental problems (1st ed., pp. 311–334). Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748947585-311