DiscGo

The purpose of the project is to better understand the governance of the dismantling of socio-technological systems. In the in­ter­na­tio­nal project network, we analyse technological politiy decisions that relate to the phase-out of established technologies (e.g., nuclear power, automobiles with combustion engines). With a view to the targeted termination of socio-technological systems, the project represents an alternative to traditional control research, which focuses primarily on the management of innovations.

• Are there (cross-technological) commonalities regarding the termination of socio-technological systems and related control efforts? What patterns can be identified?
• Which stakeholders are involved in the phase-out processes and how do they get involved?
• Are the abandonment of diverse technologies and corresponding governance efforts influenced by national or transnational developments and stakeholders?
• What opportunities and obstacles does the governance of discontinuation encounter?

To answer these questions, we use a combination of different methods, including case studies, network analyses and computer simulations.

The project comprises four teams in four countries, each responsible for a different case study:

• The shift away from the use of the combustion engine (TU Dortmund, Germany)
• The phase-out of nuclear energy (University of Sussex, UK)
• The banning of the pesticide DDT (National Institute fou Agronomic Research, France)
• The phase-out of the incandescent light bulb  (University of Twente, Netherlands)

The core results of the "Automobility" sub-study can be found in the following publications:

• Adelt, Fabian; Weyer, Johannes; Hoffmann, Sebastian; Ihrig, Andreas (2018): Simulation of the Governance of Complex Systems (SimCo): Basic Concepts and Experiments on Urban Transportation. In: JASSS 21 (2). DOI: 10.18564/jasss.3654

• Hoffmann, Sebastian; Weyer, Johannes; Longen, Jessica (2017): Discontinuation of the automobility regime? An integrated approach to multi-level governance. In: Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 103, S. 391–408. DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2017.06.016

• Longen, Jessica; Hoffmann, Sebastian; Weyer, Johannes (2015): „Governance of Discontinuation“ als neue Perspektive der sozialwissenschaftlichen TA. In: Alexander Bogner/Michael Decker/Mahshid Sotoudeh (Hg.), Responsible In­no­va­ti­on. Neue Impulse für die Technikfolgenabschätzung? Baden-Baden: Nomos, 121-128.

• Weyer, Johannes; Hoffmann, Sebastian; Longen, Jessica (2015): Achieving sustainable mobility. The discontinuation of the socio-technical regime of automobility (Soziologisches Arbeitspapier 44/2015). Dortmund: TU Dortmund.