Sustainable Digitalisation – Book gives 28 Impulses

From artificial intelligence and the environmental impact of the digital economy to global justice: the digital transformation presents numerous challenges and risks. The book ‘Shaping Digital Transformation for a Sustainable Society’ shows how society can become digitally sustainable. It contains 28 contributions from 68 authors hailing from civil society, research, and practical experience, discussing challenges of digitalisation and how digital politics can and must be designed for sustainabilty. You can download the open access publication for free.

The volume congregates contributions from the Bits & Bäume community, which came together in 2022 for the second conference on digitalisation and sustainability with 2,500 participants in Berlin. The conference was jointly organised by 13 organisations from the fields of environmental protection, digital policy, development policy, and science.

Sustainable digitalisation can become a reality

Including illustrations and infographics, the volume is offering insights on topics such as designing artificial intelligence for sustainable transformation or conducting life cycle assessments of software. The authors show how digital tools can help neighbourhoods share regionally generated renewable electricity and how new applications are contributing to transform agriculture in a social-ecological way.

Book for beginners and experts

The 150-page book caters to readers seeking both introductory material and in-depth knowledge. It strives to amplify the voice of civil society, ensuring their perspectives are considered in the ongoing efforts to align digitisation with sustainability goals. This way, the book aims to help ensure that the voice of civil society is heard in the reorientation of digitalisation towards a sustainable future.

The Bits & Bäume Conference 2022 and this subsequent publication were funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV). The work of Germanwatch and the Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung (FIfF) in the context of the conference was funded by Stiftung Mercator.

Related Links

• The book ‘Shaping Digital Transformation for a Sustainable Society’ (DOI: https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-17526)
• More about Bits & Bäume: https://bits-und-baeume.org
  

About Bits & Bäume

Bits & Bäume is the largest Germany-wide civil society network at the interface between digitalisation and sustainability. It consists of 13 organisations from the fields of environmental and climate protection, digital policy, development policy, and science as well as a growing community. Bits & Bäume brings together the environmental, digital, and climate movements and puts the topic on the public and political agenda. In 2018 and 2022, the network organised the Bits & Bäume conference for digitalisation and sustainability in Berlin.