Structural Changes of the Technosphere
Overview & Approach
The Department Structural Changes of the Technosphere (DT) investigates the long-term structural changes that have led humanity into the Anthropocene. Human societies are connected to the Earth system by temporally and locally variable ecological conditions, material flows and technical infrastructures, which in their entirety form the technosphere.
The aim of the department’s research is to understand the characteristics and makrodynamics of the complex adaptive system that has emerged with the addition of the technosphere to the Earth system. In close cooperation with the other departments, the DT is researching structural changes of the technosphere by combining historical perspectives and studies with the analysis and modelling of the behaviour of complex adaptive systems. This approach is used to investigate the emergence and long-term transformations of the technosphere and its subsystems with a view to the role of thresholds, tipping points, and opportunities for intervention. Key questions are:
- How do the various components of the human–Earth system interact, how have they developed together, and what does this tell us about possible future developments and (unintended) consequences?
- What can we learn from history about system boundaries, feedback loops, path dependencies, and structural obstacles to sustainability in the interaction between humans and the Earth system?
- What kind of knowledge and what scientific efforts are required to adapt the design of the technosphere to the challenges of the Anthropocene?
The department works primarily at the theoretical level and on the basis of modelling of historical processes.
Based on developments by partners from Arizona State University the department is researching collective decision-making informed by modelling and simulation approaches. Currently, we develop decision-scenarios for various sustainability challenges (for instance concerning sustainable energy systems, supply chains, groundwater usage and pollution, or climate-induced mobility).
Furthermore, the DT has been developing domain-specific AI expert systems for transdisciplinary research and realized several exhibition projects. The department has been active in the world-wide network Anthropocene Commons as well as field work endeavours.
