Real laboratories should focus primarily on sustainability

09/19/2023

Source: Energy & Management Powernews

Eco-Institute and Network Reallabore welcome the planned development of a reallabore law. However, they also have concrete expectations for the design.

In a statement on the new regulations planned by the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWK), the network "Reallabore der Nachhaltigkeit" (Reallabs of Sustainability) urges above all that sustainability, openness to results and social discourse should be in the foreground when testing technical and social innovations in reallabs.

"Whether artificial intelligence or the accelerated expansion of wind energy - future innovations need social discourse in which all interested stakeholders, especially from civil society, can participate," explains Dr. Regina Rhodius, an expert in reallaboratory research at the Öko-Institut. This is the only way that broad social coalitions can emerge, which can then also support challenging situations, for example in sustainability transformation.

The network also emphasizes that effective reallabs must fulfill fundamental characteristics in order to develop their full potential. The overarching standards mentioned in the BMWK's green paper on reallabs should therefore be supplemented by criteria such as research orientation, stakeholder diversity, participation and education.

Most importantly, the network emphasizes the consistent orientation of reallabs to sustainability goals for the legal design of experimental spaces. Thus, it should be made mandatory in the new law that reallabs set sustainability as the first premise for testing innovations. Dr. Oliver Parodi, spokesman for the Network of Reallabs of Sustainability: "Anything else would not only be outmoded, but also politically irresponsible."

In reallabs, innovative ideas and new social practices can be developed, tested and researched in a concrete and practical way. The interaction of actors working across sectors, industries, disciplines and technologies plays an important role. The Reallabors of Sustainability network comprises 50 organizations and more than 80 active and completed reallabs in German-speaking countries.

Author: Günter Drewnitzky