Person:
Hielscher, Sabine

Profilbild

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1416-5733

Nachname

Hielscher

Vorname

Sabine

Affiliation

Forschungsvorhaben

Organisationseinheiten

Filter

20252

Einstellungen

Suchergebnisse

Gerade angezeigt 1 - 2 von 2
  • Vorschaubild
    Veröffentlichung
    Digital circular economy: a new perspective on digitalisation as a driver for sustainability?
    (2025) Klusch, Christina; Hielscher, Sabine; Institut für Ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW); Umweltbundesamt; Beckert, Barbara
    The European Green Deal states that moving from a linear to a circular economy is a key strategy to reduce resource consumption by repairing, reusing, remanufacturing, and recycling materials and products. Yet, the establishment of a circular economy in the European Union (EU) is still in an early stage. This report thus outlines how digitalisation can support the implementation of a circular economy and discusses the key role that governance for circularity can play in this context. The overall aim is to formulate recommendations for priorities for action, which the German government can link to the activities of the European Commission. The recommendations are based on an analysis of the role of Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the EU regarding topics related to digitalisation and sustainability (REPORT 1), an expert workshop on digital circular economy (DCE) carried out in April 2022 and a literature review that deepened some of the workshop discussions. The analysis found that the potentials of a DCE are manifold and relate to improving products and business models along the entire circular value chain. Underlying these potentials is often the use of digital technologies for product tracking and monitoring as well as for a transparent digital data exchange. Further, it is argued that governance for circularity can be a key issue to empower stakeholders to move towards a DCE. Based on these findings, recommendations for EU and national policy makers are outlined to support the development of a systemic and coherent strategy for a DCE within the EU.
  • Vorschaubild
    Veröffentlichung
    Digital sufficiency: A new perspective on digitalisation as a driver for sustainability?
    (2025) Hielscher, Sabine; Schmelzle, Frieder; Institut für Ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW); Umweltbundesamt; Beckert, Barbara
    The world is entering a digital era that changes everyday business practices and lifestyles. Digital technologies are said to support sustainable development and create untapped potentials in many areas, for instance, by reducing energy and resource consumption. However, social and ecological drawbacks have become much more apparent where digitalisation has not lived up to its ascribed potentials. Over the past years, voices have become louder advocating for a green and digital twin transition. Similarly, the European Commission has supported the twin transition by setting it as a priority in line with the European Green Deal. This report presents project findings on how to support the twin transition through a concept of digital sufficiency. A premise of sufficiency as a guiding principle for the digital transformation is that technological innovation alone cannot solve societal problems. Unsustainable practices and behaviours must be either reduced or replaced by sustainable alternatives. The aim of this report is to support the German government’s position in EU debates and to formulate recommendations for priorities for action, which the government can link to the activities of the European Commission. This is done by drawing on an analysis of the role of the German Council Presidency in supporting the twin transition in Europe, both an online survey and an expert workshop on digital sufficiency as well as a literature analysis to deepen some of the expert discussions. Our analyses find that although digital sufficiency has potentials to bring new perspectives into existing debates, work on the concept is still in its infancy. Future work needs to frame the concept and link it to existing policy debates to make it relevant for policy. This report provides the first building block towards carrying out this work and outlines policy recommendations towards supporting the twin transition through digital sufficiency.