Technologies with long-term effects pose risks for present and future generations. This interdisciplinary research group examines the social and cultural embeddedness of these long-term technological projects.

Long-term technologies, such as nuclear waste repositories, affect present and future generations and always involve certain risks. When dealing with the social and cultural embeddedness of such technologies, modern societies face a paradox: they cannot foresee the future or plan with certainty, but they cannot do without planning either. How can future generations be protected from the harmful consequences of long-term technological projects?

The research group will work towards answering this question in two main areas.

In the first area, the research group will focus on the empirical example of nuclear waste repositories. Even if the problem of the disposal of nuclear waste is technically resolved, in the long run such a project will only be safe if societal and cultural factors are taken into account. Among other things, it is necessary to counteract the gradual social amnesia about risks and dangers of nuclear waste, which poses a major challenge for society, especially over long periods of time.

In the second area, the research group broadens its perspective to consider how possible technological futures are reflected in those institutions and practices of the present which promise to minimise the hazardous potential of newer technologies. This question is relevant to technological long-term projects since the extent to which technologies will pose future risks cannot yet be assessed. In this focus area, the working group will consider newer technologies which are generally associated with societal risks, such as large-scale language models, genetic engineering and geoengineering.