Starts 22 May 2025
Ends 23 May 2025
Against the backdrop of current societal challenges, the debate surrounding a new ‘great transformation’, and emerging questions regarding the ‘value-neutrality’ of science, the TRAWOS Institute at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is hosting a conference on 22 and 23 May 2025 entitled “Transformative (Social) Science? Opportunities, Limits and Dangers of a Claim to Shaping Society”. Organised by the BMBF projects “ATRAKTIV” and “BePart”, the event will open with a double keynote address by Dr Jan Peter Voß (RWTH Aachen) and Dr Stefan Schweiger (TH Ingolstadt), who will examine the tension between transformative science and democracy, as well as the role of non-transformative science. In six thematic panels, speakers will discuss key questions regarding the significance and limits of transformative science, its role in regional development, and its ethical implications. Particular attention will be paid to the challenges of the practical implementation of transformative research, the development of concrete tools, and a critical examination of the incorporation of imperatives of progress into one’s own research on transformation and structural change. The conference is aimed at researchers from all disciplines as well as practitioners and, in addition to the presentations, offers opportunities for discussion and networking. For those unable to attend the conference without additional funding, there is the possibility of having travel and accommodation costs reimbursed, subject to prior agreement.
