Waag Futurelab starts in May 2025
- info1765125
- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
It officially launch as a Zoöp to explore alternative, ecological ways of technology design and use.
Waag Futurelab is the first Zoöp that works with society as a research community, working on technology based on public values. A Zoöp is a form of organization that focuses on people and organizations as part of ecosystems. Zoöps strive for a reciprocal relationship between organization and ecology.
A lot of investments are done in technology, in the hope that it can save us from the climate crisis. At the same time, the ecological costs of these technologies are enormous. Judith Veenkamp, head of Waag's Urban Ecology lab, says:
‘A lot of hope is being pinned on the role (digital) technology can play in shaping the big transitions like climate, energy and food. At the same time, this technology is extractive: from the natural resources needed to get the technology working, to the data it extracts from society. This is at odds with a healthy democracy and ecology.’
As a Zoöp, Waag will explore alternative, ecological ways of technology design and use within its own work. Some crucial questions they will ask are:
We will critically reflect on our language: who is the audience we are targeting with the public stack?
Do they include life forms other than humans?
And are animals and other organisms also citizens in the Smart Citizens Lab?
We are waiting for the answers.
