Bits & Bäume – Conference 2022 The conference for digitalisation and sustainability
Bits & Bäume is the largest German civil society alliance at the nexus of sustainability and digitalisation. It tackles issues such as the raw material and electricity needs of digital devices, data sufficiency, cooperative platform economies, smart energy grids, connected mobility and increasing monopolisation in the digital economy. The initial idea for the first Bits & Bäume conference in 2018 has been developed within the junior research group “Digitalisation and Sustainability” at IÖW and TU Berlin. The engagement of a wide range of actors and regional groups has turned Bits & Bäume into a movement over the years. The second Bits & Bäume Conference 2022 focused on shaping society and politics for an inclusive and just digital transformation. Various formats from workshops, forums, panels and presentations to a Pitch & Thrive addressed how a sustainable digital transformation can be achieved. The conference provided a forum where people from the fields of environmental protection, nature conservation, digital policy, development cooperation and science could work together to set social and political change in motion.
As one of the supporting organisations of the Bits & Bäume Conference 2022, the IÖW was involved in the programme development, public relations and moderation.
With the conference, the 13 supporting organisations published a position paper containing more than sixty demands from the fields of environment, climate and nature protection, digital policy, development cooperation and science. These cover the topics of digitalisation within planetary boundaries, global justice and regional self-determination, redistribution of technological power, democracy and participation, equitable digitalisation, sustainable technology design and social issues, as well as protection of digital infrastructure and IT security. The political requirements provide the basis for constructive cooperation, political organisation and implementation in the future.
