TECHSUS · Technology for Sustainability in Organisations: Case Studies on Agricultural Production

Technology for Sustainability in Organisations: Case Studies on Agricultural Production

In the contemporary world, technological solutions to the ecological challenges have received a central role. Due to the robust political commitment to technological progress in environmental policy and related path dependencies, modern societies and organizations are increasingly contingent on technological systematizations. The development and adoption of increasingly advanced technological products and processes are taken for granted, and policies persist largely unquestioned. In the context of agriculture, the development and implementation of new technology is considered to be central in the future of food production and particularly critical in support of sustainable modes of agricultural production. This builds on a problematic assumption that increasing technology use and advancement are a desired phenomenon, creating positive changes. Such techno-optimism is grounded on a variety of emotional and rational aspects depending on the context at issue. The key ones, which perhaps have the most significant implications to sustainability theory and practice, are the beliefs in progress and the empirically ungrounded claims of decoupling environmental damage from economic growth. As many governmental incentives and management models still encourage inertia rather than transitions towards sustainable agricultural production, the project has great importance for society. Despite several ecological benefits of small-scale and less intensive farming methods (i.e. low degree of technology) and the rising consumer demand on sustainable produce, market shares of non-conventionally produced food remain small. Also, the matter-energy throughput of societies continues to increase. The often-higher, short-term productivity of large-scale and intensive agriculture (i.e. high degree of technology), as an outcome of greater use of external input factors, such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, is too attractive to farmers struggling with profitability. The purpose of the project was to shed light on the question concerning the role of technology in organizing for ecological sustainability. By examining this link between technology and sustainability, the project aimed at outlining an interdisciplinary understanding on the potential and limitations of technology-driven change. The project asked: how ecological is the kind of change that technologies are able to produce? In other words, how much can we expect from technology in the quest of ecological sustainability?

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз