Green technologies: Opportunities and challenges for sustainable digitalisation working for climate

The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society organises multi-stakeholder dialogues as well as public events in eight countries within the context of the Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Global Digital Transformation project. This event is organised in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Hanoi.

Green technologies: Opportunities and challenges for sustainable digitalisation working for climate

25 November 2022, 4:30 – 8:00pm
Goethe-Institut Hanoi, 56-58-60 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

Registration

The effects of climate change have been witnessed worldwide, glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, river and lake ice is breaking up earlier, plant and animal geographic ranges are shifting, and plants and trees are blooming sooner. Droughts, wildfires, and extreme rainfall are happening faster than scientists previously assessed. In response to that, green technologies are considered the ones that provide innovative solutions to challenges in environmental protection, resource conservation and energy.

In our time, the digital and sustainable transformation of societies are two defining processes. Digitalisation is often framed as a tool for sustainable development. It increases productivity in all spheres of industry, agriculture, health, education and all kinds of infrastructure in transportation and other service industries and for our everyday life. One would think that higher efficiency in all sectors should contribute to more sustainability, especially a fight against climate change. However, they have also been associated with rebound effects such as increased energy consumption.

At this event, we will discuss the opportunities and challenges that digital technologies offer to address societal challenges such as climate change. In particular, we want to explore the opportunities of green entrepreneurship and digital technologies for climate change mitigation in Vietnam.

What opportunities and risks does digitalisation hold for sustainable development in general and the fight against climate change in particular? Will digitalisation lead to a smart green world in which everyone benefits from technological progress? Or is there no such thing as green growth and digital technologies will only exceed our planetary boundaries and climate protection goals?

The event is organised as part of the Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Global Digital Transformation (SET) research project, which addresses issues at the intersection of digital technologies and sustainability through different formats of research and knowledge transfer. In Vietnam, the focus of the SET project has been on conducting a research sprint “Green Technology, Entrepreneurship & Climate” in collaboration with the GIZ Digital Transformation Centers in Vietnam and Mexico. Therefore, the German Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) brings together an international group of 11 interdisciplinary expert researchers. The goal of the onsite program in Hanoi is to enable an exchange between the researchers and representatives from academia, civil society, public administration and the private sector in Vietnam.

Organiser

The Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) Berlin, Germany and the Goethe-Institut Hanoi

Agenda

Unfortunately there will be no live stream available. 

Speakers

Dr. Georg von Richthofen is senior researcher in the Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Society research group at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and lead of the research project Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Global Digital Transformation. His research focuses on three areas: digitalisation and changing nature of work; AI, digital entrepreneurship and sustainability; and consumer behaviour, management, and wellbeing in the sharing economy.

Do Van Nguyet is the founder and director of Live & Learn for Environment and Community, a Vietnamese NGO. Her NGO has been widely recognized as an innovative organization in youth development, climate change education and active multi-stakeholders engagement for addressing air pollution and urban environmental management.

Hoang Duc Vuong is the Chairman of VietCycle Corporation, with more than 20 years of experience in the plastic waste collection and recyclying industry. He is also a member of the Working Group of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, involved in EPR policy development.

Moderation

Christian Grauvogel is the Head of Dialogue and Knowledge Transfer at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), and the Project Coordinator in the research and transfer project Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Global Digital Transformation (SET).