AUTHORS: Krisztina Korpassy – Thorfinn Stainforth

This online discussion forum, managed by IEEP with the support of the Institute of Research for Ecological Economy, will gather digital and environmental Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to address the most burning issues related to digitalisation, sustainability and environmental justice. The online forum will run until 28 January 2022. 

The topic of environmental justice in the digital age is currently underexplored. To address this topic, build bridges and share ideas and information between key civil society organisations working in digital and environmental matters, we have launched an online discussion forum. 

The forum is moderated by IEEP and, in order to facilitate the conversation, it is open only to experts in the field of digitalisation, sustainability and environmental justice. Interested participants can request to become a contributor by contacting Krisztina Korpassy, Communications and Policy Assistant, at kkorpassy@ieep.eu.

Contributors to the forum will be asked to reply and comment on questions published on the website in writing, suggest their own topics, and eventually, respond to the comments of other participants. Participation is free and completely voluntary.

The forum will address the following 6 topics:  

• Access to environmental information: Is digitalisation improving access to environmental information? 
• Participation in environmental decision-making: Is digitalisation improving participation in environmental decision-making for citizens (top-down decision-making)? 
• Empowering civil society: How can digitalisation be directed to help ‘bottom-up’ civil society environmental initiatives succeed? 
• Systemic change: How are digitalisation and the need for systemic environmental change related? 
• Human rights and environmental effects of ICT manufacturing and life cycle: How to mitigate environmental and human rights impacts of ICT manufacturing and recycling? 
• Justice/discrimination in digital environmental technologies: What are the justice/discrimination implications of digital technologies that are supposed to improve environmental sustainability? 

The forum will be live until 28 January. After that date, the ideas and comments provided by participants will be summarised in a report. The outcomes will contribute to the work of the German Environment Agency (UBA), on matters related to digitalisation and sustainability and form the basis of policy recommendations. A draft report will be shared with participants on 14 February to collect their comments and feedback.

Interested professionals who would like to join the discussion or have any questions can contact Krisztina Korpassy kkorpassy@ieep.eu. Participation in this online forum is granted only upon demand: once we receive your request to participate, we will come back to you to grant you access to the website. 

The forum is managed by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and supported by the Institute for Economy Ecological Research (IÖW), the German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).