Ecological modernization

Ecological modernization is an analytical and strategic approach of environmental action in the state, economy and society. Ecological modernization is aimed at a lasting, sustainable co-evolution of man and nature, which includes an active use of the environment and therefore environmental design by the people.

Origin and core elements of the approach

The term " ecological modernization " was first used in 1982 by Martin Janicke, in a speech at the Berlin House of Representatives. In the following years, from an interdisciplinary political, economic and social-scientific approach ( Volkmar J. Hartje, Joseph Huber, Udo Ernst Simonis, Volker Prittwitz, Klaus W. Zimmermann) developed in publications by authors of the so-called "Berlin School". By the 1990s, the concept was a social scientific development, of modernization and innovation theoretical foundation. At the same time other authors made ​​contributions to the cause, including Arthur Rosenfeld, Amory Lovins, Donald Huisingh, René Kemp, Hans -Christoph Binswanger and Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker. In Europe and beyond, the approach in particular through contributions by Maarten Hajer, Lennart J. Lundqvist, Arthur Mol, David Sonnenfeld, Gerd Spaargaren, Albert Weale, inter alia, was widespread. By the 2000s the approach has generally been included in the international literature, especially in Japan and China (see mol / Sun box / Spaagaren 2009). In politics, ecological modernization is one of the relevant mission statements. In different focuses in detail, it is always about the key ecological role of technological development and its economic, political- institutional and cultural conditions and control.

The approach developed in overcoming the earlier debate on the limits of growth in the "green" growth opponents and old industrial growth defender blocked each other. Outs resulted from ideas of organic growth ( life cycle theories ) as well as qualitative growth. Added to this was the idea that industrial development brings not only for the particular stage of development typical social and environmental problems, but at the same time the means and possibilities opens up, in the course of further development to handle these problems successfully. Social evolution extends path-dependent. One can make the modernization and industrialization history neither reversed nor stop nor get out of it, but you can in trail use remaining degrees of freedom for ecological readjustments, namely using the resources of modern society, in particular science and technology as well as legal and money, on the basis renewed cultural and political content, here specifically environmental awareness, environmental ethics, environmental policy and environment-oriented behaviors.

A core concept of ecological modernization is the scale-up of resources and lowering productivity, that is, the ever more efficient and more compatible with nature use of raw materials, energy and environmental media ( soil, water, air). Behind this was the environmental economic insight that ecology and economy need not be opposites. When the economy the principles of good financial management applies also to ecological aspects, in other words, if it involves environmental aspects in their production functions and calculations rather than hide ( internalize instead externalize ), it means greening not disability further growth and progress, but becomes the basis for. Accordingly, ecological modernization in the enlightened self-interest of Homo economicus is. The increase in environmental productivity is just such a source of income as it is now, the labor and capital productivity. Therefore also a seamless transition to the development of corporate environmental management systems resulted.

Technologically postulated the approach of ecological modernization a priority of integrated environmental protection compared to downstream measures. Downstream measures (also known as end- of-pipe, downstream, additive called ) are, for example, waste gas treatment, sewage treatment or incineration. As an integrated solutions in contrast, measures were in recycling and ever increasing efficiency, especially the material and energy efficiency, and above all product and process innovations.

In the course of the 1980s - 90s, a number of technological approaches have been developed which contribute in their own way depending on the ecological modernization of the value chain: recycling, recycling, industrial composite use of co-products and waste (industrial symbiosis ); sustainable resource management; clean technologies (eg, water, wind, solar or hydrogen instead of fossil fuels ); Substitution of harmful substances ( eg solvents or heavy metals ); resource-saving and environmentally friendly product design; Biomimicry ( develop products according to the model of nature ); advanced downstream technologies.

There is traditionally a tension between nature protection and technical environment. Ecological modernization is not a conservative conservation program that would maintain or bring about a certain state of nature. Nature knows no ideal archetype that could be used as an absolute reference state. There is only evolution, which continues successfully or does not. Ecological modernization is aimed at a lasting, sustainable co-evolution of man and nature, which includes an active use of the environment and therefore environmental design by the people.

Tighter and more understanding

One can distinguish a closer, middle and comprehensive understanding of ecological modernization. All three are valid and consistent.

The narrower concept of ecological modernization is equally bring an engineering and means existing product lines, industrial facilities and infrastructure on the cutting edge of knowledge and technology, or even introduce new technologies that have a better environmental performance than the previous state of knowledge and the technology.

In a medium-range understanding of ecological modernization includes additional legal and financial aspects, so an amendment of legal regulations and modernization of institutions and professions as well as real and financial reality. The institutions and instruments of public policy be viewed here along with financing and market mechanisms as the control lever through which the greening of agriculture, energy, raw material production, manufacture goods, services, and consumer behavior can cause.

Ecological modernization in a comprehensive sense, moreover, relates to its continuing social sciences and humanities theory contexts. This includes cultural aspects such as the environment-oriented transformation of values ​​and basic beliefs, attitudes, dependent on the level of development of life and milieu- specific lifestyles, as well as processes of environmental communication and political opinion and will formation. These social movements originated historically recurring a key role, most recently the new social movements, in particular the environmental movement.

The relevant theory contexts include the following:

• The historical, institutional modernization theory, in particular the sociology of culture, according to Max Weber, acts in the rationalization as a general development paradigm of modern society in all its aspects, or the theory of the modern nation- state formation by Rokkan, or the theory of pluralistic processes of modernization to Eisenstadt. Here belongs beyond the theory of further modernization by Zapf and Tyriakian. The concept of reflexive modernization by Beck and Giddens is here new connections, and if one does not interpret this in the sense of a critical- self-referential sequel, as the end of the history of progress.

• The materialistic modernization theory according to Karl Marx, which focuses on the development of the productive forces and the associated relations of production into view, in connection therewith, the world system theory by Wallerstein.

• Economic modernization and innovation theory based on Kondratieff and Schumpeter.

Although the narrower and broader concepts of ecological modernization are not mutually exclusive, here occasionally show some understanding barriers. To fail to recognize scientists and engineers typically the complexity of social causalities, which eventually lead to environmental effects or a change in the environmental action. Conversely, lack social sciences and the humanities often of knowledge and understanding regarding the key ecological function of the technology and industrial value chains.

Environmental problems are the opinion of the authors of the ecological modernization disorders of geo - and biosphere metabolism between man and nature. The metabolism is accomplished by effective material activeness of the people, by material production and consumption, through work, which is in modern society highly technologically shaped and potentiated work. The central role of technology in the approach of ecological modernization arises therefore not a technocratic or manic techno attitude, but the fact of the matter itself

CONTINUED concepts

Societal metabolism

An important analytical basis for processes of ecological modernization has been the model of the industrial metabolism by Robert Ayres or the social metabolism to Marina Fischer- Kowalski with the 1990s. This, in turn, connect the research directions of the LCA ( life cycle assessment ) and the material and energy flow analysis.

You can also return this strand of research on Karl Marx, who in turn William Petty anknüpfte: The earth is the mother, the work of the father of social production, inextricably linked in the need of the metabolism between man and nature. This is followed knüpften recently at the Social Anthropology of Cultural Ecology and the Cultural Materialism by Marvin Harris: The level of development of cultures is determined by the level of development of its productive forces ( technology, communication and organizational forms). This is true for primitive as well as traditional and modern societies. Those with the higher productivity are the superior who possibly survive in the long term presence of competitors populations because their productive forces allow a better use of resources and sinks, which increases the ecological carrying capacity of their habitat. Cultures that undermine the ecological carrying capacity of its environment, go under.

Sustainable development and environmental innovation

After precursors in the field of forest science of the 18th century the concept of sustainable development in 1987 ( Brundtland Report ), and with the decisions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (" Rio Earth Summit" ) in 1992 was a global vision of a global, environmentally and socially sustainable development. Sustainable development is normatively defined in terms of a "magic triangle target ": further industrial development is to be achieved, together with its environmental and social impact, and indeed in the long term, so that future generations should not be worse off than the living now.

Comparing the approaches of sustainable development and ecological modernization with each other, then shows a certain overlap. In that regard, it is two intertwined threads of discourse. About individual European members of the Rio preparatory Brundtland Commission core aspects of ecological modernization in the concept of sustainable development are incorporated. A similarly strong influence exercised the direction of Ecological Economics. One could say that ecological modernization is a strategy that probably the main strategy to achieve the environmental goals of sustainable development.

Since Rio ensued a discussion as to whether ecological sustainability is more likely to achieve by sufficiency or efficiency. Sufficiency in this context, a strategy of frugality, the voluntary consumption waiver or the legally prescribed quota of Ressourcenverbauch and environmental impact. Such a perspective was occupied mainly by non-governmental organizations. In contrast, presented the strategy of technological efficiency increase the starting point for the industrial and financial world dar.

Both approaches is opposed, however, that they fall short in certain respects. The ideals of a frugal lifestyle ( sufficiency) find precise forming citizens a certain rhetorical consent. However, they are not able to connect culturally and politically in the vast majority of the population, and certainly not in emerging and developing countries. Moreover, a mere quantitative reduction of environmental pollution means although a preliminary displacement given limits of growth, but not a structural scale-up of the ecological carrying capacity.

This applies equally to a strategy of increasing efficiency, which aims to reduce the resource and lowering input. In addition, can mean the wrong object increase efficiency progress. For example, combustion techniques on a permanent basis with fossil fuels per se ecologically unsustainable, it makes only limited sense to burn more efficiently (Example 3 -liter car ). Rather, it is important to introduce new propulsion systems for vehicles (eg electric motors that are powered by fuel cells or clean electricity from the power outlet ).

Above all, the advocates of efficiency strategy misjudged the actual function of increasing efficiency in the course of going through learning curves: increasing efficiency is a development mechanism in the life cycle of systems to stabilize and continue their growth to life- cyclic- path-dependent reaching a state of preservation. This results in a rebound effect, ie, reduced input requirements are not implemented in less output, but from an equal amount of input yields is more output produced (eg cars with larger engines that drive more miles, so extend the range and in more transactions result ).

It was therefore necessary to bring in the sustainability discourse as much explicit until then a strategy of fundamental innovations to bear, so-called structural or systemic innovations, Schumpeter also based innovation (technology) or English. radical innovation called. These aim less thereon from, develop legacy systems incremental ( incremental process model), but especially with new, ecologically better adapted systems taking the place of the old set. One such innovation strategy has the approach of ecological modernization has always been of prime importance. Thus was the strategy of the mere increase of efficiency in the mid- 1990s to complement the strategy of improving the ecological consistency, also called metabolic consistency or English. Eco - effectiveness, technological environmental innovations that change the quality of the industrial metabolism so that it remains sustainable buildable in large volumes ( Huber 2004, Braungart / McDonough 2002).

This pulse flowed in the past few years into the new research and discourse strand of environmental innovations. The ecological modernization discourse is seen today primarily as an environmental innovation discourse continued ( Klemmer / teaching / Löbbe 1999 Weber / Hemmelskamp 2005, Olsthoorn / Wieczorek 2006).

Industrial Ecology

The direction of the Industrial Ecology was formed in the U.S. in the early 1990s (see Socolow 1994). Again, it is an analytical study approach as well as a strategic design approach, with the aim to provide the relationship between nature and society through technological and industrial innovation and reorganization on a permanently sustainable basis. Therefore, it is of industrial ecology to something the same as the ecological modernization. It is in fact more like two different names as two different paradigms. Nevertheless, can be identified characteristic differences:

The approach of ecological modernization evolved in Europe starting from the German-speaking countries and the Netherlands. The direction of industrial ecology is based in the U.S.. The second difference is that mainly engineers and economists came together in America on this research direction, while in Europe this group addition, political scientists, sociologists, historians, philosophers, educators and psychologists have played a significant role. This is a third difference arises concerning a narrower or broader understanding of the subject matter. The American Industrial Ecology is characterized by a narrower economic and engineering understanding of their subject. So today is a heavyweight of the relevant research and publications on topics such as recycling / recycling / composite production as well as on LCA ( life cycle ) and an ecological view of value chains (value chain, chain management). In the European research and discussion on ecological modernization and environmental innovations of these things are equally important, but beyond continue to find political- institutional, social and cultural aspects of strong consideration.