Key topics of our activities and work can be assigned to the following fields:
Sustainability
In our work, we champion sustainability in ecology, economics, and society.
Sustainability
Sustainability and the VDW
The Federation of German Scientists has supported such deliberations since its foundation. It is actively involved in the discourse and deals with sustainability issues at its annual conferences and other events, in projects, study groups, and scientific studies. VDW members research and teach in these fields.
The concept of sustainability
The concept of sustainability describes the use of a regenerable system in such a way that this system is maintained in its essential characteristics and its stock can be renewed naturally, for both present and future generations. This means that renewable resources may only be used to the extent that their stocks are naturally replenished.
The three-pillar model of sustainable development
The concept of sustainability is made up of three components:
Ecological sustainability describes the goal of preserving nature and the environment for future generations. This includes the preservation of biodiversity, climate protection, the maintenance of cultural and landscape areas in their original form as well as the careful use of natural environment.
Economic sustainability calls for an economic system that provides a sustainable basis for income and prosperity. The protection of natural resources from exploitation is particularly important.
Social sustainability emphasizes distributive justice. Access to opportunities and the distribution of resources within societies as well as between developing, emerging, and industrialized countries should be equitable. The central goal is to combat poverty and meet the basic needs of present and future generations.
Peace & Security
As the German Pugwash-Group, we discuss issues of nuclear threats, armed conflicts, and global security.
Peace and Security
Security policy and the VDW
Peace and security policy issues are historically deeply rooted in the VDW. In its beginning, the VDW focused on issues of nuclear disarmament and arms control – as reflected particularly in the 1957 Göttingen Manifesto.
Peace is more than the antithesis of war. From a goal perspective of politics and society, peace refers not only to the containment of arbitrary violence but also to the reduction of existing injustices.
The founding act of the VDW is based on the Göttingen Manifesto of 1957 where prominent scientists spoke out against plans for nuclear armament of the German armed forces. At the same time, they committed to a policy of peace: A policy that aims to civilize conflict behavior permanently as well as globally.
Disarmament in this context amounts to downscaling or eliminating armories, which usually takes place through multilateral agreements. The 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is one of the most important disarmament agreements. It has by now been ratified by 190 states. By signing the NPT, they committed themselves to complete nuclear disarmament, non-acquisition of nuclear weapons, and peaceful use of nuclear energy. [1]
Arms controls remain an important tool for expanding and securing peace; they are based on arms conventions that prohibit the use of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. To guarantee compliance with further development and renewal of these conventions, not only signatory states are called upon, but also non-governmental organizations and civil society. This shows how crucial VDW’s expertise will continue to be in the field of disarmament in the future.
VDW contributes to this by working to ensure that scientists are aware of the risks and their responsibilities in research. This awareness should help avert or eliminate dangers to people as well as the environment.
In the words of our founding member Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker: „I dare to optimistically allege that if science generates dangers to the survival of nature, then precisely this science will also be able to identify ways to avoid or overcome these dangers.“ [2] However, one should also consider his words of warning: „Either we abolish war, or war abolishes us.“ [3]
[1] Wissenschaftlicher Dienst des Europäischen Parlaments: Vertrag über die Nichtverbreitung von Kernwaffen (NVV). Sachstand, 11.04.2016 (URL: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/de/document.html?reference=EPRS_IDA%282016%29580905).
[2] Manfred Ronzheimer: Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker. Kernphysiker und Friedensforscher, in: TAZ Die Tageszeitung, 07.07.2012 (URL: http://www.taz.de/!5089651/ last accessed am 25.09.2018).
[3] Horst Afheldt: Kalter Krieg, Rüstung, Rüstungskontrolle und die Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler, in: Stephan Albrecht u.a. (Hrsg.): Wissenschaft, Verantwortung, Frieden: 50 Jahre VDW; Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin 2009, p. 297.
Socio-economic & Ecological Transformation
Together with science, politics, and society, we are engaged in various projects for a socio-economically and ecologically sustainable future.
Socio-economic & Ecological Transformation
Societal transformation and the VDW
Together with science, politics, and society, we are engaged in various projects for a socio-economically and ecologically sustainable future.
With a socio-economic and ecological transformation, we strive to create a future worth living for present as well as future generations. Social developments both in individual countries and globally, as well as the ecological limits to growth, call for such a transformation. The question is therefore not whether social change is necessary, but how and by what means we shape and implement it.
The Federation of German Scientists is actively involved in shaping this dialogue on an interdisciplinary basis and providing impetus for a socio-economic and ecological transformation. In addition, it contributes to the development and implementation of solutions within the framework of various projects and events.
Technological Change & Digitalization
We advocate and work for technological change and digitalization fit for human beings.
Technological Change & Digitalization
Digitalization and the VDW
Two study groups have been formed in the VDW since 2016 in this new thematic area. The group working on “education and digitalization” has been active from 2016 till 2021, investigating the following questions: What are the new challenges facing education in the so-called digital age? What can we contribute as critical scientists from different disciplines to address these challenges?
The study group “Technology Assessment of Digitalization” that is still active today takes on a science- and socio-critical approach towards questions of digitalization, networks, and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as their social prerequisites, applications, limits, and consequences. This includes ethical, legal, political, economic, and social issues of research, development, and application. Already in 2018, the study group presented a first statement on ethical issues of AI.
More on the study group can be found here.
Responsibility of Science & Scientific Development
Since 1959 we stand for responsibility of science for consequences of research and technology.
Responsibility of Science & Scientific Development
Responsibility of science and the VDW
The VDW brings together scientists and scholars from all scientific disciplines who critically reflect on their responsibility for consequences of scientific research and technology and actively participate in the social debate with sound expertise.
The VDW was founded by a group of scientists who claimed their responsibility as scientists for the consequences of their research. The goal outlined in its statutes is „to keep awake and deepen the awareness of those working in the science of their responsibility for the impact of their work on society”. In this sense, the VDW has taken on the task of strengthening responsibility and countering abuse, as well as standing up for freedom in research.
The VDW still stands in this tradition of responsible science today; in our accelerated and globalized world, the question of responsibility arises once again. This includes the responsibility of science to contribute to the promotion of peace and security and the creation of a future worth living.
Disclosure and transparency of the goals, methods, and findings of science are indispensable for bringing responsibility to science. Moreover, these as well as possible consequences of science should be discussed in an open and public dialogue; in this sense, the VDW advocates democratization of scientific processes. Finally, it is part of the responsibility of science to consider the error-friendliness as well as the retrievability of research projects; in this context, the negation process must be given special importance. [1]
[1] Rolf Kreibich: Die VDW und das Prinzip der Verantwortung, in: Stephan Albrecht u.a. (Hrsg.): Wissenschaft – Verantwortung – Frieden: 50 Jahre VDW; Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin 2009, p. 437-439.
Max Born-Medal, Whistleblower-Prize and more
You can find more information on VDW-projects, events, and other activities on our German website here.
Or contact us directly (info@vdw-ev.de).