Nina Wormbs

If you want to change a society, it will be easier if you understand how it came about. Historical research can give us this knowledge. It can explain which ideas have been dominant, which individuals have held power and which systems and designs have endured. Our own times are often self-absorbed and focused on the here and now, without a sense of history or anything other than the short-term. A longer perspective can give us better tools to be able to achieve real change. 

The focus of Nina Wormbs’ research is on humankind’s relationship to technology and the environment. She investigates the conceptions people have about technology and how this impacts things such as technology policies. How we value technology and what hopes we have in the face of changes in technology are of huge significance for the choices we make both individually and collectively. 

She also analyses the way we understand our relationship with the environment and the climate. Via this research, she not only seeks to find keys to explaining why the transition to a sustainable society is going so slow, but also what can possibly facilitate change.