Sociodigital Futures: Participation – Sustainability – Responsibility

This lecture takes place amidst the experiences of multiple crises and uncertainties, e.g., in relation to cli-mate change, increasing social inequalities and increasing uncertainties around advances in artificial intelli-gence. As members of the School of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, we want to take stock, and jointly discuss and reflect on the responsibilities of universities in shaping and (re-)imagining our futures. To start our conversation, Prof. Helen Manchester (Centre for Sociodigital Futures, University of Bristol) and Dr. Chris-tian Dayé (Z-T-G: Plattform Zukunft – Technik - Gesellschaft, TU Graz & Uni Graz) will each present their experiences in futures research and societal engagement. They will consider how a range of civil society stakeholders and businesses can be involved in the design of sociodigital futures that enable a good life. This includes considerations around different modes of engaged and participatory research, but also how existing resources and infrastructures may be used in sustainable ways. For attendees the event provides an oppor-tunity to reflect on our own (strategic) role in contributing to societally relevant and engaged research. The lecture is jointly organised by the BANDAS Center and the Graz Sociological Association (GSU).

Helen Manchester is Professor of Participatory Sociodigital Futures at the University of Bristol. Helen is interested in participation, sociodigital futures, ageing, co-design, social connectivity, culture and the arts. She develops methodologically innovative approaches to research in collaboration with artists, technologists, civil society organisations and policy-makers. Helen is Co-Investigator on the ESRC Sociodigital Futures Centre. She has previously led a number of co-designed research projects working with digital technologies, material culture, arts and older people, including Connecting through Culture as we Age: Digital Innovation for Healthy Ageing, Tangible Memories: Community in care, Parlours of Wonder and Productive Margins: Isolation and loneliness of older people. Her academic outputs include technological artefacts, exhibitions, social action groups and performances.

Christian Dayé is a sociologist at Graz University of Technology and head of the Z-T-G (Zukunft – Technik – Gesellschaft), an inter-university research platform established between Graz Universi-ty of Technology and the University of Graz. His current research interests are with the manifold mecha-nisms through which socially shared images of the future manifest themselves in technologies, regulations, scientific theories, and other cultural artifacts and discourses. For his monograph Experts, Social Scientists, and Techniques of Prognosis in Cold War America (2020, Palgrave Macmillan), Christian received the 2022 Distinguished Scholarly Publication Award of the Section History of Sociology & Social Thought of the American Sociological Association.