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A change of Eras: what does it mean to science? Wageningen, 3 April 2014

We do not live in an era of change but in a change of eras

• Industrial revolution

• Modernisation of society

• Shift in power

Latest Tipping Point period

Tipping Point Era

1. Society is changing fundamentally

2. Economy is changing radically

3. Ecological crises to come

Through development stagePre-development stage

Horizontal

Decentralized

Bottom-up

Vertical

Centralized

Top-down

Time

Build-up of Society 3.0

We are here

Tipping Point

Transition to Society 3.0

• energy companies are suffering

• massive dismissals in home care

• wellbeing organisations disappear

• building companies reorganizing largely

Tipping Point Era

old order new

order

banks financial cooperations

energy companies local energy cooperations

building companies 3D-networks / hubs

insurance companies regional insurance networks

homecare companies local health care cooperations

Old Order vs New Order

Old Paradigm New Paradigm

exploitation co-operation

structureshumans

deriving values creating value

linearcyclical

Paradigm Shift

Energy from centralized, fossil to decentralized clean

Wellbeing from taking care of to arranging that

Building from supply & product to demand & services

Health Care from effective & efficient to people-oriented

Where do we see that change?

Citizen Initiatives

Social Security Cooperations

Local Energy Companies

Local Health Care Cooperations

CO2-arm

biobased kleinschalig circulair

maatwerk bottom-up

nieuwe maakindustrie

Economie 3.0

time of easily exploitable resources is over

17 critical earth metals become scarcescandium, neodymium, dysprosium, gadolinium, lanthanum

windmills, electric cars, solar panels, smartphones

expected growth of these metals is > 1000%

China owns 97%

Resources Crisis

Transition to a New Economy

global economy around ‘clean tech industry’

fastest growing industry in the world

2012: 300 billion dollar (30% growth t.o.v. 2011)

China 60 billion Germany 45 billionAmerica 40 billionItaly 17 billionNetherlands 5 billion

New Economy is ‘booming’

Green Economy = ca. 4% of Total Economy (GDP)

Clean Tech = ca. 2% of Total Economy (GDP)

by now 2-4% of total economy

in 2025 11 - 21% at 15% growth per year

in 2030 22 - 43% at 15% growth per year

New Economy in the Netherlands

http://www.agro-chemie.nl/assets/sites/3/Green-Chemistry-Campus-2.jpg

Green Chemistry Campus

pearl of the biobased economy

campus created by petrochemical company SABIC

SABIC opens their laboratories for entrepreneurs

results in biobased radical innovations

biopolymers, biobased building materials, bio natural colours

Built Environment

energy neutral built environment

houses, buildings, schools, hospitals

greening the cities

using every square meter of surfaces

digital revolution in manufacturing industry

fundamental change of:

how we make things and who makes it

éverything can be produced on a PC

everybody becomes a producer

New Manufacturing Industry

What does this mean to science?

Transition from Mode-1 to Mode-2 Science

Mode-1 Science Mode-2 Science

• academic context societal context

• disciplinary transdisciplinary

• homogenous heterogenous

• scientific accountability societ. accountability

perverse effects

productivity pressure

repetition of results

focus on quantity

rat race of competition

System’s Failures in Science

fraud

plagiarism

self-plagiarism

Hirsch-index

rankings

Symptoms of Perverse Science

new kinds of accountability

scientific impact & societal impact

utilization & valorisation of knowledge

education & research

cross-disciplinary incentives

Solution

reward originality and creativity rather than productivity only

University in Transition

Transition fundamental change of structure, culture and practices in societal (sub)system

– structure: physical infrastructure, economic infrastructure (market, consumption, production), institutions (rules, regulations,

actors)

– culture: collective set of values, norms, perspectives, paradigms

– practices: routines, behaviour, ways of handling, at the individual level

incumbent structure, culture and practices need to bebroken down and new ones need to be built up

Transition = Power Shift

regime: dominant structure, culture and practices with power and vested interests

niche: emerging, divergent structure, culture and practices at a small scale level

niche wants to develop power and take over incumbent regime regime protects itself against this power shift from niches

transition = regime-change = power shift

faculties are silos

research groups are islands

hardly any collaboration

University has Silo Structure

mono-, multi-, inter-, transdisciplinary

broad basis then selection & deepening

liberal arts exemplary

University 3.0

has different phases:

1. pre-development [ consciousness ]

2. breakthrough [ strategy / mission ]

3. acceleration [ DNA of a company ]

4. consolidation [ execution ]

Transition within a University

Transition Phases of a University

Take off

strategy/mission

Acceleration

DNA

Pre-development

consciousness

Stabilisation

execution

time

University 3.0

Conclusions• our society is in tipping point stage of transition

• our economy is decentralizing

• requires transition of our education system

• new kind of science is needed: mode-2 science

• demands for transition within universities