Let’s get critical!
In the third installment of our TwinPolitics Ocean Seminar Series on Wednesday, 28th May 2025, from 17:00 to 18:30 (CET) we are looking through a critical lense. Our guest speaker, Paulan Korenhof, will talk about the topic Steering Representations—Towards a Critical Understanding of Digital Twins in environmental governance.
About the Speaker
Paulan Korenhof is an assistant professor at the Environmental Policy chair group (ENP), at Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in the Netherlands. She has an interdisciplinary background in philosophy of technology, law, and art. Her research focuses on the intersection of digital technology and sustainability, and in particular on studying how the material design of complex technological systems like Digital Twins and Artificial Intelligence applications affect problem framing and potential intervention choices in the environmental governance of climate change and biodiversity challenges. Additionally, she works on principles for the design, implementation, and use of ‘green’ digital technology.
Introduction to the Topic
Digital Twins are conceptualised in the academic technical discourse as real-time realistic digital representations of physical entities. Originating from product engineering, the Digital Twin quickly advanced into other fields, including the life sciences and earth sciences. Digital Twins are seen by the tech sector as the new promising tool for efficiency and optimisation, while governmental agencies see it as a fruitful means for improving decision-making to meet sustainability goals. A striking example of the latter is the European Commission who wishes to delegate a significant role to Digital Twins in addressing climate change and supporting Green Deal policy. As Digital Twins give rise to high expectations, ambitions, and are being entrusted important societal roles, it is crucial to critically reflect on the nature of the relation between Digital Twins and their physical twin. In this seminar, we will unpack and scrutinize dominant conceptualisations of Digital Twins in environmental governance, the assumptions and imaginaries underlying them, and their normative implications. We will conclude by raising critical questions for the future of Digital Twins in environmental governance.
Suggested Reading Materials
Korenhof, P., Blok, V. & Kloppenburg, S. Steering Representations—Towards a Critical Understanding of Digital Twins. Philosophy of Technology 34, 1751–1773 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-021-00484-1
Join Us!
📌 Register here: https://mailchi.mp/ed2568d2b8dd/ocean-seminar-lecture-series
📌 More information: https://twinpolitics.eu/
Join this meeting here: https://univienna.zoom.us/j/93580853990?pwd=HO5SxrS78PrFcFQOGUaCLvbI4zCZmS.1
The session will be recorded. The recordings will be made available to the public after receiving consent from the speakers.
Project Leader: Prof. Dr. Alice Vadrot – TwinPolitics Principal investigator, University of Vienna – alice.vadrot@univie.ac.at
Seminar Organiser – The TwinPolitics Team, University of Vienna – twinpolitics.erc.powi@univie.ac.at
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101124903 – TwinPolitics – ERC-2024-STG). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
