Browsing by Author "Benighaus, Ludger"

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Open Access
Group Delphi Workshop on In Silico Methods : successful communication of scientific content on the example of testing chemical substances
(2012) Benighaus, Christina; Renn, Ortwin; Benighaus, Ludger; Hinderer, Nele; Alle, Katrin
The REACH Regulation (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals) contains the commitment to minimize the amount of animal testing necessary to achieve its aims. To do this, industry is providing justifications to waive animal tests in preference for in vitro or in silico methods. In silico methods rely on computer simulation or modeling and use results from existing tests to model the ways in which a chemical may be hazardous in the body and/or in the environment. Therefore the toxicity of chemicals can be assessed without further tests on animals. In the REACH context, ORCHESTRA was an EU funded project with the aim of disseminating recent research on in silico methods for evaluating the toxicity of chemicals such as quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs). The project aimed to promote a wider understanding, awareness and appropriate use of in silico methods. It communicated and exploited the findings of nine previous EU-funded projects relating to several areas, including food, environment and health. More information is found on the website www.in-silico-methods.eu/ or www.orchestra-qsar.eu/. The coordinator of the project was Dr. Emilio Benfenati, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche MARIO NEGRI, Milano, Italy. The interdisciplinary research unit on risk governance and sustainable technology development (ZIRN) that was part of Stuttgart University‘s International Center on Culture and Technology conducted the examination of responses and reactions of various stakeholders to successful communication strategies in the context of ORCHESTRA. This led ZIRN to conduct the one-day-workshop “Successful Com-munication of scientific Content on the Example of testing Chemical Substances” using the Delphi Method. The workshop was held on December 13th, 2011 in the GENO-Haus, in Stuttgart Germany. 14 experts plus four staff members have participated. The workshop aimed at investigating how complex scientific content, in this case, the use of computer models (in silico methods) in chemical research can be communicated in the “right way” through different communication channels to individual stakeholders as well as to a broad public. This report documents the procedure as well as the results of the workshop. First, the Method of the Group Delphi and the corres-ponding process and agenda of the workshop are described. The following chapter demonstrates particular results. The final chapter summarizes the outcomes of the workshop.
Open Access
Metal sourcing for a sustainable future
(2022) Renn, Ortwin; Gloaguen, Richard; Benighaus, Christina; Ajjabou, Leila; Benighaus, Ludger; Del Rio, Virginia; Gómez, Javier; Kauppi, Sari; Keßelring, Michaela; Kirsch, Moritz; Komac, Marko; Kotilainen, Juha; Kozlovskaya, Elena; Lyytimaki, Jari; McCallum, Cathryn; Mononen, Tuija; Nevalainen, Jouni; Peltonen, Lasse; Ranta, Jukka-Pekka; Ruiz, Stephane; Russill, Jon; Wagner, Frank
Drastic measures are required to meet the standards of the Paris Agreement and limit the increase of global average temperatures well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Mining activities are typically considered as unsustainable but, at the same time, metals such as cobalt and lithium are essential to sustain the energy transition. Several sustainability goals defined by the United Nations (UN) require large quantities of raw materials. Exploration and extractives activities are required in order to contribute to meeting sustainability standards. Future sourcing of metals will need to implement procedures that go well beyond current ecological, economic, and social requirements and practices. In this paper we assess the usual sustainability criteria and how they apply to the extractives sector. Sustainability can only be achieved if one accepts that the natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital (so called weak concept of sustainability). Sourcing the raw materials increasingly demanded by our societies will need transparent and inclusive stakeholder participation as well as a holistic understanding of the impact of extractives activities to reach this weak sustainability status. Our analysis shows that the sustainability of mining cannot be reached without harmonized political instruments and investment policies that take the three pillars of environmental, economic, and social sustainability as a major priority.