Sustainable Automation Journey

The megatrend of neo-ecology will shape the coming century like no other trend. According to its name-giver Zukunftsinstitut GmbH, it is about “environmental awareness and sustainability that are increasingly advancing from an individual lifestyle and consumer trend to a social movement - and to a central economic factor influencing all corporate spheres. [...] The megatrend is redefining the values of global society”, and it will shape how we live and how we work.

Sustainability means smarter, not less. With regulation around sustainability and the climate crises that we face, sustainability and neo-ecology will become the new identity of all humans. Where sustainability is the goal that we want to achieve, neo-ecology alters the rhetoric from sacrifices and doom and gloom to a more constructive mindset, where humankind is “neither the destroyer nor the possible savior of our planet [...] but part of the diverse, resilient, self-organizing system earth”10 - the attitude we need to tackle this challenge.

Neo-ecology also redefines the term we call growth. The economy has the task to serve society. Based on that, some of the indicators to measure growth need to be considered in a new way, for instance, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Additionally, some new indicators are on the way with ESG reports and other sustainability measures. Some of them are not specified and quantified, yet. But politics and society agree that ESG, for instance, will play a crucial role in the future of our economy.