Working environment and Technological change

The project is divided into two sub-projects, which are connected to the national research program Working Environment & Technological Development - an interdisciplinary research program comprising different projects concerning the relationship between development of the working environment and the development of technology. The Danish Working Environment Fund, the Danish Social Sciences Research Council and the Danish Technical Research Council finance the program. The underlying concept in the research project is that the structures of the company have a major impact on the employee's working environment, and that the working environment of the employees has implications for their participation in the change process and therefore on the outcome. In order to ensure the development of an environment that reduces hazards and improves the psychosocial elements, considerations for the total working environment must be integrated in the design and implementation of the new technology. These considerations are sought to be integrated through the use of an experimentarium. The experimentarium is a framework that aims at establishing a 'room' that is removed from the daily practice of the organisation. By focussing on the collective learning - based on the individuals' past experiences, the point of the experimentarium is to transfer new ideas and methods into the daily practices. This project started 1996 and runs for 5 years. (Gorm Simonsen; Lars Peter Jensen, Institut for Elektroniske Systemer, AAU; Torben Rosenørn, Institut for Kemi og Anvendt Ingeniørvidenskab, AAU; Lise Busk Kofoed, Institut for Arkitektur og Design, AAU)