Organisation profile

Techno-Anthropology and Participation (TAPAR) is an interdisciplinary research group dedicated to research of new and emergent technologies, where we focus on the relations between technology, humans, and society. Our key vision is democracy in tech innovation and our mission is to contribute to responsible technology innovation and use. We do this by researching complex problems related to emerging technologies and tech innovation processes. This includes research and education in engineering practice and transition processes, ethical assessment of new and emerging technologies, philosophy of technology, technology creativity and design, technology innovation management and user participation. We conduct empirical studies that contribute insights on the interplay between humans, technology and society within multiple areas with special attention to health/welfare technology and green/sustainable technology.

Our research is highly change-oriented in emergent and complex human-technology relations of societal relevance. We combine anthropology and action research to build bridges between local knowledge, technology innovation and technology transition processes. We work with Participatory Design methods and we value empirically grounded research on how to involve people affected by technology in design of future socio-technical practices.