SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND ICT INTERPRETED IN A NATURAL SCIENCE CONTEXT The resulting research questions for the social sciences

Sustainable development (SD) is a political concept with a strong normative component. In this article, we show which implications follow from this normative component if it is interpreted in a natural science context. We conclude that from a natural science point of view, a far-reaching dematerialization of consumption is a necessary condition for SD. We further conclude that information and communication technologies can only support SD if they are applied as enablers of dematerialized (less material-intensive) types of consumption. Macro-level data on consumption shows, however, that average material flows per capita are still increasing. In this problematical situation, we see a need for framework conditions that provide incentives for dematerialization and specialized research on the psychosocial conditions on the basis of which consumption patterns could evolve towards a more dematerialized economy.