The search for a repository for nuclear waste - a school of democracy?

Where to put the nuclear waste? The official site selection process for a final repository in Germany has been underway since 2019. An important milestone will be reached in 2027: a small number of sites will be intensively explored. For the regions affected, there will then be "regional conferences" as an innovative format for public participation.

Behind this is a learning curve for the state and politicians - from the civil war-like resistance to the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Germany to the project of realizing the repository in an exemplary manner - if possible in cooperation with citizens.

Public participation should be "dialog-oriented". The exchange of arguments is intended to improve the quality of the decision in the interests of the "best possible safety". The process can be described as a "school of democracy".

If you are interested in the final disposal of radioactive waste, have questions about the processes or have not yet asked yourself what happens to nuclear waste, you can find out more here. Exchange ideas with apl. Prof. Dr. Ulrich Smeddinck, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) since 2019 and apl. professor at the University of Halle-Wittenberg with a focus on: Environmental and technical law, particular in the area of law governing the search for final repositories, as well as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches.

• Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 13:30 – 14:30
• at the MobiLab on the Kronenplatz in Karlsruhe
• (as always) free of charge

This edition of MuT2Go will be held in German and is just right for you if you are interested in one or more of the following topics:

• Repository search
• Site conflicts
• Public participation
• Safety issues
• Democratic process

The course is part of the Days of Democracy 2026 and is framed by the exhibition "...you tell me - trust in science", which will be on display in the MobiLab on June 26 and 27.

AI, Hate Speech, and the Question of How Democratic Our Platforms Still Are
When a comment disappears on Instagram, a YouTube video is flagged as problematic, or a complaint on X is automatically responded to, it is increasingly often not a human but an AI system behind it. Such systems evaluate content, decide on visibility, demote posts, or remove them entirely. In doing so, they directly intervene in digital public spheres—and in the question of who is heard, who is protected, and who is silenced.
This issue of MuT2Go focuses on automated moderation, digital violence, and democracy. We begin with a pop-cultural example from meme and platform culture: What happens when irony, hate speech, political criticism, or marginalized self-descriptions must be sorted by machines? A central problem becomes particularly apparent with hate speech and digital violence: AI systems are meant to protect, but at the same time they can create new injustices. Some harmful content remains online, while other posts are wrongly deleted or made invisible.

Dana Mahr presents the new research project AGORA-AI – Automated Moderation and Democratic Public Sphere: Social AI Agents in the Digital Discourse Space, which she is conducting at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) together with Nora Weinberger and Lahari Yaddanapudi. Since June 2026, the project has been investigating how so-called social AI agents are changing public debates on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and X. The focus is on questions of responsibility, transparency, fairness, and human control: Who is actually responsible when machines decide what remains visible and what disappears?

The discussion concludes with a positive question for the future: How should digital spaces for discourse be designed so that AI does not simply determine what is visible and permissible, but remains subject to democratic oversight? Instead of just smarter filters, we need transparent rules, effective avenues for complaint, and public oversight of how platforms moderate content. After all, the digital public sphere is not a technical byproduct; it is part of the democratic infrastructure.

• Saturday, June 27, 2026, 13:30 – 14:30
• at MobiLab on Kronenplatz in Karlsruhe
• (as always) free of charge

This edition of MuT2Go is perfect for you if you’re interested in one or more of the following topics:

• Artificial Intelligence and Democracy 
• Digital Violence and Hate Speech 
• Social media and public debates 
• Platform regulation 
• Visibility, moderation, and responsibility

The course is part of the Days of Democracy 2026 and will be framed by the exhibition "...you tell me - trust in science", which will be on display at MobiLab on June 26 and 27.