Envisioning a good Anthropocene

Posted by on October 14, 2016

By Elena Bennett, associate professor at the McGill School of Environment and Department of Natural Resource Sciences in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Canada. Bennett and colleagues’ Concepts and Questions article “Bright Spots: Seeds of a Good Anthropocene” appeared in the October 2016 issue of ESA Frontiers.

An ancient thatched-roof farm house in Ogamachi, Japan, is typical of the traditional Japanese Satoyama agricultural landscapes, which benefit both people and nature. Farm stay programs, in which urban residents spend time living on farms, often participating in daily farm life, are increasingly being implemented in depopulated rural areas. Credit, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

An ancient thatched-roof farm house in Ogamachi, Japan, is typical of the traditional Japanese Satoyama agricultural landscapes, which benefit both people and nature. Farm stay programs bring urban residents to live in depopulated rural areas and spend time participating in daily farm life. These expanding programs are bright seeds of potential for a better Anthropocene. Credit, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

 

We are constantly being bombarded with negative visions of the future, which may inhibit our ability to move towards a positive future for the Earth and humanity.

My coauthors and I are soliciting, exploring, and developing positive visions of futures that are plausible, socially and ecologically desirable, just, and sustainable. We develop these visions of “Good Anthropocenes” starting with ‘bright spots’ — real places that demonstrate one or more elements that might serve as seeds of a better Anthropocene.

One example of a bright spot is the Health in Harmony project, which partners with local communities in Indonesian Borneo to provide low-cost health care in exchange for a commitment to reduce deforestation. Over the past 5 years, they’ve seen a 68 percent decrease in illegal logging along with improvements in health indicators in local communities. Through our project, we aim to initiate wider global discussions about the kinds of futures people desire.

To learn more, you can watch a talk about the project, or participate in a webinar on the 19th of October at 17h00 CEST.

Bennett, E.M., M. Solan, R. Biggs, T. McPhearson, A. Norstrom, P. Olsson, L. Pereira, G. D. Peterson, C. Raudsepp-Hearne, F. Beirmann, S. R. Carpenter, E. Ellis, T. Hichert, V. Galaz, M. Lahsen, B. Martin-Lopez, K. A. Nicholas, R. Preisser, G. Vince, J. Vervoort, and J. Xu. 2016. Bright Spots: Seeds of a Good Anthropocene. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 14(8): 441-448. doi:10.1002/fee.1309

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