Re-grounding humanity in the Anthropocene – Tackling the cultural drivers of the planetary emergency  Knowledge for Sustainability Talks

Re-grounding humanity in the Anthropocene – Tackling the cultural drivers of the planetary emergency 

Knowledge for Sustainability Talks

Date:  Thursday 20 April 2023 16-18 CET, Online event

Is a mindset shift needed for re-grounding humanity in the Anthropocene? Do we need to rethink our relationship with nature and each other? Do we need to question our very identity as humans? These questions are at the centre of this edition of the Knowledge for Sustainability Talks. How do our deep-sitting worldviews, values and belief systems inter-relate with the poly-crisis and influence our policies, our visions of success, purpose, progress, modernity and of the future? Are climate change and nature loss just symptoms of our relationship with nature and between ourselves? Do we need to look at some of our philosophical and psychological fundamentals, challenge our anthropocentrism and re-ground humanity to survive in the Anthropocene?

In this Knowledge for Sustainability talk organised by DG RTD and EUStaff4Climate, with the help of Active Seniors in the research area, Lorenzo Benini from the European Environment Agency (EEA) will present their new Narrative for Change “Exiting the Anthropocene? Exploring fundamental change in our relationship with nature”.  Unai Pascual, University of Bern, and Basque Centre for Climate Change, will present the IPBES values assessment, published in 2022, of which he is one of the co-chairs.  Julia Kim from the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan will make us discover alternatives to Western anthropocentrism and individualism. Tom Oliver from Reading University will share insights from his research on a safe and just operating space for human identity. Last, but not least Vanessa Machado de Oliveira Andreotti (Brazil/Canada), University of British Columbia, will challenge our visions of modernity.

 Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers, and engage in participatory reflection. The Knowledge for Sustainability talks invite colleagues from EU Institutions, bodies and agencies to take a broader, long-term perspective, beyond the immediate policy-making calendar. They aim to offer disruptive and uncomfortable wisdom to make EU narratives and policies more robust.

Publicly available recording is here

https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/re-grounding-humanity-in-the-anthropocene-tackling-the-cultural-drivers-of-the-planetary-emergency

Draft agenda

Introduction:

·      Thomas Arnold, Active Senior Green Transition

Setting the scene:

·      Lorenzo Benini, European Environment Agency, Sustainability transitions expert: Narratives for Change - Exiting the Anthropocene? Exploring fundamental change in our relationship with nature (10 minutes) (confirmed)

Keynotes:

·      Unai Pascual (Spain/Switzerland), University of Bern, Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Basque Centre for Climate Change, Co-Chair of the IPBES Values Assessment:  The IPBES values assessment: relevance for good life and for policy making (10 minutes) (confirmed)

• Julia Kim (Bhutan), Program Director for the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Centre Bhutan: Humanity in the Anthropocene – Alternatives to Western anthropocentrism (10 minutes) (confirmed)

• Tom Oliver (UK), School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading: A safe and just operating space for human identity: a systems perspective (10 minutes) (confirmed)

• Vanessa Machado de Oliveira Andreotti (Brazil/Canada), University of British Columbia, Interim Director of Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, incoming Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Victoria: Hospicing Modernity (10 minutes) (confirmed)

Q&A, Participants sharing their feelings, participatory discussion (1 break-out round)

·      Moderation: Obhi Chatterjee, DG HR, Anna Smedeby, EPSO/EUStaff4Climate

Closure:

·       Laurent BONTOUX, Senior Foresight Expert, JRC (confirmed)