Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene

The scale, rate, and intensity of humans’ environmental impact has engendered broad discussion about how to find plausible pathways of development that hold the most promise for fostering a better future in the Anthropocene. However, the dominance of dystopian visions of irreversible environmental d...

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Main Authors: Bennett, Elena M., Solan, Martin, Biggs, Reinette, McPhearson, Timon, Norström, Albert V., Olsson, Per, Pereira, Laura, Peterson, Garry D., Raudsepp-Hearne, Ciara, Biermann, Frank, Carpenter, Stephen R., Ellis, Erle C., Hichert, Tanja, Galaz, Victor, Lahsen, Myanna, Milkoreit, Manjana, Martín López, Berta, Nicholas, Kimberly A., Preiser, Rika, Vince, Gaia, Vervoort, Joost M., Xu, Jianchu
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/89870
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author Bennett, Elena M.
Solan, Martin
Biggs, Reinette
McPhearson, Timon
Norström, Albert V.
Olsson, Per
Pereira, Laura
Peterson, Garry D.
Raudsepp-Hearne, Ciara
Biermann, Frank
Carpenter, Stephen R.
Ellis, Erle C.
Hichert, Tanja
Galaz, Victor
Lahsen, Myanna
Milkoreit, Manjana
Martín López, Berta
Nicholas, Kimberly A.
Preiser, Rika
Vince, Gaia
Vervoort, Joost M.
Xu, Jianchu
author_browse Bennett, Elena M.
Biermann, Frank
Biggs, Reinette
Carpenter, Stephen R.
Ellis, Erle C.
Galaz, Victor
Hichert, Tanja
Lahsen, Myanna
Martín López, Berta
McPhearson, Timon
Milkoreit, Manjana
Nicholas, Kimberly A.
Norström, Albert V.
Olsson, Per
Pereira, Laura
Peterson, Garry D.
Preiser, Rika
Raudsepp-Hearne, Ciara
Solan, Martin
Vervoort, Joost M.
Vince, Gaia
Xu, Jianchu
author_facet Bennett, Elena M.
Solan, Martin
Biggs, Reinette
McPhearson, Timon
Norström, Albert V.
Olsson, Per
Pereira, Laura
Peterson, Garry D.
Raudsepp-Hearne, Ciara
Biermann, Frank
Carpenter, Stephen R.
Ellis, Erle C.
Hichert, Tanja
Galaz, Victor
Lahsen, Myanna
Milkoreit, Manjana
Martín López, Berta
Nicholas, Kimberly A.
Preiser, Rika
Vince, Gaia
Vervoort, Joost M.
Xu, Jianchu
author_sort Bennett, Elena M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The scale, rate, and intensity of humans’ environmental impact has engendered broad discussion about how to find plausible pathways of development that hold the most promise for fostering a better future in the Anthropocene. However, the dominance of dystopian visions of irreversible environmental degradation and societal collapse, along with overly optimistic utopias and business-as-usual scenarios that lack insight and innovation, frustrate progress. Here, we present a novel approach to thinking about the future that builds on experiences drawn from a diversity of practices, worldviews, values, and regions that could accelerate the adoption of pathways to transformative change (change that goes beyond incremental improvements). Using an analysis of 100 initiatives, or “seeds of a good Anthropocene”, we find that emphasizing hopeful elements of existing practice offers the opportunity to: (1) understand the values and features that constitute a good Anthropocene, (2) determine the processes that lead to the emergence and growth of initiatives that fundamentally change human–environmental relationships, and (3) generate creative, bottom-up scenarios that feature well-articulated pathways toward a more positive future.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace89870
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
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publisher Wiley
publisherStr Wiley
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spelling CGSpace898702024-05-15T05:11:45Z Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene Bennett, Elena M. Solan, Martin Biggs, Reinette McPhearson, Timon Norström, Albert V. Olsson, Per Pereira, Laura Peterson, Garry D. Raudsepp-Hearne, Ciara Biermann, Frank Carpenter, Stephen R. Ellis, Erle C. Hichert, Tanja Galaz, Victor Lahsen, Myanna Milkoreit, Manjana Martín López, Berta Nicholas, Kimberly A. Preiser, Rika Vince, Gaia Vervoort, Joost M. Xu, Jianchu climate change agriculture food security gender The scale, rate, and intensity of humans’ environmental impact has engendered broad discussion about how to find plausible pathways of development that hold the most promise for fostering a better future in the Anthropocene. However, the dominance of dystopian visions of irreversible environmental degradation and societal collapse, along with overly optimistic utopias and business-as-usual scenarios that lack insight and innovation, frustrate progress. Here, we present a novel approach to thinking about the future that builds on experiences drawn from a diversity of practices, worldviews, values, and regions that could accelerate the adoption of pathways to transformative change (change that goes beyond incremental improvements). Using an analysis of 100 initiatives, or “seeds of a good Anthropocene”, we find that emphasizing hopeful elements of existing practice offers the opportunity to: (1) understand the values and features that constitute a good Anthropocene, (2) determine the processes that lead to the emergence and growth of initiatives that fundamentally change human–environmental relationships, and (3) generate creative, bottom-up scenarios that feature well-articulated pathways toward a more positive future. 2016-10 2017-12-31T15:45:57Z 2017-12-31T15:45:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/89870 en Limited Access Wiley Bennett EM, Solan M, Biggs R, McPhearson T, Norström AV, Olsson P, Pereira L, Peterson GD, Raudsepp-Hearne C, Biermann F, Carpenter SR, Ellis EC, Hichert T, Galaz V, Lahsen M, Milkoreit M, Martin López B, Nicholas KA, Preiser R, Vince G, Vervoort JM, Xu J. 2016. Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 14(8):441-448.
spellingShingle climate change
agriculture
food security
gender
Bennett, Elena M.
Solan, Martin
Biggs, Reinette
McPhearson, Timon
Norström, Albert V.
Olsson, Per
Pereira, Laura
Peterson, Garry D.
Raudsepp-Hearne, Ciara
Biermann, Frank
Carpenter, Stephen R.
Ellis, Erle C.
Hichert, Tanja
Galaz, Victor
Lahsen, Myanna
Milkoreit, Manjana
Martín López, Berta
Nicholas, Kimberly A.
Preiser, Rika
Vince, Gaia
Vervoort, Joost M.
Xu, Jianchu
Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene
title Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene
title_full Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene
title_fullStr Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene
title_full_unstemmed Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene
title_short Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene
title_sort bright spots seeds of a good anthropocene
topic climate change
agriculture
food security
gender
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/89870
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