Decision-making in the Anthropocene What on earth does this mean?
The good and the bad news about the Anthropocene
is that although humans are part of the problem,
they are also part of the solution.
These days, we all know what it means to make a decision.
Both at work and at home,
we are making choices all the time.
However, we are less familiar with the concept of the Anthropocene.
The roots of the word are Greek: "anthropos" for humans
and "kainos" for the latest era of the planet Earth.
But the Anthropocene does not signify the start of a new geological era,
but refers to the historical moment we are living in,
where the exponential pressure of humans on their environment
is so great that both the balance of planet Earth
and the very survival of the human species are threatened.
In this context, the issue of decision-making
takes on a very special meaning in relation to our responsibilities.
Not only must we make decisions in order to solve a problem
that we are confronted with in the media,
but we also have to make a decision
incorporating our responsibility towards history and the planet,
including thinking about the wider implications
of what we may decide to do or not to do.
It is complicated to make a connection
between this global concept of the Anthropocene
and local decision-making mechanisms
in scientific, political, public and private organisations.
Identifying the challenges of the Anthropocene,
defining the methods for weighing up decisions
with the risks and opportunities associated with the environment,
is what you will discover in this training.
This approach is designed and proposed by the University of Bordeaux
and the French National Research Institute
for Agriculture, Food and the Environment.
It is for doctoral students from all disciplines,
but also for managers and leaders
of public and private organisations.
The hard truth of the Anthropocene
At the beginning of the 2000s,
Earth scientists began to observe a relatively new and exponential phenomenon.
All indicators of the physical and chemical composition of the planet
and the main mechanisms of climate regulation;
rising temperatures, greenhouse gases, biodiversity; are degrading
and are leaning towards what could be called a 6th extinction.
This is what is reported and documented year after year
in the scientific work of the IPCC and IPBES,
under the aegis of the UN,
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
The surprising result
is that by comparing this increase in global warming
with that of human activities and their consequences,
not only is there a historical correlation
between these two dimensions,
but above all, there is a causal link.
The more human activities develop,
the more "anthropic" pressure on the environment
leads to a rapid degradation of the environment.
But all is not lost.
While human activity is indeed the cause of a likely disaster,
it can also bring about transformative decisions and actions
allowing us to build other scenarios.
Why are we proposing a training programme on this topic?
The anthropocene approach to decision-making
allows us to measure the impact of past decisions,
to take into account the current conditions
in order to consider the challenges of the future.
You may already have experienced the opposition
of the social and environmental dimensions of anthropocene issues.
However, they are inseparable.
A good decision for the environment
which would not reduce inequalities or would even increase them,
is very likely to lead to social conflict, or even violence.
During this training programme,
we want to make you aware of how the Anthropocene
can disrupt our usual ways of thinking
and opens up new key concepts.
To enable us to reason differently,
we need to understand two key concepts:
the interdependence between humans,
but also between humans and non-humans;
and vulnerability,
because none of us can escape climate change
and biodiversity loss.
And finally, we need to understand
why the concept of decision making is so important.
When we make decisions, we are organising life together.
That is, we are deciding on forms of solidarity
that may be more or less inclusive, democratic and egalitarian.
How will the training programme work?
We will discuss the historic and scientific origins of the Anthropocene
that are disrupting our ways of thinking,
from a spatial and temporal point of view.
The infinite future we had imagined is no longer guaranteed
and we have no "exterior" to conquer or exploit,
or where we can export our waste.
Everything comes back to us via a boomerang effect.
We will see that, whereas traditionally,
any performance of decision-making issues has been measured
by examining whether or not objectives have been met,
the Anthropocene introduces another dimension:
the socioenvironmental impact.
Was the decision taken socially accepted?
Has it contributed to increasing,
maintaining or reducing anthropic pressure?
Does it encourage a temporary adaptation
or the real transformation of public and economic policies?
Another dimension to consider
is the temporality of decision-making.
Ideally, you should take your time in making a decision.
But the socioecological catastrophe is already here
and other climatic, health and geopolitical events will multiply.
We will have to react.
However, solutions found in a hurry
risk contradicting the objective of transitions.
In this training programe, the skills needed to make decisions
in an anthropocene context
will not only allow you to react,
but also to strategically anticipate future changes and crises.
We will present the techniques, tools and instruments
required for decision-making,
and which are common to other decision-making contexts.
For example, integrated approaches, multi-scalar approaches,
and ecosystem approaches to interdependencies and vulnerabilities
in the definition of situations.
How will the training programme be organised?
For this training programme,
we have chosen a proven teaching method:
working with real-life case studies.
You will be required to deal with case studies
under the guidance of specialists
who will put you in a situation of defining a decision-making context
in the form of role-playing between several teams.
We have selected these case studies
because they are textbook models of decisions, whether they have worked or not.
For example, how can we clean up a river?
Or, how can we produce wood while protecting forests?
How can we replace dangerous chemicals with safer ones?
Or, how can we shift to electric energy without increasing metal mining?
How can we improve transport and mobility
on a metropolitan scale without polluting?
How can we define and implement a climate, air and energy plan on a given territory?
How can a company integrate its social and environmental impacts
in its management and steering?
This training programme is available in two formats.
For doctoral students from all disciplines,
a three-day immersion in case studies
and a transdisciplinary approach necessary for scientific questioning.
For decision makers in public and private organisations,
a three-day lifelong learning programme,
spead over two months,
to work on the anthropocene dimension
of their own real-life decision making
and to find out about other real cases from other organisations.
A website dedicated to this training programme is available.
Among other things, you will find additional videos on this theme,
web resources and the scientific references
on which we have based this project.
We invite you to register today
for the next training session via the University of Bordeaux website.