ID Seminar 2013 - Design Perspectives: Anthropocene

The 2013 annual ID seminar will be held on Monday 14 January, Book that day.

What is the Anthropocene?

Scientists are beginning to call our current geological period "the human age", in other words, "the Anthropocene".

Excerpt from http://www.anthropocene.info/: "Every living thing affects its surroundings. But humanity is now influencing every aspect of the Earth on a scale akin to the great forces of nature.

There are now so many of us, using so many resources, that we're disrupting the grand cycles of biology, chemistry and geology by which elements like carbon and nitrogen circulate between land, sea and atmosphere. We're changing the way water moves around the globe as never before. Almost all the planet's ecosystems bear the marks of our presence.

Our species' whole recorded history has taken place in the geological period called the Holocene – the brief interval stretching back 10,000 years. But our collective actions have brought us into uncharted territory. A growing number of scientists think we've entered a new geological epoch that needs a new name – the Anthropocene. (...)"

What roles could design take and what insights arise in relation to this understanding?

Together with guest speakers, we at ID will be discussing this perspective on design during this important symposium.

Warmly welcome