Anthropocenic Research Forum
What academic themes, methodological positions, and epistemic practices are relevant for a critical engagement with the Anthropocene? With these questions in mind, the international research projects invited to this FORUM present their work and give insight to a variety of scholarly approaches in relation to the Anthropocene thesis. Alongside themes such as the Earth system, resources, education, epistemology, and law, the Forum traces and outlines the first steps towards a possible, transdisciplinary field that might be called “Anthropocenic research.”
Participants: Wolfgang Lucht (Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Dieter Gerten (Project OPEN „Planetary Opportunities and Planetary Boundaries”, Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung), Sabine Höhler (Environmental Humanities Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm), Sverker Sörlin (Environmental Humanities Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm), Ioan Negrutiu (Institut Michel Serres, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon), Pablo Jensen (Complex Systems Institute IXXI, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon), Dorothea Heinz (Project AIME „An Inquiry into the Modes of Existence“, Sciences Po, Paris), Heiko Müller (Project AIME „An Inquiry into the Modes of Existence“, Sciences Po, Paris), Eyal Weizman (Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London), Adrian Lahoud (Project „5th Geneva Convention“, Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London). Moderation: Jürgen Renn (Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin), Christoph Rosol (Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin), Ashkan Sepahvand (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin)
Program
9:00 – Registration
9:30 – Introduction
9:45 – Session 1: Earth – Flagship Project "Planetary Opportunities and Planetary Boundaries" (OPEN), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Representatives: Wolfgang Lucht (Co-Chair of Earth System Analysis at PIK, Professor of Sustainability Science at Humboldt University Berlin), Dieter Gerten (Senior Researcher at PIK, Head of Project OPEN)
10:30 – Session 2: Education - Environmental Humanities Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm
Representatives: Sabine Höhler (Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at KTH), Sverker Sörlin (Professor of Environmental History at KTH)
11:15 – Break
11:30 – Session 3: Resources – Michel Serres Institute, École Normale Supérieure (ENS) Lyon
Representatives: Ioan Negrutiu (Director of Michel Serres Institute, Professor of Biology at ENS Lyon), Pablo Jensen (Director of Complex Systems Institute IXXI, ENS Lyon)
12:15 – Session 4: Epistemology – "An Inquiry into the Modes of Existence" (AIME), Sciences Po, Paris
Representatives: Dorothea Heinz (Research assistant, AIME Project), Heiko Müller (Research assistant, AIME Project)
13:00 – Lunch
14:00 – Session 5: Law – “Fifth Geneva Convention”, Centre for Research Architecture (CRA), Goldsmiths, University of London
Representatives: Eyal Weizman (Professor of Spatial Visual Cultures, Director of CRA), Adrian Lahoud (Architect and researcher, Fifth Geneva Convention Project)
14:45 – Roundup
15:00 – End of the Forum
17:00 – Official start of “The Anthropocene Project. An Opening”
Dieter Gerten (Potsdam) hydrologist and geographer, heads the research group “Planetary Opport- unities and Planetary Boundaries” at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). He has published numerous peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals and53written or edited books and book chapters on water resources and water scarcity, limnic and terrestrial ecology, and water and religion.
Dorothea Heinz (Paris) has earned her master’s degree inhistory from Sciences Po Paris in 2011 and her diploma from the École Normale Supérieure in 2012. She is presently preparing a PhD in philosophy. In Bruno latour’s project "AIME – An Inquiry into Modes of Existence", she works as a research assistant taking care of the development of collective investigation and monitoring external collaborations.
Sabine Höhler (Stockholm) is associate professor of science and technology studies at KTH Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm. Trained as a physicist and historian she focuses on the sciences and technologies of earth research in the 19th and 20th centuries. Her work on “Spaceship Earth” studies the discourse on environmental life support between 1960 and 1990.
Pablo Jensen (Lyon) is the director of Institut rhônalpin des systèmes complexes (IXXI) in Lyon. He is physicist by training and currently working at the fringes of social and natural sciences. In an ongoing collaboration with Bruno Latour’s team, he explores the use of social data to improve our knowledge of the social world. He has published a “realistic” popularization presentation of condensed-matter physics andis a columnist for several magazines, including Le Monde Diplomatique.
Adrian Lahoud
To the biography...
Wolfgang Lucht (Potsdam) co-chairs the department of Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). He also holds the Chair of Sustainability Science at the Department of Geography, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin. Trained as a physicist, his research concerns human transformations of the biosphere, the earth as a complex system and the transformative potential of planetary boundaries for global societies.
Heiko Müller (Paris) works on subjects of cultural formation and transformation. He studied social and economic communication studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin, where he was managing director of an interdepartmental project office from 2007 to 2010. After movingto Sciences Po Paris, he is now a researcher in the project “AIME —An Inquiry into the Modes of Existence”, led by Bruno Latour.
Ioan Negrutiu (Lyon) is professor of biology at École Normale Supérieure de Lyon and a member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He is prospective director of the commission in biology and the Institut Michel Serres (resources and public goods). As such, he coordinates the work of students and colleagues from life sciences, economy, and legal studies towards an integrated approach to the natural resources problematic.
Sverker Sörlin (Stockholm) is professor of environmental history and involved in setting up the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory in Stockholm. Forthcoming books include "The Future of Nature" with P. Warde and l. Robin (2013), and "Northscapes: History, Technology, and the Making of Arctic Environments", with D. Jorgensen (2013).
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