In early October 2015, at the environmental education center Schloss Wiesenfelden, the DBU symposium “Anthropocene – Man as a Geological Force” was held, with the participation of well-known experts. The most significant outcomes of the event, and related projects, are summarized in the current issue of DBU aktuell. The key messages from two of the five presenters are reprinted as follows here, in the form of two short interviews.
DBU aktuell: Who actually got the debate about the “Anthropocene” going?
Prof. Dr. Reinhold Leinfelder: The foundation for it was laid by Environmental- and Nobel Prizewinner Prof. Paul J. Crutzen in the year 2000, initially with a spontaneous interjected remark during a conference, but then above all with the article “The Geology of Mankind” in the journal Nature.
What does the Anthropocene concept entail?
It’s based on four hypotheses: first, the idea of man as “geological factor”; second, the resulting circumstance of humanity’s imprint on the earth system; and finally, the geological capacity for passing on human activity, and the fact that this process eliminates the opposition between culture and nature.
In your view, what is new about this concept?
Dr. Thomas Jahn: The idea of the “Anthropocene” does in fact contain something new. The novelty consists of taking something quite well-known from the discourse regarding sustainable development and “bringing it to a head” in a productive manner: namely, the necessity of concentrating, in our analysis of the present and our shaping of the future, on transformations in the relationship between humanity, society, and nature, and on the consequences – especially the unintended consequences – of human activity upon this relationship.
