Global academic communities suggest we may be entering (or may already be in) an era known as the Anthropocene – a geological time period in which anthropogenic activities have a significant and detrimental effect on the planet.
These activities have necessitated the development of new discourses and tools to better assess the problematic interactions between humans and their environments.
The 2015-2016 Faculty of Environmental Studies’ (FES) speaker series “Navigating the Anthropocene” has contributed to conversions on this topic by addressing various concepts may help us better understand the effects of, and pathways through, the Anthropocene, including issues on water, food, war, refugee migration and planning.
These conversations continue with the sixth and final instalment of the speaker series “Planning the Anthropocene”, with a panel discussion March 22, 12:30 to 2pm in Room 140, Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building, Keele campus.
The discussion will consider the roles of cities in shaping the Anthropocene, and their unique capacities in mitigating the effects of this phenomena.
The panel features FES Professor and York Chair in Global Sub/urban studies Roger Kiel; Franz Hartmann, executive director of the Toronto Environmental Alliance; and Faisal Moola, the director general of the Ontario and Northern Canada branch of the David Suzuki Foundation.
David Miller, adjunct professor at the Faculty of Environmental Studies and president and CEO of World Wild Life Canada, will chair the panel. Miller joined FES in early 2015 and has since worked to encourage partnerships between the faculty and the WWF-Canada. He is the former mayor of Toronto.