Cork, Steven;
Alexandra, Carla;
Alvarez-Romero, Jorge G;
Bennett, Elena M;
Berbés-Blázquez, Marta;
Bohensky, Erin;
Bok, Barbara;
... Wyborn, Carina; + view all
(2023)
Exploring Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene.
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
, 48
pp. 25-54.
10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-095011.
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Abstract
Many challenges posed by the current Anthropocene epoch require fundamental transformations to humanity's relationships with the rest of the planet. Achieving such transformations requires that humanity improve its understanding of the current situation and enhance its ability to imagine pathways toward alternative, preferable futures. We review advances in addressing these challenges that employ systematic and structured thinking about multiple possible futures (futures-thinking). Over seven decades, especially the past two, approaches to futures-thinking have helped people from diverse backgrounds reach a common understanding of important issues, underlying causes, and pathways toward optimistic futures. A recent focus has been the stimulation of imagination to produce new options. The roles of futures-thinking in breaking unhelpful social addictions and in conflict resolution are key emerging topics. We summarize cognitive, cultural, and institutional constraints on the societal uptake of futures-thinking, concluding that none are insurmountable once understood.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exploring Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-095011 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112321-0... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2023 Swinburne University of Technology and by the author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third-party material in this article for license information |
| Keywords: | Futures, imagination, scenarios, transformation, anticipation, cognition, future visions |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > UCL Institute for Global Prosperity |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10185293 |
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