Developing Transformative Knowledge to Navigate the Anthropocene

Environmental issues are eminently social, originating at the heart of the economic, cultural and political organization. The Anthropocene is characterized by the growing importance of the technosphere, which is formed by the intertwined activities developed by humans (incl. industries, agriculture, administration, etc.). The datasphere forms a  complex system offering strong similarities with Earth sciences natural spheres, and increasingly independent from human decision. It is controlled by complex feedback loops, which result from information transformation. With each feedback, we learn  the hard way what being on Earth means, and therefore  to account for our interactions with a fragile and sensitive habitat. This experience is transformative. Beyond purely technological solutions or incremental adjustments, this transformation involves changes in individuals, institutions, and cultures through fundamental alterations of existing feedbacks, power relations, thinking patterns, values, consciousness, as well as the questioning of key the assumptions that underpin contemporary societies and economic systems.