2015 Canberra Conference on Earth System Governance: ’Democracy and Resilience in the Anthropocene’

The 2015 Canberra Conference on Earth System Governance was held on 14-16 December at the Australian National University, Canberra. The conference was co-hosted by the Australian National University and the University of Canberra.

Conference Streams

‘Democracy and Resilience in the Anthropocene’ was the overarching theme for the 2015 Canberra Conference on Earth System Governance. Resilience and the Anthropocene are increasingly prominent in contemporary narratives of global environmental change, with important implications for how we think about governance. Can democratic politics at the local, national and global level rise to the challenges that these concepts present? Are the types of governance they appear to promote desirable? What are the consequences of non-democratic politics or polities for resilience, and for transitions and transformations towards more sustainable futures? The Canberra Conference offered a lively forum for hundreds of scientists to examine, explore and challenge some of the core ideas underlying earth system governance.

There were four conference streams:

1. Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene
2. Science and Governance in a Diverse World
3. Resilient Economies in the Anthropocene
4. Earth System Governance in the Asia-Pacific Region

Hosts

• Australian National University
• University of Canberra

Chairs

• John Dryzek
• Kyla Tienhaara
• Lorrae Van Kerkhoff