Nature and Culture in the Anthropocene

Link to live streaming: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1yvp38J_f6U?feature=share

We are well into the geological period we call the Anthropocene – the man-made planet. We are experiencing dramatic climate change without precedent and with extreme consequences. This especially affects our oceans and people living by and of the sea. Arctic communities and indigenous peoples have always lived in close connection with nature and risk a loss in traditional practices and livelihood due to climate change. This challenges the distinction in between nature and culture, which traditionally has been dominating in science. Do we need a completely different proximity and understanding of nature? And must science take some of the responsibility for the fact that we perceive nature first and foremost as a source of exploitation of resources? Should universities remove the barriers between nature and culture? 

In this panel we address something fundamental in the way we think in the Anthropocene, formulated around the distinction between nature and culture. Is it possible to imagine knowledge that is no longer divided into social sciences, humanities and natural sciences?

Opening speech: Margareth Hagen, Rector, University of Bergen

Panel discussion:

Kirstine Møller Gray, ResearcherThe Arctic Centre, University of Groningen

Knut Rio, Professor University of Bergen

Torjer Andreas Olsen, Professor, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Lise Øvreås, Professor University of Bergen and President, European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC)

Marit Reigstad, Professor, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Malgorzata Smieszek-Rice, Reseach Fellow, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Vicki Lee Wallgren, Director of the Global Arctic Programme, World Wildlife Foundation