Research vision of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
The mission of the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology is to examine the fundamental dynamics and feedbacks that have brought about the multiple crises of the Anthropocene – and to assess possible transformative trajectories of the intertwined human–Earth system towards a safe and just future.
We are living through a time of profound transitions, in which the accelerating impacts of humans on the planet are leading to persistent and, at times, perhaps irreversible effects of planetary significance. The magnitude and radical nature of these human-caused perturbations is well-captured by the proposition that we are undergoing a planetary state shift of geohistorical proportions. Humanity has become a geological force in its own right, one that is shaping a new era. The term for this new Earth system era – the Anthropocene – has been the subject of much discussion. Although the International Union of Geological Sciences recently rejected the inclusion of the Anthropocene in the geologic time scale, the term has nevertheless become widely accepted in Earth system and sustainability science, and more broadly in the life sciences, the social sciences, and humanities. It brings together scientific findings from different fields and helps us to understand the comprehensive changes that we as humans have caused in the Earth system, from climate change to profound transformations of our environment and the massive loss of biodiversity.
Regardless of its geological designation, we have undoubtedly entered a time in which a critical, affluent part of humanity has initiated environmental changes on a global scale, with drastic consequences for the fate of life on Earth. Anthropogenic climate change already affects every region on Earth in multiple ways, including more frequent and more severe extreme weather events, changes in precipitation patterns, sea-level rise, and far-reaching impacts on agriculture and food security, increasing water use and scarcity, soil degradation, and biodiversity loss. Many of these observed changes are “unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years” (IPCC-AR6). Biodiversity loss is also occurring at a geologically-relevant rate, with arguments that we are living through a ‘sixth mass extinction’ (Ceballos et al., 2015), while the socioeconomic and public health threats of pandemics and armed conflict are felt around the globe. These Anthropocene Biosphere challenges are a product of a complex interplay of factors highlighting the intertwined nature of Earth system dynamics and human health, wellbeing, and socioeconomic systems (Folke et al., 2021).
Underlying these emerging crises and increasing pressures are fundamental dynamics of the human–Earth system. One of the signature patterns of the Anthropocene has been the so-called ‘Great Acceleration’ (Haff, 2014; McNeill and Engelke, 2016), the coupled exponential growth of socio-economic and biophysical indicators, purportedly illustrated by the famous tableau of hockey-stick curves presented by Steffen et al. (2015). Recent research has revealed a more nuanced picture, pointing to the significance of longue-durée developments, overall cumulative effects (Görg et al., 2019; Nielsen, 2021, 2023), geographic diversity (Donges/Winkelmann, in prep.), as well as the necessity of looking deeper into the past to determine the origins and thresholds of human–Earth system interactions through time and provide more realistic baselines for contemporary change (Roberts et al., 2024). To do this, we are setting up a ‘Great Acceleration Observatory’. Key here is also the theoretical exploration of the fundamental dynamics of the coupled human–Earth system, something we call the ‘Anthropocene Engine’ (Laubichler et al., in prep.), including interactions between energy, knowledge, and technology, which has shaped, and continues to shape, the patterns and characteristics of anthropogenic influence on the Earth system.
This overall change in the human–Earth system, in which socio-economic and biophysical dynamics are becoming more and more intertwined, is reflected in the emergence of a new Earth sphere, the so-called technosphere – i.e., the human-created fabric of industrial technologies, infrastructures, harnessed energy sources, knowledge systems, social institutions and powers – that increasingly interacts with, and functions on a magnitude equivalent to that of, natural spheres like the biosphere or hydrosphere (Zalasiewicz et al., 2020). Through time, this sphere has developed its own metabolism of energy and materials as well as regulatory and information networks. A central goal of our research is to understand how, throughout history, behavioural structures of human societies, such as new forms of new energy regimes, and technologies, reveal the ‘Technosphere as a Complex System’, and explore how these changes have shaped the further development of human societies, creating feedback loops between Earth system dynamics and human activities across scales.
A focus on these co-evolutionary processes is also crucial for addressing the sustainability challenges created by the interactions of the technosphere with other Earth system components. Here, ‘Land Use and Regenerative Practices’ emerge as a key arena for exploring, directly, where humans and their technologies and behavioural systems meet the Earth system. Moreover, it is here where we can best explore long-term human interactions with different planetary feedbacks (Roberts et al., 2023, 2024), while also exploring which practices might provide opportunities for more sustainable future scenarios on different scales (Prawitz et al. 2026). We are also interested in the ways in which we can model and understand ‘Transformations of Collective Behaviors and Decisions’. In order to propose effective solutions, and indeed to understand complex pasts, we must explore the dynamics of collective behaviour and mechanisms of decision-making processes, as well as the forms of representation that can help us understand the underlying complex systems dynamics. Here, our Decision Theatre framework, developed in cooperation with Arizona State University, provides us with a strong basis for investigating these representations and how they can best be applied to communicate and shape Anthropocene futures.
In addition to coevolutionary approaches we are also interested in the impacts of ‘Tipping Points and Major Transitions’ in shaping path dependencies and risks within human and Earth systems and, indeed, between them (Winkelmann et al., 2022, 2026). We are undertaking research to explore the tipping dynamics that exist in the biophysical sphere and how they can be mitigated, stimulated, or exacerbated by similar tipping elements in the socio-technical sphere. We seek to identify key transitions in human–Earth system dynamics with a view to exploring how change can be mitigated or harnessed for the future. On shorter timescales we are also committed to exploring and identifying ‘Extreme Events and Shocks’ within the human–Earth system. As global warming progresses, extreme weather and climate events are overall becoming more frequent, persistent, and severe. Economic shocks, pandemics, and warfare, provide further elements for consideration within the human–Earth system. We aim to identify commonalities and differences which characterize the emergence and dynamics of extremes and systems shocks across the human–Earth system membrane, with a view to planning and adapting on an increasingly extreme planet.
Understanding these dynamics of the Anthropocene and identifying potential future pathways requires a novel form of integrative and fundamental science. The new transdisciplinary field of geoanthropology responds to this challenge by bringing together emerging approaches in Earth system research with cultural theories and histories of socio-material, energetic, and informational flows. The overarching aim is to “close the loop” (Winkelmann/Donges et al., 2017) to understand, model and analyse the complex dynamics of the intertwined human–Earth system.