At our annual conference last October, our newest board member, Emlyn Koster took the lead on forming the NATHIST working group on the Anthropocene.
The group had its first meeting on October 25, 2018, during the conference. It was agreed in that forum to formalize the working group and begin setting up a work program. Since then, Emlyn has created an initial report, to articulate the history of the issue as it impacts on natural history museums and identify a roadmap for moving forward.
From the Report. … taking stock of international developments relating to the Anthropocene and across the nature-and-science museum sector, and citing major events and publications in a big-picture context, this document offers a high-level framework for review, dialogue and improvement. It summarizes the growing scholarly and public prominence of the Anthropocene as a transdisciplinary frame of reference for anthropogenic changes to the Earth System. …NATHIST is poised to stimulate a vital conversation of how museums, as unique resources in a civil society, can best champion a cause of unprecedented urgency – namely, the future of Planet Earth and all of its life.
At the time of posting, the version has been commented on by many in the field and is being prepared for ratification by the NATHIST Board.
Many thanks go to those who contributed to the initial meeting and provided commentary. We will provide periodic updates on progress on the working group, as well as the place and date of the next meeting, on this site.
Download the Document. To download a PDF version of the document, click on this link ICOM NATHIST WG ANTHROPOCENE 2.22.18
To download a free PDF reader, follow this link https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat/pdf-reader.html
Find Out More. If you are interested in finding out more about the Anthropocene-related activities of NATHIST, please use the contact form at the following link https://icomnathist.com/contact/