Anthropocene: The Challenge for Environmental Planning

The Anthropocene is one of the key ‘buzz concepts’ of the early 21st century. This chapter considers the varied implications of the Anthropocene for how we think about, and approach, late-modern human-environmental relations. It also reflects on the particular challenges that the Anthropocene presents the discipline and profession of environmental planning with. In exploring these themes, analysis emphasises the importance of acknowledging the high levels of uncertainty that surround the notion of the Anthropocene. Ultimately, this chapter argues that the Anthropocene signals the significant problems that human-induced environmental change may generate in the near future. It also suggests new levels of responsibility among the human race for planning environmental processes and systems for effectively