# Thriving in the Anthropocene

**Source**: https://grandchallenges.unsw.edu.au/themes/thriving-anthropocene
**Parent**: https://grandchallenges.unsw.edu.au/

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**The recent catastrophic Australian summer bushfire season has placed beyond doubt the fact that we are now living in the Anthropocene epoch. Human activity is now the dominant influence on climate and the environment, with monumental consequences.**

**The Anthropocene means business NOT as usual. A new period of tremendous human disruptions to the living systems of planet Earth, with profound implications for human health, energy, climate, our ecosystems, politics, law, economies, and scientific and cultural endeavour.**

**The Grand Challenge on Thriving in the Anthropocene will position UNSW at the forefront of Anthropocene thinking – shining a light on how we thrive, not merely survive, in this new era of human-making.**

**Professors Anthony Burke and Ben Newell lead the Grand Challenge on Thriving in the Anthropocene.**

Related content

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Ben Newell

Professor Ben Newell is the Deputy Head of the School of Psychology at UNSW Sydney, and a Principal Investigator in the School’s Cognition Laboratory. His research focuses on human judgment and decision making under risk and uncertainty. He is a member of the inaugural Academic Advisory Panel of the Behavioral Economics Team of the Australian Government.](/lead/ben-newell)

[Read

Anthony Burke

Professor Anthony Burke is a Deputy Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNSW Canberra, and convenor of its Environment and Governance Research Group. He is a Senior Fellow of the Earth System Governance Project and his research works at the intersection of political theory, global environmental governance, international security, and international law.](/lead/anthony-burke)

[What can we learn while we are apart?

Short talks from isolation.](/whatcanwelearn)

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READ | Dr Megan Evan's vision for the Anthropocene](/article/vision-anthropocene-better-deal-people-and-nature)

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READ | Dr Dahlia Simangan's vision for the Anthropocene](/article/vision-anthropocene-environmentally-sustainable-and-socially-just-economic-transition)

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PODCAST | Hear from Dr Anika Molesworth, Deputy Chair of Farmers for Climate Action, on how farmers are addressing climate change in rural Australia](/article/vision-anthropocene-prof-anthony-burke-conversation-dr-anika-molesworth)

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VISION FOR THE ANTHROPOCENE | Balancing solutions and embracing limits

READ | Professor Tommy Wiedmann's vision for the Anthropocene](/article/vision-anthropocene-balancing-solutions-and-embracing-limits)

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VISION FOR THE ANTHROPOCENE | Prof. Shirley Scott interviews Prof. Anthony Burke

PODCAST | Hear from Professor Anthony Burke and Shirley Scott about a new proposal for a Coal Elimination Treaty.](/article/vision-anthropocene-prof-shirley-scott-interviews-prof-anthony-burke)

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VISION FOR THE ANTHROPOCENE | Prof. Ben Newell interviews Damon Gameau

PODCAST | Hear from Damon Gameau, director of the hugely successful documentaries *That Sugar Film* and *2040*.](/article/vision-anthropocene-prof-ben-newell-interviews-damon-gameau)

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