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Moulding the future

The Anthropocene perspective that humans are integral to the Earth system releases us from the mind-set that human impacts are wholly negative.

However, humans are unlikely to leave change entirely to chance.

This programme considers whether we can build a future in which humans foster further gains in biodiversity, without compromising human wellbeing or risking historic biodiversity.

This programme has been building as the Centre develops, with the implications of the results and conclusions from the Biodiversification, Philias and phobias, and Utility programmes feeding into Moulding the Future.

Areas of interest

  • Society-biodiversity feedbacks, aiming to analyse and model feedbacks between human attitudes, benefits humans obtain from nature, and biological diversification; seeking ways to facilitate the future growth of beneficial elements of biodiversity.
  • The ideal climate, considering the desirability of returning to pre-industrial temperatures, or would a different temperature trajectory be preferable?
  • Conservation and cultivation, given that some elements of biodiversity are growing in the Anthropocene, what approaches to environmental thinking and management could we adopt if we wish to increase biodiversity further?

News and views

News

29 May 2026

The new University of York Ecological Management Plan is structured around interacting pillars of monitoring and management of biodiversity, education, research and wellbeing.

News

26 May 2026

With the 2030 deadline fast approaching, governments around the world are under growing pressure to fulfil the targets established by the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.