MPI logo

Symposium on the Geoanthropology of the Biosphere

Geoanthropology of the Biosphere: Integrated, Long-Term, and Global Approaches to Human-Biosphere Interactions

The Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology addresses the critical challenges of the 21st century by bringing together insights from various disciplines to study climate change, the biodiversity crisis, the overexploitation of natural resources, and the sustainable survival of human communities. Using laboratory, field, modeling, and interpretive approaches, the Institute investigates the fundamental dynamics of the human-Earth system that have given rise to the multifaceted crises of the “Anthropocene.”

The symposium brings together experts who, in various ways, examine the relationship between the sociotechnosphere and the biosphere at the local, regional, and global levels, as well as across different timescales. The presentations will focus on new approaches to researching, understanding, and modeling our species’ long-term interaction with this crucial component of the Earth system. The speakers come from various disciplines and will shed light on different aspects of the human-biosphere system.

For more information click here.

WHEN: June 22, 11 a.m. – June 23, 5 p.m.

WHERE: Volkshaus Jena (Carl-Zeiss-Platz 15, 07743 Jena)

Pop Up Salon  Energiestadt Jena Bildrechte Elijah Ofosu 1200x500

Pop-Up Salon #3 LIFE

Salon 2035 – Jena Discusses the Future

Three evenings, three exciting topics, a time horizon of 2035: Jena looks to the future together. The pop-up salons on Wagnergasse invite the academic community and the general public to engage in genuine conversations about highly relevant topics and scenarios—open, informal, and on equal footing. Short presentations, lively discussion, cold drinks. Come by and join the conversation!

Pop-Up Salon #3: The Silent Crisis – Global Biodiversity

We are in the midst of a global ecological crisis without historical precedent: worldwide, the extinction rates of animal and plant species are skyrocketing to levels many times higher than natural rates. Yet this silent loss is far more than an abstract conservation issue; it shakes the very foundations of our civilization and poses a global and existential threat to our economic systems and our very existence.

Our third salon looks beyond the immediate picture and analyzes the bigger picture:

  • Where are the global “red lines” of biodiversity, the crossing of which could trigger irreversible tipping points for the Earth system?
  • If global demand for resources is the main cause of species extinction, what global options for action do we still have to halt the impending collapse?
  • How do we prepare, as a country and as an urban society, for the global impacts of dwindling biodiversity, on which our economy and our survival directly depend?

Together with experts and participants, we will seek global solutions and local responses to a crisis that knows no borders.

Admission is free. For more information click here.

WANN: June 25, 2026, 5:00–9:00 p.m.

WO: Pop-Up FORUM (Wagnergasse 25, 07743 Jena)