Planning workshop of the “Bright Spots” project

On 26-28 January 2015, a team of 27 participants met at Vär Gärd, Sweden, for an enthusiastic 2.5-day workshop to brainstorm the framing and way forward of the project “Bright Spots: Seeds of a Good Anthropocene”.

The meeting was intended to be the first of several that will frame the overall Bright Spots project – a Future Earth Fast-Track Initiative co-led by ecoSERVICES and the Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS). Its primary goal was to further define the project and develop a plan for the next year or so.

What happened at the workshop? Participants…

• Built a first draft collection of bright spots, discussed their characteristics, and how they might analyse them to better understand what it means to have a Good Anthropocene.
• Discussed the idea of Bright Spots. What are their salient characteristics and why?
• Built and tested a draft database to house information about the bright spots that could later be used for comparative analysis and synthesis.
• Developed initial thinking about how they could collect additional bright spots through games, workshops, a blog, social media, and other venues.

All this accomplished in 2.5 days!

Participants steered towards a long-term focus on building the project, though some excellent short-term projects and papers also emerged. As a way forward, a list of outcomes and products was drawn, each with a coordinator and next steps.

Read more about the project here.