The Earth system is changing rapidly due to human activity. The scale of human interference with planetary systems is such that our time could be recognized as a new era in planetary history: the 'anthropocene'. The adverse impacts of human activities could, inadvertently, even change the Earth system irreversibly to a mode inhospitable to humans and other life. Navigating the anthropocene is thus a key challenge for policy makers and a challenge for (social) sciences because the institutions, organizations and governance systems by which humans currently govern their relationship with the environment are not only insufficient, but also poorly understood.

The 2009 Amsterdam Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change – 'Earth System Governance, People, Places, and the Planet', will be held on 2-4 December. The event brings together about 400 international scientists to address the fundamental and applied research challenge to develop integrated systems of governance, from the local to the global level, that can help to ensure the sustainable development of the coupled socio-ecological system that the Earth has become – that can support navigation through the anthropocene. The Broker web editor Louise Stoddard and a number of conference participants will contribute to this blog before, during and after the event.