Learning to co-evolve in the anthropocene: philosophical considerations from nature

Abstract

Capitalizing on the emergent debate of the Anthropocene, this paper provides an overview of the co-evolutionary processes that life has developed over billions of years on our planet. The main intention is to identify their operational principles and strategies in order to learn how to co-evolve in harmony with our environment. Humans have much to learn from Mother Earth to build sustainable futures. The philosophical considerations from nature show us that those co-evolutionary operational principles of ecosystem cooperation must be bio-mimetically copied, emulated, and improved to reduce ecological footprint. In conclusion, biomimicry emerges as a sustainable worldview that uses nature as teacher to face the complex challenges of the Anthropocene.