Facing COVID-19 in the Anthropocene: contributions from Coastal Governance and ICZM

Abstract

This paper is in the form of an editorial. It begins with a brief review of writings that make the case that that the planet is the third phase of a period known as the Anthropocene, a time when human activities are causing systemic changes in the ecology of the planet that threaten human well-being, ecosystem processes and economies at all scales.  The COVID 19 pandemic is seen as an early expression of the third phase of the Anthropocene. We review the fundamental attributes of integrated coastal management and methods and practices in Latin America that draw upon the Orders of Outcomes framework to analyze, events like the COVID pandemic as it plays out in a context of growing economic inequities, extreme climatic events, pandemics political instability and social conflicts. We suggest that experience gained from integrated coastal management and a theory of change based on the Orders of Outcomes framework offers an analytical and goal setting process that can be powerful when working to understand the implications of events like the COVID pandemic and formulating risk reduction at a range of spatial scales. These ideas and methods are the basis for the Stephen Olsen international chair in coastal management.