Beyond POET, IPAT, ImPACT, and STIRPAT: Eco sapiens as a Metatheoretical Framework for the Anthropocene.

Using the acronym Eco sapiens, the paper explores ten master keys (Ecology; Culture; Organizations & institutions; Space & time; Affluence & inequality; Population; Illness & health; Energy & sustenance; Natural technological constraints; and Solutions to wicked problems), all of which are necessary to understand and appreciate humankind's relationship with the natural environment. Each of these master keys represent collections of related variables, or factors, and each can be conceptualized and operationalized in numerous ways (e.g. Population as total numbers of people, density, urban/rural ratios, age pyramids and sex-ratios; Technology as leading-edge, subsistence technology as the main arbiter of ultimate social organization, Jevons Paradox, tech as solution vs. tech as problem, lags between various technologies and outcomes, etc.). In addition to looking at their main effects, it is crucial, particularly from a broader ecological view, to consider many of the interactions among these factors. Building on earlier models (e.g. POET, IPAT, ImPACT and STIRPAT), I make a case that this broader and more robust model can offer a comprehensible roadmap for civil discussions of the human-environment interface that is useable to a wide array of audiences, including civic groups, academics, political leaders, social movement organizations, and citizens wishing a balance between a deep dive into something narrowly focused and the broader view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]