2024 Lund Symposium

Event Date: April 18 & 19, 2024 Event Address: Lund University

The symposium On Human Origins and the Future of Humanity took place April 18/19 in the 50th year of the discovery of Lucy by Prof. Donald Johanson who was one of a number of keynote speakers. Johanson's discovery forever changed humankind's view of ourselves. The program delved into the origin of life itself and highlighted further and recent developments in the understanding of our genetic heritage, evaluating how mankind has evolved and what new scientific discoveries and technologies will mean for human life going forward. The program considered where humankind would potentially be heading given new scientific understanding and discoveries, that offer the abilities to extend life and human capabilities. We looked at our place as a species, in terms of time, our role in nature, in tangent with the many challenges and opportunities that laid before us, such as ecological instability, species extinction and procurement and allocation of dwindling resources.