The project brings together researchers and practitioners working at the intersection between scientific and humanities-based approaches to the environment. It responds to the need for new intellectual and cultural approaches that combine a natural and social scientific understanding of environmental systems with an understanding of the knowledge and values in the arts and humanities. Research would be fostered into the relationship between nature and culture, critical transformations in environment and society, as well as the theoretical and practical implications of anthropogenic changes to the ecology of the planet. Through an interdisciplinary course at CEU on visual cultures of the Anthropocene, an annual symposium on vibrant topics within environmental arts and humanities, and a lively digital resource for students, the Initiative would bring together people from across the university to collaborate on the creation of a new research platform of global relevance.