Synergies: Understandings in a Complex World

The authors examine the concept of synergy and its applications in the polycrisis context. They present an integrative review of 14 disciplines and identify three key attributes of synergy: its magnitudes, spatial and temporal scales, and the possibility for both positive and negative synergy. The review also outlines three conceptual understandings: synergy as outcome, synergy as processes and synergy as perceived wholes, with implications for resource efficiency, connectivity, governance, policy impact and systemic change. The authors highlight that this research is the first comprehensive synthesis for cross-disciplinary research and practice in large complex systems.