Transformation in the Poly-Crisis Age

This policy brief recommends that the European Union must shift from short-term crises responses to the long term systemic transformations required by a polycrisis era. It argues: “Today’s challenges require both anticipatory governance, long-term systems thinking and adaptive, agile decision-making. We must understand the real nature and root causes of the major crises we are in, and realise that we are no longer in mono-crisis mode: rather, we live in a poly-crisis age, which may evolve into permacrisis.” Specific recommendations include reducing Europe’s dependency on fossil fuel and foreign sources of critical minerals while reforming its energy, agrifood, and industrial systems in line with a greener, circular economic model.