Polycrisis Roadmap

Accelerating Polycrisis Research and Action

The Polycrisis Research and Action Roadmap identifies theoretical, empirical, practical, and community-building gaps in the growing field of polycrisis knowledge and action.

This forum offers polycrisis community members a space to share suggestions on these gaps, to publicize projects and events that address these gaps, and to strengthen collaboration on polycrisis projects. 

Fill out the form below or inline with specific gap areas to submit a contribution.

Polycrisis Community Input

We welcome your input on any gaps, challenges, solutions or priorities that the polycrisis community should be addressing. We will review your input and post all approved submissions on the Polycrisis Roadmap page. If you simply wish to make a comment, please just use the ‘Description’ pane.

Name(Required)
Lead person
Most relevant dimension of polycrisis analysis:

Contribute to the roadmap

Theoretical foundations

Those engaged in polycrisis analysis disagree about the conceptualization of crisis versus risk; the plural versus singular nature of polycrisis; the role of power and agency alongside systemic structures in polycrisis analysis; and the nature of crisis interactions sufficient to constitute a polycrisis. While these issues may not be resolvable, theorists should be more explicit about their positions on them to aid knowledge cumulation.

Gaps and challenges Solutions
Disagreement about the definitions of core concepts (crisis vs. risk, polycrises vs. "the Polycrisis")

  • Avoid getting bogged down in efforts to standardize/harmonize concepts and definitions.

  • Establish norms for clearly defining key concepts in published work and presentations

Weak theory on the role of system structure, power, and agency in
shaping polycrisis and polycrisis response

  • Encourage interdisciplinary sociologists, political scientists, and other "systems theorists" to pursue this research program (through, for example, calls for research, positions, and funding).

Lack of precision about how crises spread (specifically, the strength and character of polycrisis interactions)

  • Encourage interdisciplinary "systems theorists" to prioritize this research program (through, for example, calls for research, positions, and funding).

Polycrisis Community Input

We welcome your input on any gaps, challenges, solutions or priorities that the polycrisis community should be addressing. We will review your input and post all approved submissions on the Polycrisis Roadmap page. If you simply wish to make a comment, please just use the ‘Description’ pane.

Name(Required)
Lead person
Most relevant dimension of polycrisis analysis:

Contribute to Theoretical Foundations
Contributor Initiative
Individual or organization nameInitiative description linking out to URL (if initiative has one, use that; if not, create a polycrisis.org page)

Empirical research

Research has begun to explore past and present polycrises at multiple scales in productive ways, but researchers need to more clearly identify the systems under investigation, the boundaries of those systems, and the particular crises that make up a polycrisis. Key research priorities include identifying the mechanisms of crisis transmission among systems and the lessons of past polycrises, given their commonalities and differences with present and possible future ones. Empirical research should explore and expand the full range of available methods, models, and datasets so as to build a rigorous and inter-disciplinary field of inquiry.

Gaps and challenges Solutions
System boundaries and "constituent" crises are difficult to define

  • Acknowledge the inherent inter-subjectivity
    and imprecision of definitions of system boundaries.

  • Clearly identify systems, their boundaries, and constituent crises when analyzing polycrisis.

Lack of real-world case studies of "crisis transmission mechanisms"

  • Encourage interdisciplinary teams of "systems theorists" and domain-specific experts to pursue this research program (through, for example, calls for research, positions, funding).

Lack of clear guidance on method selection

  • Initiate new research on polycrisis-relevant methods and how they can be combined/integrated.

Uneven data availability and
quality

  • Identify and share appropriate databases across disciplines and develop recommendations for improved data collection and integration.

Lack of clarity on the relevance of historical case studies for analyzing unfolding crisis interactions

  • Encourage interdisciplinary teams of "systems theorists" and historians to pursue this research program (through, for example, calls for research, positions, funding).

Polycrisis Community Input

We welcome your input on any gaps, challenges, solutions or priorities that the polycrisis community should be addressing. We will review your input and post all approved submissions on the Polycrisis Roadmap page. If you simply wish to make a comment, please just use the ‘Description’ pane.

Name(Required)
Lead person
Most relevant dimension of polycrisis analysis:

Contribute to the roadmap
Contributor Initiative
Individual or organization nameInitiative description linking out to URL (if initiative has one, use that; if not, create a CI.org page)

Practical applications

The polycrisis community wants to help policymakers and other frontline actors prevent and respond to urgent, intersecting crises, but the field has a "negativity problem," limiting its audience and potential impact. Also, policymakers and other frontline actors are largely excluded from the research process. To address these two challenges, organizations conducting polycrisis research should engage communications experts to learn how to better frame polycrisis analysis and identify policymaking "champions" whose expertise and priorities can be integrated into research projects.

Gaps and challenges Solutions
Polycrisis research and analysis fixates on negative outcomes, limiting its audience and potential impact.

  • Make a concerted effort to identify positive pathways in polycrisis analyses.

  • Engage communications experts to identify strategies to better frame polycrisis analysis for policymakers

Policymakers and "frontline actors" are excluded from the research process.

  • Identify and develop relationships with "champions" in policymaking organizations and integrate their expertise and priorities into the development of research projects.


  • Learn from existing models to build formal relationships / affiliations with policymaking organizations (and other key organizations) and established intermediaries bridging government and civil society/academia.

Polycrisis analysis tends to be expert-driven and exclusionary.

  • Experiment with participatory systems mapping tools-particularly those already used within government and the investment community.

Polycrisis researchers are discouraged from producing applied research focusing on codevelopment and real-world impact.

  • Pursue funding for new positions and organizations focused on applied polycrisis research and knowledge mobilization.

Polycrisis Community Input

We welcome your input on any gaps, challenges, solutions or priorities that the polycrisis community should be addressing. We will review your input and post all approved submissions on the Polycrisis Roadmap page. If you simply wish to make a comment, please just use the ‘Description’ pane.

Name(Required)
Lead person
Most relevant dimension of polycrisis analysis:

Contribute to Practical Applications
Contributor Initiative
Individual or organization nameInitiative description linking out to URL (if initiative has one, use that; if not, create a CI.org page)

Community building

The development of the polycrisis field requires a cohesive identity for polycrisis researchers, wider inclusion of diverse perspectives, increased public outreach, and expanded organizational infrastructure, such as research positions, communications platforms, annual meetings, and cooperative coordination. The polycrisis community should therefore develop a set of shared principles, initiatives to increase participation from the Global South and other underrepresented groups, means to support members intellectually and financially, and strategies to increase communication and understanding both within the group and beyond.

Gaps and challenges Solutions
Lack of a well-defined polycrisis community identity

  • Develop a "uniting document" outlining the scope, objectives, and principles of the community.

  • Develop multidisciplinary webinars, primers, and practical tools.

Underrepresentation of the Global South and lack of diverse perspectives

  • Map the geographical distribution and intellectual/disciplinary approaches of polycrisis community.

  • Identify "champion organizations" in the Global South.

  • Partner with champion organizations to pursue funding opportunities.

  • Actively recruit researchers from underrepresented groups to the community.

  • Encourage interdisciplinary polycrisis research (in the form of grants, positions, support) for early career academics.

Low "polycrisis literacy" outside of the polycrisis community

  • Increase general public outreach (through, for example, social media communications strategies, accessible "explainers," op-eds in major outlets).

Lack of dedicated community infrastructure and leadership

  • Add elements to polycrisis.org (e.g., a. board where members can seek advice, collaboration, job opportunities).

  • Distribute newsletter to keep community updated on upcoming events and member accomplishments/publications.

  • Seek out publishing opportunities like special issues in journals or create a new journal.

  • Host an annual or semi-annual meeting.

  • Establish a pool of money that can be distributed for opportunities within the network.

  • Create a polycrisis "banner" under the auspices of the Accelerator of Systemic Risk Assessment or get founding institutions to take
    leadership responsibility.

  • Hire, elect, or assign community members to be responsible for planning meetings and conferences, maintaining communication channels, and coordinating fundraising efforts.

Polycrisis Community Input

We welcome your input on any gaps, challenges, solutions or priorities that the polycrisis community should be addressing. We will review your input and post all approved submissions on the Polycrisis Roadmap page. If you simply wish to make a comment, please just use the ‘Description’ pane.

Name(Required)
Lead person
Most relevant dimension of polycrisis analysis:

Contribute to Community Building
Contributor Initiative
Individual or organization nameInitiative description linking out to URL (if initiative has one, use that; if not, create a CI.org page)
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