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Polycrisis Patterns: Applying System Archetypes to Crisis Interactions

This paper illustrates the potential of systems thinking by applying system archetypes to advance the conceptual understanding of the polycrisis. It explores three archetypes adapted to the study of polycrises: Converging Constraints (based on the Limits to Growth archetype), Deepening Divides (from Success to the Successful), and Crisis Deferral (from Policy Resistance). By mapping feedback […]

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Towards the Governance of Global Systemic Risk: Reforming the Summit of the Future

This paper examines the United Nations’ 2024 Summit of the Future and its Pact for the Future, suggesting that while the Pact addresses key global challenges, it does not fully account for the systemic nature of emerging risks such as polycrisis and planetary overshoot. The authors argue that existing governance models may be insufficient for

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Polycrisis in the Anthropocene – A Global Sustainability Webinar

One year after the call for papers for the Polycrisis in the Anthropocene special issue, 13 articles have been published, with more contributions forthcoming. This webinar features five authors from the first set of papers in the Global Sustainability special issue “Polycrisis in the Anthropocene.” It explores a range of efforts to deepen our understanding

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From Polycrisis to Metacrisis: a short introduction

The authors explore the relationship between polycrisis and metacrisis, proposing a three-layer logic model to explain their connection. While polycrisis refers to the entanglement of interconnected global crises that intensify one another, metacrisis points to the foundational conditions that generate these crises. Just as symptoms indicate an underlying illness, polycrisis is seen as a manifestation

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How Do Crises Spread? The Polycrisis and Crisis Transmission

Malte Brosig examines the conditions under which crises may transmit across systems, presenting a conceptual analysis that draws on a diverse set of theoretical frameworks, including neofunctionalism, rational choice, complexity theory, assemblage theory, and epidemiology. He argues that crisis transmission is not automatic but may be shaped by factors such as stressor similarity, functional interdependencies,

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Complexity-Congruent Research: Methods and Methodology. In: Global Crises

This chapter examines ‘restricted complexity’ research approaches and their effectiveness in addressing global polycrisis. It explores the potential of ‘complexity-congruent’ designs, which incorporate key traits such as temporal dynamics, multi-level scaling, and participatory methods. The chapter outlines a three-pronged framework: employing complexity-congruent methods, identifying time–space leverage points for intervention, and constructing scenarios of ‘boundary objects’

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A Climate of Truth

Mike Berners-Lee explores the concept of Polycrisis and examines why, despite decades of clear scientific evidence and technically feasible solutions, humanity continues to fall short in responding effectively to these crises. Through a critical examination of structural, political, and economic forces, the author seeks to uncover what is preventing meaningful action and what can be

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Unraveling the Polycrisis with Foresight and Innovation

This publication introduces the EU Policy Lab’s new Polycrisis Exploration Tool, an adaptable tool for foresight and holistic risk management. Grounded in Wendy Schultz’s Manoa methodology, it uses a participatory and structured approach to explore multiple future wheels, examining how interconnected risks might materialize simultaneously. Drawing on 40 risks identified in the Risks on the

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The Social Pathology of Polycrisis

Stephen J. Purdey explores how the polycrisis has emerged as a growing threat despite humanity’s shared desire for safety and prosperity. He argues that its material dimensions are rooted in and legitimized by an underlying belief system. Key elements of this system include an exaggerated sense of human exceptionalism, an anthropocentric worldview, and a licentious

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What Comes After the Polycrisis?

In this article, Erik Assadourian explores how interventions during the polycrisis can be designed to be most effective in fostering a better post-polycrisis future, while also strengthening society’s ability to respond in the present. He argues that while collapse may be increasingly likely, societies still have opportunities to shape what comes after. Assadourian emphasizes the

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