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Further Explication of the Mega-Crisis Concept and Feasible Responses

The article analyzes the concept of mega-crisis in comparison with crisis. It defines the mega-crisis as a “set of interacting crises that is severe in impact, complex in nature and global in fallout, with no distinct start and end points.” The authors conclude that stakeholder engagement, design-oriented planning, symbolic communications, and case study research are

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Systemic Risks: The New Kid on the Block

Ortwin Renn proposes that societies are good at conventional risk management, which focusses on discrete events like a fire or car accident, but increasingly challenged by systemic risks where a failure in one part of a system quickly spreads to disable the whole system and has ripple effects on others. “It is the totality of

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Globally Networked Risks and How to Respond

Dirk Helbing demonstrates that “Systemic failures and extreme events are consequences of the highly interconnected systems and networked risks humans have created. When networks are interdependent this makes them even more vulnerable to abrupt failures.” He surveys key concepts in complexity and network science, draws upon examples of financial meltdowns and crowd disasters, and ultimately

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Anticipating Critical Transitions

The authors define a “tipping point” in terms of “a catastrophic bifurcation, where a minor trigger can invoke a self-propagating shift to a contrasting state.” Such “critical transitions” appear in nature and society but remain difficult to predict. The authors propose that complex systems with feature high connectivity and high homogeneity are particularly vulnerable to

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Ready for Anything: Designing Resilience for a Transforming World

Anthony Hodgson introduces the World System Model as a new and holistic way to understand of the key issues facing humanity and their interconnections. The book explains how the model can be applied by different groups and examines the kind of resilient and adaptative solutions that may prove most useful.

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Angle of Vision

In this blog, Michael Lerner (co-founder and president of Commonweal) frequently discusses the global polycrisis. Notable blog posts include: “Navigating the Polycrisis-Life in Turbulent Times” (19 April 2023) “The Year of the Polycrisis” (1 February 2023) “Shed a Little Light” (30 August 2022) “Changing Times” (7 April 2022) “Sources of Hope in the Face of

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Globalization and Crisis

This two part special issue of the journal Globalizations considers the multiple crises, dimensions, and interpretations of the global financial crisis.

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Overcoming Systemic Roadblocks to Sustainability: The Evolutionary Redesign of Worldviews, Institutions, and Technologies

The authors propose that socio-ecological systems feature the co-evolution of ecological systems and self-reinforcing complexes of (human) worldviews, institutions, and technologies (WITs). Contemporary WITs arose in a world of abundant resources and immense potential for growth but are now reaching the biophysical limits of the ecosphere. The authors thus advocate a deliberate shift from and

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Global Catastrophic Risks

This book explores global catastrophic risks that threaten civilization and humanity’s continued existence, addressing key methodological, ethical and policy issues. Chapters by leading experts address such risks as astronomical and earth-based natural catastrophes, nuclear war, terrorism, biological weapons, totalitarianism, advanced nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and social collapse.

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Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability in Social-Ecological Systems

The authors argue that “the stability dynamics of all linked systems of humans and nature emerge from three complimentary attributes: resilience, adaptability, and transformability” (p. 1), then distinguish and clarify these core concepts. “Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the

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