Polycrisis

Understanding the tangled web of global crises to build resilience, reimagine security, and shape stronger futures for all

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Navigating the Polycrisis: Interconnected Risks and Resilience

In the last 10 years, a convergence of crises have disrupted daily life, strained institutions and challenged policy frameworks. These crises include the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit, the energy crisis, climate change, war, and cost-of-living pressures, and have affected individuals and communities locally, nationally and internationally. Importantly, these crises are not isolated, but interlinked - triggering other crises, or compounding their effects. They are a polycrisis, in which multiple systemic risks interact to exacerbate their individual impacts. Polycrisis has revealed vulnerabilities in governance, social cohesion, infrastructure, and digital and economic resilience, with impacts across sectors.

Objectives

  • To conceptualise the notion of polycrisis locally, nationally and internationally
  • To map recent and ongoing crises, analyse their interdependencies, and identify vulnerabilities
  • To assess the socioeconomic, digital, environmental, political and security impacts of these interconnected crises
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of responses to these compound crises
  • To provide strategic recommendations for resilience-building and future preparedness

Questions

  • What are the key features of polycrisis in the 21st century? For example, how has polycrisis materialised?
  • How have different crises interacted and amplified each other? What are the key dynamics of polycrisis?
  • What are the impacts of polycrisis on critical sectors and vulnerable populations?
  • How equipped are current institutions, infrastructures and governance structures to respond to and manage polycrisis?
  • What does an effective response look like?

Lead Academics

Charlotte Baker

Professor Charlotte Baker

Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies

African Studies Group, FASS Health Hub, Multilingual Creativities, Performing Identities, Poetics of Resistance

B171, B - Floor, County Main
Simon Cook

Professor Simon Cook

Professor in Practice - Data and Cyber Research, Enterprise and Engagement – Department of Linguistics

Security Lancaster, Security Lancaster (Behavioural Science), Security Lancaster (Societal Threats)