by Dr. Michael Lawrence at The Cascade Institute….. In this framework, a global crisis arises when one or more fast-moving trigger events combines with slow-moving stresses to push a global system out of its established equilibrium and into a volatile and harmful state of disequilibrium. We then identify three causal pathways—common stresses, domino effects, and inter-systemic feedbacks—that can connect multiple global systems to produce synchronized crises.
Wanted: An early-warning system for the end of the world
by Charlie Cooper in Politico…Some experts believe we could hit catastrophic climate ‘tipping points’ in a matter of years. The U.K. government, with a bit of help from Dominic Cummings, is trying to prepare.
Worlds within Us: Wisdom and Resilience of Indigenous Women Elders
How does one measure the intentions of a life? This is a question that Tekatsi:tsia’ kwa Katsi Cook (Wolf Clan, Mohawk Nation, New York) asks in her introduction to Worlds within Us, a book rich with the voices of eight Native American women elders....
Hope in the Face of the Polycrisis
by Jacob Bornstein & Mesa Sebree in Mediators Foundation…Historically, the leading causes of mass disruption across the world can be boiled down to the following threats: disease, economic mismanagement, environmental changes (natural and human-made), and violence (typically in relation to authoritarianism or fascism).
Climate change forged a new reality in 2024: ‘This is life now’
by Diana Baptista in Context…In 2024, billions of people endured heatwaves, storms and floods; 2025 is set to be worse as man-made climate change wreaks havoc.
Policy brief: Nature for resilience
From UNDRR….Healthy and resilient ecosystems are key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the objectives of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (Sendai Framework) and the Paris Agreement. However, there are noticeable gaps in terms of specific data, pathways and evidence regarding the ways in which changes in ecosystem functions and services contribute to vulnerability or resilience building.
Great power politics Adam Tooze on Bidenomics
by Adam Tooze in London Review of Books…America’s more liberal-minded spokespeople may talk about America limiting itself to defending a small yard with a high fence. But what is inside that fence is clearly everything that matters to state power in the current moment.
The Regeneration Handbook: System-changing strategies
by Don Hall in Resilience.org…CATL supports them all by organizing events, creating educational resources, facilitating collaboration and resource sharing, and helping to raise millions of Euros for startups and expansions. It has also established a partnership with the City of Liège to lease public lands to local growers, helped form a district-wide food policy council, and regularly consults with schools about sourcing locally. According to CATL, which maps local producers on their website, all of this has led to a doubling of market gardeners in their area over the past decade, with much more still to come.
Derailment risk: A systems analysis that identifies risks which could derail the sustainability transition
by Laurie Laybourn in Earth Systems Dynamics…How will the effects of climate change, nature loss, and other environmental change impact our ability to tackle the causes of these problems? There is already a high demand on resources to respond to worsening climate shocks, knock-on impacts for areas such as food production and health, and the many other growing consequences of changes to the Earth system.
Looking Back at the Future of Humanity Institute
by Tom Ough in Asteriskmag.com…The rise and fall of the influential, embattled Oxford research center that brought us the concept of existential risk.
Responding to platform firm power: differing national responses
by Angela Garcia Calvo in New Political Economy…In the second half of the 1990s, the commercial internet emerged as a remarkable connectivity tool that promised ever tighter integration of economies and societies. The desirability of internet use meant that it diffused globally with astonishing speed. In the US, technological leadership, enormous sums of venture capital, a large, single market, and a neoliberal, laissez-faire political economic environment, unleashed an ongoing process of entrepreneurship that resulted in the emergence of what became the global platform leaders.