Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR) aims to assess and support the management of systemic anthropogenic and environmental risks.

The SYRR research group analyses the increasingly systemic socio-ecological risks associated with global and local change, and with policy, practice and civil society co-generates options for building resilience.
Global change through rising physical and social interdependencies is leading to increasingly systemic and existential risks that lead to cascading impacts and potentially intolerable burdens on communities and societies across the world.

SYRR develops and applies agile systems science to address social-ecological risks that are embedded in complex systems and characterised by potentially cascading, irreversible and existential consequences. We identify risk drivers, model network interactions, assess probabilistic outcomes and co-develop stakeholder-driven options with policy, practice and civil society that are applicable across scales.
Our approach for addressing existential and systemic risk combines advanced quantitative modeling and qualitative research with empirical assessment and soft systems analysis.

SYRR research is conducted along the following thematic research lines:

1. Systemic Risk Assessment and Management
   Advance and apply quantitative estimation methods to assess emerging systemic risks and disaster resilience.

2. Socio-Ecological Resilience
   Develop and apply ecological network principles to the resilience in socio-ecological systems.

3. Co-production, Engagement and Experiential learning
   Effectively apply and develop participatory methods with policy and practice to create impact.

4. Risk and Resilience Policy and Practice
   Further develop and apply methods to inform risk management and climate adaptation decision-making in planning, coordination, and policy formation, with attention to complex multi-stakeholder and multi-criteria contexts.

We focus, inter alia, on risk and resilience associated with climate change, disasters, food webs, finance and pandemics. SYRR work builds on activities and experience gained from the previous IIASA programs on Risk and Resilience (RISK) as well as Advanced Systems Analysis (ASA) and Evolution and Ecology (EEP).

Resilience labs

In order to address complex resilience problems, SYRR implements Resilience Labs. These labs bring together research, policy and practice in transdisciplinary co-generative exercises using quantitative and qualitative research methods for creating enhanced insight and impact.

Resilience labs held and planned:

  • Limits to adaptation workshop held (see paper).
  • Resilience in the Loss&Damage space: Expert-elicitation workshop in December 2024 (see project site).
  • Polycrisis and systemic risk (planned for 2025).
  • Multi-hazard and complex risk (planned for 2025).
  • Resilience in economic and financial systems (online series in planning).

Models, tools, datasets

Flooded fields

Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC)

Projects

Vietnam

Smart Policy Support for Integrated Climate Risk Management (SMARTSUPPORT)

Staff

Karina Reiter profile picture

Karina Reiter

Researcher (SYRR)

Elisa Calliari profile picture

Elisa Calliari

Research Scholar (SYRR)

No image available

Tapio Palokangas

Guest Research Scholar (SYRR)

Elham Sedighi profile picture

Elham Sedighi

Research Scholar (Marie Curie Fellow) (ASA, SYRR)

News

Flooding in Linz, Austria

04 October 2024

Countries under fiscal pressure from recent disaster events

Recent flood events in Europe have caused huge losses in many countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. IIASA research shows that while Pan-European emergency aid financing is important to assist countries in coping with large-scale natural hazard induced disaster events, there is a need to think about new ways forward for the size and scope of funding levels as well as bringing fairness and other proactive risk financing instruments into consideration.
Flood disaster in Thailand with people being evacuated from their houses boarding a bus

02 September 2024

Enhancing global collaboration to build community resilience against multiple climate-related risks

IIASA is a longstanding member of the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance, which will now be known as the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance to address a broader range of climate hazards including floods, heatwaves, and wildfires, and work towards systemic change. This shift reflects the growing urgency to enhance climate resilience in communities around the world as climate-induced disasters become more frequent and severe.
Flooding in Bangladesh

27 March 2024

Rising waters and sinking communities: exploring the scope for transformation and resilience in riverine Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, annual flooding affects millions of people, particularly those in rural riverine communities. These communities have developed resilience strategies over generations to cope with flooding and erosion, but with increasing hazards and land pressures, the effectiveness of these strategies is uncertain. A recent study evaluated the resilience of 35 such communities in the country.

Events

Focus

Jablanica, Donja Jablanica, Bosnia And Herzegovina - October 4th, 2024 Aerial View of Devastating Landslide and Flooding

17 October 2024

Navigating multi-hazard risks: building resilience in a systemic risk landscape

IIASA researchers Robert Sakic Trogrlic and Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler explore the growing complexity of natural hazards and their interconnected impacts on communities. Their research offers insights into the challenges faced by communities worldwide and underscores the importance of building more resilient systems in an interconnected, increasingly hazard-prone world.

Footbridge going of into the distance over calm water

31 January 2024

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Xuxia Li spent the past year as a guest research scholar at IIASA. She reflects on her experiences at the institute and her research journey to date, which was made possible by the China Scholarship Council.

Publications