© SYRR Group
Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR) assesses risk and resilience across socio-ecological systems to support innovative, acceptable and effective decisions on risk management, resilience and adaptation.
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. 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 consequence to communities and societies across the world. We also explore how disasters may be turned into opportunities by studying adaptation limits and social tipping points.
SYRR snapshot overview:
© Reinhard Mechler | IIASA
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).
In order to address complex resilience problems, SYRR implements Risk&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.
Join us for sessions featuring inspiring speakers tackling contested issues in the risk and resilience space. The hub proceeds mostly online, with a few events hosted personally at IIASA. A chance to learn, and be part of critical conversations.
Models, tools, datasets
Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC)
Catastrophe Simulation (CATSIM)
Projects
Smart Policy Support for Integrated Climate Risk Management (SMARTSUPPORT)
Loss and Damage
Staff
Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler
Principal Research Scholar (SYRR)
Gemma Carr
Guest Research Scholar (SYRR)
Mar Coll Planell
Research Scholar (SYRR)
Imen Chtiba
Program Assistant (NODES, SYRR)
News
10 November 2026
New UN report warns of widening climate adaptation gap and increasing losses and damages
IIASA researchers contributed to the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2026, which warns that climate adaptation efforts and financing are failing to keep pace with accelerating climate impacts, leaving vulnerable countries increasingly exposed to losses and damages.
10 November 2026
Science for a more resilient Europe: Reinhard Mechler appointed to European Commission disaster preparedness advisory group
IIASA researcher Reinhard Mechler has been appointed as one of six scientific experts to the European Commission's newly established PreparEU Advisory Group, which aims to strengthen Europe's preparedness and resilience in the face of growing disaster risks, extreme weather events, and emerging threats.
09 November 2026
From Barbados to London: Advancing science diplomacy and international cooperation
IIASA Science Diplomacy Director and Head of Communications and External Relations Susie Kitchens led a delegation to Barbados to explore opportunities for scientific collaboration in support of the country's economic transformation ambitions. The visit was followed by high-level engagements in London aimed at strengthening international research partnerships and IIASA's ties with UK institutions.
Events
COP31 Cryosphere Pavilion, Blue Zone
SPARCCLE, ACCREU and CROSSEU to Organise a Side Event at COP31
Bali, Indonesia
IIASA at IDRiM 2026 in Bali
Focus
Annual Report 2025
Annual Report 2025: Advancing Systems Analysis Program Highlights
As global challenges become increasingly interconnected, the Advancing Systems Analysis Program continued to develop innovative approaches for understanding complexity and supporting better decisions. In 2025, the program’s research revealed new insights into urban sustainability, resilience in an era of polycrisis, public health, and sustainable development.
23 February 2026
Validating disaster and climate resilience: how to create a gold standard for resilience-measurement
As climate risks intensify, fostering community resilience has become a global priority but a fundamental question remains for practice and policy: how can resilience be defined, measured, and proven to inform implementation? Together with the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance, IIASA researchers have spent more than a decade developing and scientifically validating a universally-applicable framework to measure community resilience, turning a concept into an evidence-based tool to guide real-world implementation in the most vulnerable communities across the globe.
Publications
Park, C. (2027). Beyond error reduction: Dimensional analysis reveals qualitative differences in motor expertise. Information Processing & Management 64 (1) e104951. 10.1016/j.ipm.2026.104951.
Dunant, A., Hochrainer-Stigler, S. , Calderon, L.J.O., McGranaghan, R.M., Mechler, R. , Pittore, M., Constantino, S.M., Angeli, S.D., de Ruiter, M.C., Falmagne, G., Gomez‐Zapata, J.C., Kienberger, S., Koks, E., Krueger, E.H., Livne, S., Muñoz, D.E.R., Šakić Trogrlić, R. , Schweizer, P.J., Vo, T.T.H., Wu, H., & Zhu, A. (2026). Inseparability in Disaster Risk Science: Accounting for Coupled, Co‐Evolving Systems. Risk Analysis 46 (11) e70386. 10.1111/risa.70386.
Calliari, E. (2026). Making sense of loss and damage at the national level. Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02768-w.
Wang, X., Luo, Z., Yu, Y., & Hu, S. (2026). Sustainability assessment of China's nitrogen-phosphorus cycling system under future carbon neutrality transition scenarios. Journal of Cleaner Production 577 e149508. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.149508.
Chen, W., Ren, H., Yu, Y., & Keppo, I. (2026). Cost-emission-flexibility trade-offs in China's power-hydrogen system: The system value of P2H2P. Energy 361 e142076. 10.1016/j.energy.2026.142076.