Earlier this month, a new website was launched by the Cascade institute, a Canadian research centre focused on emerging global crises. Polycrisis.org aims to serve as an information hub and resource library for the field of polycrises.
The website, which was developed in consultation with different organisations and individuals, will host journal articles, books, opinion pieces, reports and videos. The latest resources included involve topics such as the approach to Hawaiian wildfires and the mechanisms of crisis entanglement.
The initiative also aims to educate a broader public on essential topics, ideas and debates in the polycrisis context. For example, readers can find information on the term 'polycrisis' and how it emerged.
Finally, a community map is provided which charts the emerging community of scholars and practitioners working on polycrises and closely related topics.
''Multiple global crises are worsening one another to produce what many policymakers, scholars, and commentators call a “polycrisis.” This website is a hub that helps this emerging community better understand and address the intersecting crises affecting humanity.'' - polycrisis.org
The website is open for suggestions which could be added to the Polycrisis Resource Library. If you're interested, you can do so by filling out this form.
What is a polycrisis?
Under the 'Learning Journey' of the new site the term Polycrisis is defined as:
''A global polycrisis occurs when crises in multiple global systems become causally entangled in ways that significantly degrade humanity’s prospects. These interacting crises produce harms greater than the sum of those the crises would produce in isolation, were their host systems not so deeply interconnected.''
The polycrisis perspective is strongly related to and includes climate security, as factors and considerations that were once regarded as separate processes now converge. The effects of climate change are impacting conflicts and existing tensions and act as a threat multiplier. Both polycrisis and climate security lenses acknowledge the urgency of addressing these contexts more holistically in order to develop effective solutions and recommendations. We strongly encourage the improvement of awareness on these topics. We look forward to contributing to the website and observing its development.