Global Systemic Risks Fresco

Systemic risks emerge from interactions within a system in which vulnerabilities are present. If elements of a system are sensitive and sufficiently intertwined, disrupting one or several of them can spread over the whole system, triggering chain reactions and feedback. Systemic thinking is not straightforward. Courses in education are often specialized, focusing on one or few themes or objects. Students often go from one subject to the other, without linking them. “All other things being equal” type reasoning then implicitly arises. This kind of reasoning is consequently blind to interactions with – and vulnerabilities to – changes in other elements of a system.

Studying Global Systemic Risks logically implies systemic thinking. Four PhD students of the team (Alexandre Borthomieu, Antonin Berthe, Léon Fauste, and Mathilde Jochaud du Plessix) created a game to vulgarize this kind of thinking. The Global Systemic Risks fresco is a serious game aimed at broadening the understanding of this aspect. It enables participants to explore interactions within a system and the spreading of disruptions. The game is a visual and spatial representation of the core elements of western societies.

A session takes place in three stages:

1. the construction of the fresco
2. the exploration of breakthrough scenarios and
3. a time of “return to reality”.

In the first stage, participants are invited to construct a map of elements they consider important for society; they are guided to first think about primary needs, then means to answer such needs (such as education or a construction sector) and finally, “sectors” allowing to realize these means (energy and materials, finance and geopolitics, “the environment”). Links between all these elements represent dependencies (see the figure below for a sample outcome).

In the second stage, the thus established map allows to explore scenarios and questions such as how disruptions in one of the elements are links can spread through the system. The goal is to foster insight in the systemic nature of our socio-ecological system and to encourage participants to think about our needs in a new way, adapted to a degraded environment, and then eventually to create or imagine more resilient alternatives.

As these topics are sources of discomfort and strong emotions, a workshop ends with a third stage, to share feedback on what they have just experienced, as well as a time for sharing emotions, which we believe is now essential for any research or knowledge creation around social and environmental issues that affect each person in different ways. Moreover, we believe that this time allows participants to be accompanied in the “return to reality” and to limit the feeling of powerlessness.

The Global Systemic Risks fresco has been employed in various workshops with different types of audience (scientists, students, general public) and we use it now routinely in several courses at university.

For more details, please refer to this report.

This image shows a sample outcome of a session with the “systemic risks fresco”. Shown are the different sectors of socio-economic activities, resources etc. and links between them.” class=”wp-image-4291″/>

This image shows a sample outcome of a session with the "systemic risks fresco". Shown are the different sectors of socio-economic activities, resources etc. and links between them.” class=”wp-image-4291″/> This image shows a sample outcome of a session with the "systemic risks fresco". Shown are the different sectors of socio-economic activities, resources etc. and links between them.” class=”wp-image-4291″/>