Our world is undergoing profound and multifaceted transformations. These changes intertwine and amplify each other, creating an unprecedented polycrisis that tests the resilience of our social structures and the integrity of ecosystems.

In this critical context, the scientific community emphasizes the urgency of deep reflection on our collective future and the need to preserve Earth’s habitability.

With this in mind, my work focuses on several complementary and forward-looking areas: Polycrisis, resilience, intuition & post-normal science.

The objective is twofold: to better understand the vulnerabilities and critical thresholds threatening our societies and the biosphere, and to identify the conditions and levers of transformation that could enhance our anticipation and adaptation capabilities.

Polycrisis

A complex situation where multiple, interconnected crises converge and amplify each other, resulting in systemic challenges that are difficult to manage or resolve

In recent decades, the vocabulary for analysing global systemic crises has considerably expanded, giving rise to a flourishing scientific lexicon. Concepts such as the Anthropocene/Capitalocene, planetary boundaries, and wicked problems have proliferated, transcending disciplinary boundaries.

At the heart of these approaches, complexity sciences offer essential tools for identifying tipping points, analysing feedback loops, and studying interactions between social and ecological systems. A crucial aspect of recent research is the analysis of cascading or synchronous failures, which evaluates current and future impacts on supply chains, critical infrastructure, and ecosystems. The scenarios envisaged range from localised collapses to global disruptions, including existential threats to our species. These scenarios, even extreme ones, are essential for rigorous foresight and improved risk assessment.

This understanding of the risks and dynamics of ecological and social collapses (collaps-ology) is crucial for designing appropriate, democratic, and solidary responses (collapso-praxis). Beyond the scientific aspect, this approach invites us to rethink our relationship with the more-than-human world and to explore the role of emotions and spirituality in facing these challenges (collapso-sophy).

I share my bibliography on these topics via collapsology.info.

Resilience

Capacity to withstand shocks and transform

When disasters strike a region, not all communities display the same resilience. Where does this “rebound capacity” come from? My interest focuses on two key factors: social memory and bonding, bridging and linking social capital.

My approach is grounded in a transformative conception of resilience which focus on local populations, their needs and their own aspirations, while taking into account power relations and inequalities.

Through sharing experiences, commemorations, or mutual-aid, resilient communities draw on their “social capital” to rebuild. The goal is to better understand the drivers of this emergent property. But also to consider how public authorities and citizen collectives can nurture it.

Intuition

A faculty complementary to reason and indispensable for strengthening our anticipatory capacities

Intuition is far more than a secondary cognitive mode. It’s a powerful ability that helps us make unexpected connections and detect subtle signals in our increasingly complex world. Research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience highlights intuition’s crucial role in decision-making, especially in VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) environments.

By linking disparate pieces of information stored in our associative memory, intuition sparks new ideas and expands our creative boundaries. It can be a valuable asset in enhancing our capacity for anticipation and adaptation, sharpening our perception of possible futures.

For nearly four centuries, we’ve cultivated analytical and rational thinking on a societal scale. What if we applied the same effort to developing intuition? The goal isn’t to replace rational thought with intuitive processes, but to combine their strengths (while acknowledging their limitations).

From this perspective, intuitive thought, its role in group dynamics, and methods to socially validate it emerge as an underexplored area of research. The next step is to design and conduct experiments to investigate these questions further.

Post-normal science

A scientific approach adapted to the complexity of 21st century challenges

Post-normal science provides the overarching framework for my approach. In the face of today’s complex challenges, it advocates for transdisciplinary and socially engaged methodologies, such as participatory action research.

This concept emerged in the 1990s as a response to the limitations of conventional scientific approaches when dealing with problems characterized by deep uncertainty and a plurality of worldviews.

From this perspective, the scientific process expands to include not only the views of scientists but also those of experts, decision-makers, and civil society. It values traditional knowledge and diverse cultural perspectives in governing contemporary risks.

Post-normal science embraces the subjective nature of knowledge and recognizes the importance of values in decision-making. This approach encourages a more holistic and reflexive scientific practice, one better equipped to tackle the “wicked problems” we face today.