Systemic and complex risk governance for Europe’s preparedness and sustainability

The European Environment Agency (EEA) seeks to contract a service provider to support knowledge development on systemic and complex environmental risks and their governance, in order to better inform policy responses aligned with Europe's long-term sustainability ambitions. Amid growing environmental, geopolitical, and socioeconomic instability-often referred to as a global polycrisis-the EU is increasingly exposed to systemic risks stemming from the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. These interlinked crises challenge existing risk governance frameworks and call for new, highlighting the need for more anticipatory, coordinated, and adaptive approaches to navigate uncertainty and growing complexity. In response to these mounting pressures, the EU recently published its first ever EU Preparedness Union Strategy, which emphasises the importance of fostering foresight, anticipation, resilience, and preparedness, by taking an integrated all-hazards, whole-of-society, whole-of-government approach to systemic risk governance. Theis emerging growing risk landscape threathensthreatens the EU’s long-term ambition to transform its socio-economic system in line with the 8th Environmental Action Programme vision of ‘living well within the limits of our planet’. To address theise issues and contribute to strenghtening Europe’s preparedness and capabilities for systemic risks governance, support will be specifically required for the following tasks: • The identification, review, and assessment of systemic risks arising from climate change, ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, pollution and waste, land and resource degradation; and their compounded and systemic effects on critical societal systems and EU policy objectives. • Review and evaluation of governance frameworks, principles, and methodologies suited for managing systemic environmental risks, and illustration of findings through case studies demonstrating successful practical application. The work is expected to build upon a literature review, qualitative and/or semi-quantitative methods, participatory processes, as well as visual representations, to mobilise actionable knowledge that supports transformative change and strengthens Europe's resilience and preparedness. Estimated total maximum value EUR 60,000.