The Summer Institute in Systemic Risks, Cascades and Tipping Points (CASCADE) is a flagship initiative of European/Canadian institutions, focusing on meta-crisis such as climate change, pandemics, geopolitical risks, and disruptions in global supply chains of critical resources. CASCADE is organized jointly by the University of Split (Croatia), the University of Waterloo (Canada), the University of Augsburg (Germany), the University of Graz (Austria), the University of Hamburg (Germany), the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany). It is initiated by the Risk-Knowledge Action Network (Risk-KAN) and carried out as an Erasmus Blended Intensive Program (BIP). The event will take place between 17th – 26th Oct 2025 at the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences (MedILS), University of Split, Croatia.

CASCADE aims to fill a critical gap in graduate-level and professional training in systemic risks, a concept that analyzes the accumulation of risk and tipping points through cascading impacts within and across systems and sectors. The training will focus on critical systems interdependencies and how they amplify underlying vulnerabilities, creating cascading impacts and systemic risks. Improving our understanding of the root causes of systemic risk, both biophysical and socio-economic is crucial to address contemporary challenges (some would say meta-crisis) and requires integrating different systems perspectives and fostering system thinking. Teaching will include various scientific methods such as system dynamics, material flow analysis, input-output analysis, causality models, scenario and supply chain analysis.

Selected through a competitive process, about 25 Master and Ph.D. students will come together for 10 days. Preparatory readings, plenary sessions, and keynotes will provide foundational knowledge on key system concepts and approaches. Hands on training will involve group work on a major project to be delivered after the summer institute. CASCADE invites students of diverse backgrounds. The working language will be English. Accepted students will largely be funded under the ERASMUS-BIP program. Applications from other than the partner institutions are welcome to apply, but will need to secure their own funding at approximately 1.000€ not including travel costs.

Students interested in the school are invited to apply through a cover letter expressing the motivation and alignment with career goals, and a CV that includes the study level, and unofficial transcript/grades. Please send all required documents in one pdf to the respective university specific contact (see below) and for applications from other than the participating universities to: simron.singh@uwaterloo.ca. Applications will be accepted until 19.05.2025. Selected students will be informed by 9th of June. 

University specific contacts:

University of Augsburg: Lars Wietschel - lars.wietschel@uni-a.de

University of Split: Jadranka Šepić - jsepic@pmfst.hr

University of Hamburg: Jana Sillmann - jana.sillmann@uni-hamburg.de 

University of Graz: Ralf Aschemann - ralf.aschemann@uni-graz.at 

Modules of the Summer School with Tutors

Foundational Readings:

1. Sillmann, J., & et. al. (2022). Briefing note on systemic risk. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). https://www.undrr.org/publication/briefing-note-systemic-risk
2. Klose, A. K., Wunderling, N., Winkelmann, R., & Donges, J. F. (2021). What do we mean, ‘tipping cascade’? Environmental Research Letters, 16(12), 125011. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac3955

3. Renn, O., Laubichler, M., Lucas, K., Kröger, W., Schanze, J., Scholz, R. W., & Schweizer, P.-J. (2020). Systemic Risks from Different Perspectives. Risk Analysis, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13657
4. Otto, I. M., Donges, J. F., Cremades, R., Bhowmik, A., Hewitt, R. J., Lucht, W., Rockström, J., Allerberger, F., McCaffrey, M., Doe, S. S. P., Lenferna, A., Morán, N., van Vuuren, D. P., & Schellnhuber, H. J. (2020). Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth’s climate by 2050. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(5), 2354–2365. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1900577117
5. Binder, C. R., Athanassiadis, A., Bristow, D. N., Haberl, H., & Kennedy, C. (2025). Tipping points towards sustainability: The role of industrial ecology. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1111/jiec.70000

Further Readings:

6. Franzke, C. L. E., Ciullo, A., Gilmore, E. A., Matias, D. M., Nagabhatla, N., Orlov, A., Paterson, S. K., Scheffran, J., & Sillmann, J. (2022). Perspectives on tipping points in integrated models of the natural and human earth system: Cascading effects and telecoupling. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac42fd
7. Schweizer, P.-J. (2021). Systemic risks – concepts and challenges for risk governance. Journal of Risk Research, 24(1), 78–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2019.1687574
8. Juhola, S., Filatova, T., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Mechler, R., Scheffran, J., & Schweizer, P.-J. (2022). Social tipping points and adaptation limits in the context of systemic risk: Concepts, models and governance. Frontiers in Climate, 4. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2022.1009234
9. Armstrong McKay, D. I., Staal, A., Abrams, J. F., Winkelmann, R., Sakschewski, B., Loriani, S., Fetzer, I., Cornell, S. E., Rockström, J., & Lenton, T. M. (2022). Exceeding 1.5°C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points. Science, 377(6611), eabn7950. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn7950
10. 2021 David Attenborough narrated documentary Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet. It is a nice introduction to the ideas of tipping points and the planetary boundaries introduced by Johan Rockström. It’s available on Netflix.
11. IRGC GUIDELINES FOR THE GOVERNANCE OF SYSTEMIC RISKS, In systems and organisations, In the context of transitions, https://infoscience.epfl.ch/server/api/core/bitstreams/74f26a3b-a269-4afd-96e4-ec0ab6dc79a3/content
12. Smith SR, Milkoreit M, Geels FW, Lenton TM. Advancing science, policy and action in tipping points research. Nat Clim Chang. Juni 2025;15(6):576–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02335-9
13. Kopp RE, Gilmore EA, Shwom RL, Adams H, Adler C, Oppenheimer M, u. a. ‘Tipping points’ confuse and can distract from urgent climate action. Nat Clim Chang. Januar 2025;15(1):29–36. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02196-8