EPISODE · Mar 27, 2026 · 39 MIN
Ortwin Renn - What hope do we have of tackling the polycrisis?
from EXALT Podcast · host EXALT Initiative
This month we were honored to sit down with Professor Ortwin Renn to talk about the concept of polycrisis. Ortwin works with the World Academy Info Hub, Existential Threats and Risks to All InfoHub (EXTRA), as the Director of Systemic Risk Research. This episode is the second produced in collaboration with the join EXTRA/EXALT webinar “Is Extractivism a Prime Cause of the Polycrisis?” (see link below). Ortwin is social scientist focusing on risk governance who has had a long and storied career. Currently, he serves as a professor emeritus for environmental sociology and technology assessment at the University of Stuttgart and directs the non-profit company DIALOGIK, a research institute for the investigation of communication and participation processes. In our conversation we talk about sustainable practices and how they can be implemented in society. We start our conversation with how Ortwin got involved with sustainability and how he discovered his interest in social movements and particularly why people get involved in social movements, especially focuses on technology and how there can be a livable co-evolution between nature and society. Ortwin shared that one of the biggest developments he has seen over his career is that it used to feel like we were facing one crisis at a time, while today is feels like there are multiple, interconnected crisis. Join us for this insightful conversation on polycrisis and its existential and practical implications!Want to learn more about Ortwin’s academic work? See:His profile at the Research Institute for Sustainability https://www.rifs-potsdam.de/en/people/ortwin-renn and the non-profit DIALOGIK https://www.dialogik-expert.de/en Want to learn more about his work at the World Academy? Check out the EXTRA website. https://worldacademy.org/extra/ Want to check out the webinar co-hosted by EXTRA and EXALT, “Is Extractivism a Prime Cause of the Polycrisis?” You can find it on the EXTRA YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/emyOYEh2oZQ?si=dxkaNNIjWcqInwfP
What this episode covers
This month we were honored to sit down with Professor Ortwin Renn to talk about the concept of polycrisis. Ortwin works with the World Academy Info Hub, Existential Threats and Risks to All InfoHub (EXTRA), as the Director of Systemic Risk Research. This episode is the second produced in collaboration with the join EXTRA/EXALT webinar “Is Extractivism a Prime Cause of the Polycrisis?” (see link below). Ortwin is social scientist focusing on risk governance who has had a long and storied career. Currently, he serves as a professor emeritus for environmental sociology and technology assessment at the University of Stuttgart and directs the non-profit company DIALOGIK, a research institute for the investigation of communication and participation processes. In our conversation we talk about sustainable practices and how they can be implemented in society. We start our conversation with how Ortwin got involved with sustainability and how he discovered his interest in social movements and particularly why people get involved in social movements, especially focuses on technology and how there can be a livable co-evolution between nature and society. Ortwin shared that one of the biggest developments he has seen over his career is that it used to feel like we were facing one crisis at a time, while today is feels like there are multiple, interconnected crisis. Join us for this insightful conversation on polycrisis and its existential and practical implications!Want to learn more about Ortwin’s academic work? See:His profile at the Research Institute for Sustainability https://www.rifs-potsdam.de/en/people/ortwin-renn and the non-profit DIALOGIK https://www.dialogik-expert.de/en Want to learn more about his work at the World Academy? Check out the EXTRA website. https://worldacademy.org/extra/ Want to check out the webinar co-hosted by EXTRA and EXALT, “Is Extractivism a Prime Cause of the Polycrisis?” You can find it on the EXTRA YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/emyOYEh2oZQ?si=dxkaNNIjWcqInwfP
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Ortwin Renn - What hope do we have of tackling the polycrisis?
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