Illustrative: tracers on the Lorenz attractor, a canonical coupled nonlinear system

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Course catalogue · Systems and Nexus Studies

Systemic Risk and Complexity

Complex systems and systems modelling

Complex systems and systems modelling, taught twice over: as the working methods of the field and as its frontier since 2024, with labs on the Academy's tools, open data and the Nexus Standards.

Core course Frontier course

The discipline

01Core course · L2 Intermediate

Complex systems and systems modelling: foundations and practice

This area covers the shared methods used to model coupled systems, test them and state their uncertainty: complexity concepts, network analysis, agent-based and coupled models, digital twins and their limits, model intercomparison and reproducible modelling.

Level
L2 Intermediate
Study time
about 24 hours (planning estimate)
Status
In authoring
Prerequisites
An L1 course in the area, or an entry review

Why now

Linked digital twins promise coupled scenario runs, but their limits and validation need explicit statement. Destination Earth (European Commission, ECMWF, ESA, EUMETSAT), Destination Earth moves into Phase Three, 1 February 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Define emergence and the other key terms of the discipline and use them correctly in a written case
  2. Explain complexity concepts and network analysis with a worked example and its source
  3. Apply the discipline's method to a documented case and explain each result with its source
  4. Analyse a named case against agent-based models, stating evidence, date and limits

Modules

  1. Complexity concepts
    • Complexity concepts
    • Network analysis
    • Agent-based models
  2. Coupled systems models
    • Coupled systems models
    • Digital twins and their limits
    • Model intercomparison
  3. Reproducible modelling
    • Reproducible modelling
    • Emergence and feedback
  4. Lab: the discipline's method
    • A network's mean degree sets the fraction of nodes it can lose before it falls apart; the same network survives random failure far better than a targeted attack on its hubs, and a model of that survival is only useful once its sensitivity and its spread across runs are stated.
    • Work the method through a documented case and explain each result
    • Read the method's sources and stated values

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-C6 Systemic and cascading risk
  • NRS-T3 Digital twins and simulation risk
  • NRS-M7 Method fabric: Networks, dependency and systemic risk

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C8 Evidence, uncertainty and provenance
  • NRS-C9 Risk models, methods and validation
  • NRS-T0 Exponential technology risk and responsible innovation

Assessment

  • 40%Lab recordWork the discipline's method through a documented case and explain each result with its source and date
  • 40%Case memoApply the discipline's methods to a named place or organisation, stating evidence and limits
  • 20%Key terms checkShort answers on the key terms, marked against the definitions

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Intermediate, 4 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

Open now in this discipline

References

  1. Destination Earth (European Commission, ECMWF, ESA, EUMETSAT), Destination Earth moves into Phase Three, 1 February 2026
  2. Newman, The structure and function of complex networks, 2003
  3. Albert, Jeong and Barabasi, Error and attack tolerance of complex networks, 2000
  4. Grimm et al., The ODD protocol for describing agent-based and other simulation models: a second update, 2020
02Live map

Hazards and exposure in Bangladesh

Flood water, active fires and surface heat beside population and night-time lights, over Bangladesh.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

Hazards and exposure

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

Hazards and exposure, framed on Bangladesh.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · U.S. Geological SurveySources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS and VIIRS atmosphere products, NASA LANCE and LAADS DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • Live: U.S. Geological Survey Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • River discharge forecast, 30 days with range (GloFAS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information 2026; not a flood warning.
  • Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (10 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026
  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Aerosol optical depth, daily: VIIRS NOAA-20 Deep Blue AOD, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

03How learning runs

How learning runs, as a process you can run

Select a scenario and press Play: course, pathway, practice, faculty, cells and record.

04What is changing

Frontier course · L3 advanced, programme courses and standards

Complex systems and systems modelling: frontier methods

The methods, data, tools and studies that changed complex systems and systems modelling between 2024 and 2026, taught by reproducing them on open data.

Level
L3 Advanced
Study time
about 28 hours (planning estimate)
Status
Planned
Prerequisites
Complex systems and systems modelling: foundations and practice; Working knowledge of a scripting language (Python or R) for the labs

Why now

Linked digital twins promise coupled scenario runs, but their limits and validation need explicit statement. Destination Earth (European Commission, ECMWF, ESA, EUMETSAT), Destination Earth moves into Phase Three, 1 February 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Explain what changed in complex systems and systems modelling since 2024 and cite the studies, data or rules behind each change
  2. Reproduce destination Earth digital twins move towards operations on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  3. Evaluate a 2024 to 2026 study: its question, data, method, limits and what it changes for practice
  4. Design an analysis that combines a frontier method with the faculty's instruments, and justify each choice

Modules

  1. Destination Earth digital twins move towards operations
    • The Commission confirmed Destination Earth's third phase from July 2026 for 24 months, with ECMWF linking the Climate and Extremes digital twins for joint what-if scenarios and building AI-ready datasets, ESA expanding the platform and EUMETSAT maturing the data lake.
    • Linked digital twins promise coupled scenario runs, but their limits and validation need explicit statement.
    • Destination Earth (European Commission, ECMWF, ESA, EUMETSAT), 1 February 2026
  2. ECMWF made its machine-learning ensemble forecast operational
    • ECMWF's AIFS ENS became operational, producing 51-member ensemble forecasts alongside the physics-based system.
    • Hybrid physical and machine-learning ensembles change how forecast uncertainty is produced and must be validated.
    • European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, 1 July 2025
  3. An AI cyclone model is shared with forecasters
    • Weather Lab released an experimental AI tropical cyclone model generating 50 scenarios up to 15 days ahead, evaluated with the US National Hurricane Center; Google reports 5-day track errors about 140 km smaller than ECMWF's ensemble on 2023 and 2024 data.
    • Independent evaluation and archives of past predictions are essential before AI models inform warnings.
    • Google DeepMind, 12 June 2025
  4. Reproduction lab
    • Extend the discipline's method with one frontier method and compare its results
    • State the uncertainty and the limits of the result
    • Peer review against a shared checklist

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-C6 Systemic and cascading risk
  • NRS-T3 Digital twins and simulation risk
  • NRS-M7 Method fabric: Networks, dependency and systemic risk

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C8 Evidence, uncertainty and provenance
  • NRS-C9 Risk models, methods and validation
  • NRS-T0 Exponential technology risk and responsible innovation

Assessment

  • 50%Method reproductionReproduce one frontier method on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  • 30%Study reviewA critical review of a 2024 to 2026 study: question, data, method, limits, what it changes
  • 20%Peer reviewReview two other learners' reproductions against a shared checklist

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Expert, 4 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

Open now in this discipline

References

  1. Destination Earth (European Commission, ECMWF, ESA, EUMETSAT), Destination Earth moves into Phase Three, 1 February 2026
  2. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, ECMWF's ensemble AI forecasts become operational, 1 July 2025
  3. Google DeepMind, How we're supporting better tropical cyclone prediction with AI, 12 June 2025
  4. Newman, The structure and function of complex networks, 2003
  5. Albert, Jeong and Barabasi, Error and attack tolerance of complex networks, 2000
  6. Grimm et al., The ODD protocol for describing agent-based and other simulation models: a second update, 2020
05Take part

Take part in the work

Start from who you are.

06Questions

Questions, answers and key terms

Is the course free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the course?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.

Key terms

Term

Emergence

System behaviour that arises from interactions and is not visible in the parts alone.

Term

Feedback loop

A chain of effects that returns to influence its starting point, amplifying or damping change.

Term

Agent-based model

A simulation of individual actors and their interactions.

ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

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