Illustrative: layers of units and their weighted connections, an activation front sweeping from input to output
Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Governance, Policy and International Affairs
Department of Science, Technology and Society
Knowledge about risk is trusted only when it is produced, reviewed and corrected in the open; new technologies are adopted in the public interest only when they are tested; AI and digital systems need oversight, the information ecosystem needs care, and dual-use technologies need control.
A filled mark is one open course in the discipline.
03Maps
Build a twin of any place
Search any place or open the world; the layers and generators follow department of Science, Technology and Society on the planet map, the globe and in 3D.
Governance, Policy and International AffairsAny placeTwin builder
The Horn of Africa and the Nile basin states, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Uganda and neighbours. Flat map of the same data: the 13 countries on a graticule and the numbers below. The globe opens on devices that can draw it, once its code has been checked; the live events and divisions load in the globe on request, each with its data date.
13 countries
First-level divisions, geoBoundaries gbOpen with a licence gate per boundary: read live when the 3D twin opens
Natural events, NASA EONET: read live when the 3D twin opens
Credits and dates per layer are listed under the stage. Countries are raised on the globe for legibility.
Drag to turn the globe, Ctrl with the wheel to zoom. Keyboard: arrows turn, + and – zoom, 0 resets, V steps through the views, Escape clears.
2 live layers, checked 17 Oct 2026Places5
Layers3
iCredits
Countries (Natural Earth 1:110m) The 13 countries with any vertex inside the box, as published at 1:110m with their name, ISO3 code and the Natural Earth population estimate. Made with Natural Earth (public domain), version 5.1.2 bundled at build time. read 2026-10-17.Estimate: Boundaries as published imply no position on any territory; the population figure is the Natural Earth estimate carried in the file, not a census count.
First-level divisions, geoBoundaries gbOpen with a licence gate per boundary First-level divisions of the countries whose API record passes the licence gate in your browser, for the institutional reach view; a refused licence leaves the country without divisions and says why. geoBoundaries (Runfola et al. 2020, www.geoboundaries.org) and, per country, the boundary's own source and licence as the API record states them (Ethiopia ADM1: Open Africa, Code for Ethiopia, CC BY 4.0). Live: this page requests www.geoboundaries.org when the layer is opened; the data date is printed with it.Estimate: Boundaries as published imply no position on any territory. The gate reads each record's boundaryLicense before any geometry is requested; one request per country per page view.
Natural events, NASA EONET live Open natural events (storms, fires, floods, volcanoes) of the last twenty days inside the box, with their category and source. NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); each event keeps its original source link; no NASA endorsement implied. Live: this page requests eonet.gsfc.nasa.gov when the layer is opened; the data date is printed with it.Estimate: Event metadata curated by NASA from the named sources; not a warning.
Why this place: A region of about 2,300 by 2,500 kilometres where regional bodies (IGAD, the African Union, the East African Community, the Nile Basin Initiative) overlap with shared-water diplomacy on the Nile, drought and flood alerts, displacement and conflict, so institutional mandates, foresight and cross-border policy can be taught on the same globe. The twin is globe-scale rather than terrain-scale: it draws countries and first-level divisions as published, with the disclaimer that boundaries imply no position on any territory. Data quality: Natural Earth is bundled and public domain, geoBoundaries publishes each division with its own licence (Ethiopia ADM1 is CC BY 4.0 from Open Africa and Code for Ethiopia), NASA EONET events are live and open, and the INFORM Risk Index is published per country by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. It connects to the Risk governance and institutions, Diplomacy, cooperation and the global commons, Climate and nature governance, Conflict, fragility and security and foresight disciplines and to the convening and policy context pages of the ecosystem sites.
Flat map of the same data: the 13 countries on a graticule and the numbers below. The globe opens on devices that can draw it, once its code has been checked; the live events and divisions load in the globe on request, each with its data date.
The boundaries, names and designations shown do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Countries: Natural Earth (public domain).
04Live map
People and exposure in Southeast Asia
Population density, night-time lights, air quality, heat and floods, over Southeast Asia.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
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.
People and exposure, framed on Southeast Asia.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
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
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
OMI nitrogen dioxide (Aura) and OMPS aerosol index (Suomi NPP), NASA; distributed by the NASA GES DISC; imagery via NASA GIBS. 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
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
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
Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
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).
Air quality forecast, 5 days, PM2.5 (CAMS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information 2026.
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 (7 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
Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
Nitrogen dioxide, lower atmosphere column: OMI Aura, NASA GES DISC · 10 Oct 2026
Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026
Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
05Console
How the Science, Technology and Society department teaches, as a process you can run
Press Play to run this process from this page's own data.
06Standards and evidence
Standards and evidence, research and evidence, learning, practice and connections
Nexus Standards it teaches and relies on
The Nexus Standards the department teaches toward, grouped by master standard, with the disciplines that teach each.
Nexus Standards at the AcademyThe Academy proposes how each discipline teaches toward the Nexus Standards; the mapping is open for public review.
Research and tools
Research and preprints as they are published, by discipline, with the faculty's other tools.
The hub lists the newest research and preprints for 5 disciplines, each with its source and date. Open the research hub
Research, evidence and the science-policy interface, Innovation and frontier technology governance, AI and digital governance, Information integrity and public trust, Technology security: dual-use, export controls and compute governance
Courses of the department
Courses for this department are in development; until they open, study it through the connected courses below and the open lessons on its discipline pages.
Pathways that run through it
Where the department's subjects are practised
Across the ecosystem
07Take part
Take part in Governance, Policy and International Affairs
Start from who you are.
08Questions
Questions, answers and key terms
Is study here 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 department's courses?
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
Research, evidence and the science-policy interface
This area covers how knowledge about risk is produced, reviewed, recorded and published so that it can be trusted, reused and corrected, and how it reaches decisions.
Term
Innovation and frontier technology governance
This area covers how new technologies and practices are developed, tested and adopted in the public interest: responsible innovation, experimental governance and sandboxes, testbeds, innovation ecosystems, technology transfer and technology assessment.
Term
AI and digital governance
This area covers how AI and digital systems are overseen and held accountable: risk-based AI regulation, algorithmic decisions in the public sector, data governance and sharing, digital rights and privacy, liability for autonomous agents, procurement and standards, and international cooperation.
Term
Information integrity and public trust
This area covers the quality of the information ecosystem, the spread of misinformation and disinformation, AI-generated content, the role of platforms and media, and the trust people place in institutions and evidence.
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.
Risk Academy
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Department of Science, Technology and Society
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