Humanity is occasionally called upon to undergo the test of operating in what is popularly referred to as a vuca (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) environment. some crises manifest briefly and in singular form within or across countries; while others play out as a multiplicity of tempests, a poly-crisis that shakes the very foundations of human society.

The confluence of the Covid-19 pandemic, worsening natural disasters and the war in Ukraine has unleashed challenges hardly experienced before. This calls for strategic acumen – indeed to answer the question whether the ensuing trajectory is characterised by renaissance, social upheaval or dictatorship.

The capacity of humanity to rise from a valley of despair does not happen of its own accord. Herein lies the causal relationship between capable leadership and an active citizenry on the one hand, and a strategic ‘think industry’, on the other.

It is in this perilous environment that the Mapungubwe Institute (MISTRA) ventures further into the second decade of its existence. The Institute’s utility and relevance as a platform for strategic transdisciplinary research and reflection has come out in even bolder relief.