Seven Shocks and Finland

Unexpected extreme events, be it a flash flood or the collapse of a major industry, can cause dramatic changes in a society’s economic, social, financial, and political life. To better prepare countries—in this study, Finland—to be more resilient in the face of such events, the Seven Shocks Project is analyzing seven “shock” scenarios and possible responses. 

Researchers from IIASA’s Extreme Events Program are defining shocks as disturbances that strike a system from the outside. The effects of the shocks and the consequences of the resulting disruptions can be either negative or positive.

IIASA and the 20 partners in the project have chosen to analyze the impact these seven shocks could have on Finland:

• The collapse of the European Monetary Union. 
• The collapse of reliable Internet service. 
• A major company leaves Finland. 
• Flash floods devastate Europe. 
• China collapses. 
• The European forest and pulp and paper companies consolidate. 
• The price of electricity drops 90 percent. 

These shock studies are complementary to the 2010 Finnish Government Resolution for the Security Strategy for Society, which defines threat scenarios and principles for crisis management. The goal of the project is to examine how Finland, and by implication other countries, can be resilient by the increasing risks of a global system rife with uncertainty.

Last edited: 22 June 2012