Security and resilience

We have never been more connected. Or more at risk.

International crises caused by war and natural disasters have led to mass displacement of populations, increasing tensions across borders and the rise of the Far Right in politics. And the spread of disinformation on social media has made it harder for governments to get essential information out to their citizens during a crisis.

Climate change not only makes some natural disasters more frequent and more destructive, but it also threatens our crops and water, putting nations at risk of increasing food insecurity. The damage caused by such disasters to lives and businesses places a significant burden on the economies and living standards of countries. Those in the Global South bear the brunt of these disasters, while already having less resources to rebuild after.

And the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the weaknesses of our modern world. The first global pandemic of the millennia exposed the depth of online misinformation, the difficulties in maintaining international supply chains, and how economies struggle to recover after lockdowns. Building resilience to similar disruption is essential for our future.

The University of Essex has taken an interdisciplinary approach to studying these multi-faceted issues. Academics are working across departments and institutions, partnering with charities and NGOs, and involving affected communities, to find solutions and bridge knowledge gaps across the globe.

Researchers in the Department of Psychology are working to understand human behaviour online and in-person, with areas of expertise including political psychology, communication and language, and feelings around fairness and equality. Research on trust and political divides is also carried out by the Department of Government, alongside work on reconstruction (post-conflict and after natural disasters), and security co-operation across continents.

Local community work is being carried out in the School of Health and Social Care, which has recently launched of the Centre for Coastal Communities. Individual and community security is also an area of focus for both the Department of Sociology and Criminology and Essex Law School, where researchers are studying the long-term impact of online scams on individuals, and how data collection for security purposes puts individual freedoms and privacy at risk.

Academics in the Department of Economics and Essex Business School are working to understand how to make businesses and economies more resilient. Their work has revealed that companies are starting to understand the risks climate change poses to their futures. Businesses are increasingly looking towards sustainability to fight climate change, while governments are focusing on how to improve resilience in local communities.

In the School of Life Sciences experts in plant science are developing crops that are resilient to the effects of climate change, such as drought, improving food security for billions around the world. Marine biologists in the School are working on projects around climate change and marine ecosystems, including how sustainable fishing practices for human consumption may not be enough to maintain fish populations.

And in the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering our researchers are working to improve cybersecurity across multiple fields, from network security in the age of the Internet of Things, to security of data such as digital healthcare records.