Societal Resilience

Resilience is not only a property of infrastructure and systems. It is a property of societies: their cohesion, their trust, their ability to act together under stress. SoReCC places society at the centre of the resilience question, working to understand and strengthen the social conditions that allow communities to withstand and recover from shocks.

Our Centre of Excellence studies how social capital, institutions and communication shape collective response to crisis. We examine inequality and vulnerability, recognising that shocks rarely fall evenly and that resilience strategies must reach those most exposed. By integrating social science with engineering and economic perspectives, we help consortia design interventions that work in the real social world rather than on paper.

A distinctive strength is our capacity for engagement. SoReCC designs and delivers participatory activities, public dialogue, co-creation and knowledge transfer that bring citizens into research rather than treating them as passive subjects. Our existing Gender Equality framework underpins an inclusive approach to participation. As a non-profit association with reach across public and private actors, we are well placed to lead communication, dissemination and societal engagement work packages and to ensure that project results achieve genuine social uptake.

This work aligns with the Horizon Europe clusters on Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society and on Civil Security for Society, and with EU priorities on social cohesion and democratic resilience. It contributes to Sustainable Development Goals 11, 16 and 10.

SoReCC brings the social grounding, participatory methods and inclusive engagement capacity that turn technical projects into outcomes society will accept and use.