Like the COVID-19 pandemic, some crisis are difficult to anticipate. The climate crisis and the increasing biodiversity loss, however, are foreseeable. COVID-19 has shown that mitigating the risk of crisis is not only a moral issue but also an economic question. The mitigation of short-term consequences of the pandemic is indispensable for the stability of our societies and the European Economy. However, in doing so it is vital to no lose sight of disruptive long-term challenges, which should not be played off against short-term economic growth. From an economic point of view, we simply cannot afford to address one crisis whilst ignoring another. 

To that end, balancing short and long-term priorities and facilitating preventative actions should be deeply anchored in key political processes such as the European Semester, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and the European Green Deal in order to limit economic, environmental and social crisis and exorbitant costs in the future.

That is why a variety of institutions come together to organize a high-level EU conference. By bringing together policymakers from the European Commission and other European institutions, as well as selected experts from academia and civil society, this conference creates a virtual platform for discussion how Europe can leapfrog to resilience. The organizers offer a unique space for cross institutional dialogue and knowledge transfer, enriched by different perspectives and areas of expertise. This opens up new head space for transformative policy and innovation in approaches to governance.

With ZOE as the leading institution, Ecologic Institute is mainly responsible to organize the policy lab "Green Recovery", which is one of four labs. For this purpose, Ecologic Institute prepares the thematic input and assists with the lab's discussion.