Convene with a purpose
Each dialogue is designed to start from a stated question and end with a record: what was agreed, who committed to what, and where participants disagreed.
About Swiss association Nexus Consortium steward
Policy, governance and convening
A neutral forum for governing shared risk.
The Global Risks Forum (GRF) is a Swiss association with a public-good purpose and an independent steward of the Nexus Consortium with the Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI). It convenes the people who make policy and govern shared systems, keeps a record of what they agree and governs Universe, the annual programme where their arrangements are tested before a crisis tests them.
Institution registerSwiss association
- MissionStronger institutions and year-round cooperation for a world of interconnected risks
- FormSwiss association with a public-good, not-for-profit purpose
- RoleIndependent consortium steward with GCRI, the Lead Institution
- LeadsCouncils, institutional dialogue, the annual agenda and Universe governance
- PrinciplesHosting is not ownership. Sponsorship is not authority.
01Mission
Why GRF exists: shared risks need institutions that prepare together.
The risks that matter most cross every mandate, sector and border that must manage them. GRF exists so that public authorities, operators, researchers, civil society and communities agree on priorities, prepare together and test their arrangements before a crisis forces the question.
Build leadership that lasts
Councils give institutions, leaders and experts a structured year of contribution, with baselines, plans and reviewed results rather than titles.
Test before it counts
Through Universe, selected work is built and exercised under controlled conditions, and the lessons return to the next year's agenda.
02Swiss association
A Swiss association with a public-good purpose.
A Swiss association with a public-good, not-for-profit purpose, and the responsible publisher of globalriskforum.com and its specialist platforms.
| Name | The Global Risks Forum (GRF) |
|---|---|
| Legal form | A Swiss association |
| Home jurisdiction | Switzerland |
| Location | 6300 Zug, Switzerland |
| Character | Not-for-profit, public-good institution |
| Role in the Nexus Consortium | Independent consortium steward with GCRI: policy, governance, convening and Universe programme governance |
| Governed by | Its statutory organs under its articles of association; councils are programme bodies, not statutory organs |
| Contact | Programme enquiries through the Secretariat, the contact form; questions for the association, the contact form |
03What GRF leads
What GRF leads, and what it does not do.
A convener is trusted only when its own role is bounded. GRF states both sides plainly.
GRF leads
Leadership, dialogue and the annual programme
- Convening leaders and institutions around the annual agenda
- The council model: institutions, leaders and working groups
- Documented institutional dialogues with published records
- Governance of Universe within its instruments, including mission admission and gate decisions
- Testing the inclusion, institutional fit and public-purpose legitimacy of selected missions
- Its twelve specialist platforms for governance research and practice, each at its own address
GRF does not
Exercise authority that belongs to others
- Regulate, license or supervise any person or sector
- Finance, underwrite, rate or invest, or approve projects
- Procure goods or services on behalf of participants
- Certify people, institutions, products or results
- Act as a government body, an intergovernmental body or a diplomatic mission
- Promise events, hosts or dates that are not on record
Universe is not a trade show, a procurement fair or a funding platform. Its results are evidence for competent institutions to use under their own authority.
04Governance and independence
Decisions sit with the party that is accountable for them.
GRF governs the programme it leads and nothing beyond it. Each decision has a named owner; no contribution, host or sponsor can move it to someone else.
| Decision | Who is accountable | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership, convening and Universe governance | GRF, within its instruments | Year-round participation culminates in structured annual work |
| Evidence, methods, technical office and Consortium contracting | GCRI, the Lead Institution; GCRI Canada contracts | Questions become testable work, and the technical build is qualified |
| Finance, insurance and capital readiness | The Global Risks Alliance (GRA), independent consortium steward | Evidence becomes useful diligence material, never an approval or a transaction |
| National agenda and participation | Competent National consortium structures | National ownership comes before federation |
| Scientific and editorial acceptance | Qualified, conflict-managed reviewers and the publisher | Institutional influence cannot decide a conclusion |
| Decisions and execution | The relevant government, operator or licensed institution | The programme prepares evidence; competent actors decide and act |
Independence
No purchased outcomes
No member, host or sponsor can buy a finding, an agenda item, an appointment or the removal of a stated limitation.
Conflicts
Declared and managed
Participants declare their interests. A person with a declared conflict does not decide or sign the matter it concerns.
Records
Status follows records
An edition, host, appointment or outcome is described as confirmed only when a record shows it. The full rules are on Governance and trust.
05The council model
Councils on this site, and the Nexus structures they belong to.
Councils are how people and institutions take part through GRF. Each maps to one of the three national participation pillars, so a council seat, an institutional membership and a working-group assignment are never confused.
| On this site | Nexus structure | Who is the member | What it does not confer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constituency councils: state and government; research and universities; industry and standards; media and civil society; communities and Indigenous institutions | National Nexus Consortium (NNC), institutional participation | The institution, through authorised representatives and a contribution plan | A Leadership Council seat, public authority, procurement treatment or influence over a technical conclusion |
| Leadership Council | National Leadership Council (NLC) | The selected individual, in a personal capacity | Office, employment, a board seat or restricted data; an employer does not own a personal seat |
| Working groups | National Working Groups (NWG) | Experts, practitioners, students and volunteers, assigned by competence | A professional licence or employment; unqualified contributors never take safety-critical tasks |
| Financial institutions and regulators | A cross-cutting NNC pathway, led with GRA | The institution | Underwriting, lending, capital or privileged regulator access |
Global and regional councils are in formation, and their scope is published only once adopted. Councils are programme bodies; they are not the statutory organs of the association. Council enquiries can go to the national chapter form.
How a leader joins the Leadership Council
The procedure is designed in four steps. Nominations and applications open only when its terms and review capacity are in place.
- 01
Nomination or application
A candidate applies or is nominated, with the evidence the selection procedure asks for.
- 02
Review
A leadership and capability diagnostic, followed by a fit-and-proper and conflict review.
- 03
Invitation and terms
Selection comes first. Any contribution follows the terms in force for that programme, never the reverse.
- 04
A structured first year
A Leadership Baseline, an annual contribution plan, quarterly evidence and a Year-One Gateway that produces a reviewed next step, not an automatic appointment.
06GRF in the Consortium
GCRI leads. GRF and GRA steward, each in its own voice.
GCRI is the Lead Institution of the Nexus Consortium and, through GCRI Canada, its Secretariat and lead contracting organisation. GRF and GRA are independent consortium stewards with GCRI. GRF carries policy, governance and convening, and governs the annual programme.
GCRI
The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation
Lead Institution: science, evidence and the technical office. GCRI Canada holds the Secretariat and contracts for the Consortium. About GCRI
GRF
The Global Risks Forum
Independent steward: policy, governance and convening, and governance of the Universe annual programme, from Switzerland.
GRA
The Global Risks Alliance
Independent steward: finance, insurance and capital. GRA never lends, underwrites, rates, invests or approves. Finance readiness
Fig. 02The convening network: the Consortium Secretariat in Toronto linked to the six programme regions, each anchored at its population-weighted centre. Cells shaded by distance to the regional anchor.Real geography; the links are the programme design, not venues, members or commitments.
distance to the programme region anchorOuterRegionalNearCore
GRF · institution · fieldDESIGN FIGURE
How the annual agenda is formed
The agenda is designed to form in five steps, each owned by the institution responsible for it.
- 01
National questions
National Desks collect material questions, capability gaps and candidate missions; regional coordination identifies dependencies that cross borders.
- 02
Evidence
GCRI's evidence process classifies what is observed, unknown, modelled and worth testing.
- 03
Participation and legitimacy
GRF tests inclusion, institutional fit, leadership demand and public-purpose legitimacy, and scientific and affected-stakeholder challenge informs selection.
- 04
Readiness
GRA identifies financial transmission, protection gaps and diligence requirements, without selecting investments.
- 05
Mandate
The authorised annual mandate sets scope, participating structures, evaluation questions and publication intentions. National structures may still decline participation or data sharing.
07Principles
Six principles that keep the forum neutral.
They bind every council, dialogue, host, sponsor and edition, and they are written so that anyone can hold GRF to them.
01
Hosting is not ownership
A host provides a venue or operational support. It gains no ownership of the programme, its records or its results.
02
Sponsorship is not authority
Financial support is separated from the agenda, the selection of participants and every finding.
03
Participation is not appointment
Taking part in a council or dialogue is not an endorsement, an appointment or a share in governance power.
04
A record is not consensus
Dialogue records state what was agreed and where participants disagreed. Silence is never reported as agreement.
05
Decisions stay with competent actors
GRF prepares the ground for decisions. Governments, operators and licensed institutions take them under their own authority.
06
Correction is open to anyone
Anyone can challenge a public claim without membership or payment, and a correction is recorded, never silently edited.
08Where to go next
Find the part of GRF's work that fits your institution.
Offers
Programmes
Dialogues, council programmes, policy cooperation and exercises, each with its terms. See programmes
Annual programme
Universe
The cycle, its gates and how national contributions are admitted. Open the gateway or visit the Universe website.
Network
Specialist platforms
Twelve platforms for governance research and practice, each at its own address. Explore the network
09Institutional record
The dossier behind this page.
Each part of the institution's own record has a page of its own. A page states what is on record and what is not yet; nothing here is a figure, a ranking or an outcome.
Record 01
Mission
What GRF exists to do, in its own words.
Record 02Leadership
Who leads the association and the roles they hold.
Record 03Board and governance
How decisions are taken, by whom and on what record.
Record 04Swiss association
The legal form and the public-good purpose.
Record 05Independence
Why hosting is not ownership and sponsorship is not authority.
Record 06History
How the Forum came to its present form.
Record 07Annual reviews
The yearly account of governance and delivery, once released.
Record 08Strategy 2030
The objectives the association has set itself.
10Questions
Questions about GRF as an institution.
What kind of organisation is The Global Risks Forum?
GRF is an association under Swiss law with a public-good, not-for-profit purpose. It is an independent steward of the Nexus Consortium with GCRI, responsible for policy, governance, convening and the governance of the Universe annual programme. It is not a government body, an intergovernmental body or a diplomatic mission.
Who governs GRF?
GRF is governed by its statutory organs under its articles of association. Its councils are programme bodies through which institutions, leaders and experts take part; they do not replace or sit above the association's statutory governance. Any description of the statutory organs is taken from the association's own records.
How do GRF's councils relate to the NNC, NLC and NWG?
The constituency councils are how institutions take part in the National Nexus Consortium (NNC). The Leadership Council corresponds to the National Leadership Council (NLC) for individual leaders, and the working groups to the National Working Groups (NWG) for experts.
Can a sponsor or host influence the agenda or the results?
No. Hosting is not ownership and sponsorship is not authority. Hosting and sponsorship agreements are designed to record and disclose support and to keep it separate from the agenda, the selection of participants, editorial decisions and every finding.
Does GRF share GCRI's statuses and memberships?
No. Statuses and memberships held by GCRI belong to GCRI alone and do not extend to GRF. GRF describes only its own relationships, and only when a record shows them.
Why does GRF work through the Consortium Secretariat?
GCRI is the Lead Institution of the Nexus Consortium and, through GCRI Canada, holds its Secretariat, which answers programme enquiries under its own privacy notice. Programme enquiries can therefore go to the contact form; the acknowledgement gives a reference and names the next step. Questions for GRF as an association go to the GRF addresses listed on Contact.
ReportsContribute
Contribute evidence from this page.
Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.
Global Risks Forum
- EmailGateway GW-GRFSend it from this pageEvidence, a correction, a case, a method, a review, a translation or profile input. It arrives tagged with this page, so the editor who owns it receives it.
- ZenodoOpen depositDeposit it and submit to the communityPublish your own record on Zenodo with your ORCID iD, then submit it to the Reports community there. Curators review it; the DOI stays yours.
- ReportsGlobal Risks ForumSee every way to contributeThe contribution types, how each is reviewed, what credit you receive, the licence and what is never accepted.
Never send personal data, sensitive infrastructure detail or anything you have no right to share. A contribution is reviewed before use; sending it confers no authorship or editorial rights, and sponsorship never buys a finding.
Related
More about GRF and its fellow stewards.
Consortium Secretariat
Bring your institution into the conversation.
The Secretariat confirms the route and the scope of useful work. An enquiry receives a reference; it does not create membership, a council seat or a commitment.
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