New STEER framework to help Governments upgrade National Risk Registers for a world of systemic risks

ASRA launches STEER as governments urged to integrate tipping points into risk assessments. 250+ early adopters signal growing demand for systemic risk tools.

STEER doesn’t promise control; it grows capacity to respond to systemic risks.”

— Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, ASRA

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, October 14, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Policy teams in central government departments and specialized agencies, such as in civil protection and foresight, now have access to STEER, a guided framework that helps them ask the right questions about systemic risks, spot gaps in current approaches, compare options, and design context-specific responses. Launched today by ASRA (the Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment), STEER supports civil servants and cross-departmental teams to prepare for and respond to the interconnected crises of our time.

The timing is critical. The new Global Tipping Points Report, launched yesterday, warns that

tipping points are now a plausible near-term reality and urges governments to integrate them into systemic risk assessments across national, regional, and global scales. Yet most National Risk Registers don’t do this: they catalogue threats in siloes and miss critical interactions across climate, biodiversity, health, AI and cyber, energy, and geopolitical risks. STEER helps policy teams adopt a new mindset and integrate cascading risks into contingency and preparedness work, meaning governments get more from existing processes and budgets.

Ruth Richardson, Executive Director, ASRA said: “STEER doesn’t promise control; it grows capacity to respond to systemic risks. Fitting alongside existing workflows, it helps policymakers see connections, surface vulnerabilities, and take practical steps that improve emergency planning and adaptation strategies, while also laying the foundation for long-term resilience.”

Key features of STEER (Systemic Tool for Exploring and Evaluating Risks):
- Two linked pathways: Systemic Risk Assessment (SRA) and Systemic Risk Response (SRR) move users from insight to action through a structured, evidence-based workflow.
- Built for coordination: STEER provides a shared workspace to engage colleagues across departments, for example: interior, defence, finance, health, energy, and resilience functions, strengthening relationships.
- A resource library: Complete with illustrative case studies, a data and evidence repository, and explainer materials, STEER is not a “black box” calculator or model, it’s a thinking companion that strengthens and supports priority setting.

Co-developed with 90+ transdisciplinary experts and tested in a broad range of pilots, STEER has attracted 250+ early adopters since its demo release in June 2025 to trial and provide feedback on the tool. Early users from around the world have applied STEER to challenges such as wildfires, extreme heat, cyber-energy dependencies, freshwater resources, and supply-chain resilience, strengthening their knowledge and capabilities.

Azzurra Lentini, Data Scientist, European Commission - Joint Research Centre, said: “Member States, like governments worldwide, need guidance on how to address compounding and cascading risks. As someone who tried the demo version, I've seen how STEER could help strengthen existing preparedness processes by revealing critical gaps and overlaps when risks interact. It's a welcome development in risk assessment.”

David Jácome-Polit, Head Resilient Development Program at ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability, also an early adopter and former Metropolitan Director of Resilience, Quito, said in an interview about using STEER: “Practically, it helps policymakers and technicians to anticipate poor outcomes (e.g., maladaptation) and design multi-solving responses—actions that advance several aims at once.”

STEER is already in use across ASRA projects with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and McKnight Foundation. ASRA will expand STEER’s reach in 2026 through regional workshops and roadshows. Organizations interested in hosting or participating are invited to contact ASRA.