Unprecedented and Unfinished, Second Edition

In May 2022, as part of the Action Plan project on COVID-19 Outcome Scenarios, the ISC released Unprecedented and Unfinished, a flagship report presenting lessons and recommendations to assist all governments in their responses to the pandemic beyond its initial crises.

With hundreds of interdisciplinary experts consulted from around the world, the report sought to assist policy makers in the thinking that is required to achieve a more comprehensive ‘worldview’ of pandemics and similar emergencies.

A year on, the ISC saw the critical need to update this report given the evolution of the virus and its consequences.

The objectives of this second edition are, firstly, to inform policy-makers and the
public about the wide-ranging, long-term impacts of COVID-19 to help elucidate
the key decisions and actions that could shift societies towards more positive and
equitable outcomes.

Secondly, it should inform planning and policy responses to other existential crises, whether they are pandemics, natural disasters, or the impacts of climate change.

We encourage national academies and bodies, scientific unions and associations, and policy-makers at all levels, to use this second edition to continually assess the moving parts of the pandemic, and future proof responses that respond quickly and effectively to societal concerns for when the next pandemic arrives.

Unprecedented and Unfinished: Policy Lessons and Recommendations from COVID-19 Second Edition

Second Edition

International Science Council, 2023. Unprecedented &
Unfinished: Policy Lessons and Recommendations from COVID-19 – 2nd edition, Paris, France, International Science Council.
DOI: 10.24948/2023.03.