Surprising no-one, a recent study has named Iceland as a promising location to ride out the collapse of modern society.
The study, published in the journal Sustainability, singled out nations like New Zealand, Iceland, Ireland, and Australia as “nodes of persisting complexity.” In other words, these island communities are complex and self-sustaining enough survive a “global de-complexification.” Their words, not ours.
Aled Jones, one of the authors of the study, stated to the Guardian that:
“The [academic] literature paints a picture of human civilisation that is in a perilous state, with large and growing risks developing in multiple spheres of the human endeavour […] We need to start thinking about resilience much more in global planning. But obviously, the ideal thing is that a quick collapse doesn’t happen.”
The study comes in the wake of the COVID pandemic, and the fragility it has exposed in an age of global inter-connectedness, climate change, and political strife.
Features of these nations that were considered were their ability to grow their own food, maintain their own power grids, and control their own borders.
New Zealand took the gold medal and was singled out as the most resilient community, which is no surprise for anyone who has seen them weather COVID relatively unscathed.
The study bears a strong resemblance in its conclusions to a study from 2019, which contended Iceland would be one of the best places to save humanity from a global extinction event.
So next time global society collapses, how about a nice vacation on our cold little island in the North?
Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.
You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.
Also you can get regular news from Iceland—including the latest notifications on eruptions, as soon as they happen—by signing up to our newsletter.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
