Curating disaster: a way to turn science into action in times of the Corona pandemic

Abstract

To cure Covid-19 on a medical, political, economic, and societal level, there is a need to ‘curate’ between science and politics in such a way that decision-makers and societies can address the practical requirements at hand. This commentary introduces and discusses ‘curating’ as a socio-material practice mediating between science and decision-making. It reflects on the current Covid-19 pandemic and compares ‘curatorial’ aspects here to the field of natural catastrophe risk finance. As both areas try to manage disasters, the space between scientific knowledge and economic and/or political decision-making becomes a particularly important node. By employing a focus on catastrophe simulation modelling, this essay looks at several issues of the natural catastrophe field that may yield ways to deal with epidemic crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This commentary suggests putting greater emphasis on (and encourages a research focus on) the ‘curation’ between science and politics to improve decision-making for socio-material disasters.