The following themes and questions are focal points of the science in our community:

MSD Insights for Adaptive Human Actions
What representation (resolution, included processes, and entities) is necessary for representing adaptive actions? Are there unique insights that only be achieved through an MSD perspective? Can they be leveraged to improve our understanding of a particular sector? How can MSD insights inform the management of interdependent actions across sectors?

Coupling & MSD Model Evaluation
How do cross-sectoral integration and coupling affect the uncertainty of projections? What are some best practices for coupling and model evaluation? How are key concepts (e.g., transformation, resilience, vulnerability) defined consistently across scales and sectors?

Dependencies & Interactions
How do different sectors interact across scales? What are the key processes controlling these interactions? How should the synergies or tradeoffs for sector interactions be identified? How do they evolve?

Stressors & Uncertainties
What determines key drivers, stressors, and uncertainties when considering a MSD perspective? How do these propagate through the system-of-systems? Can the path-dependencies of “failure” or “transformation” be identified, as well as any tipping points?