The rise and spread of Covid-19 in the beginning of 2020 presents a once-in-a-century challenge and opportunity for decision makers, managers, scholars, and citizens to understand the risks, mitigate its impact and prepare for future crises.

Louise K. Comfort is Professor Emerita and former Director of the Center for Disaster Management, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Mary Lee Rhodes is Associate Professor of Public Management at Trinity Business School and Director of the Centre for Social Innovation, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

1. Collective Cognition in Complex Systems Louise Comfort & Mary Lee Rhodes 2. The Global Context: Progression of the Pandemic across the World, the Role of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Functioning of the Global Health Governance and Institutional System Laura Olson 3. Achieving the Transition from Collective Cognition to Collective Action in Responding to COVID-19 in China Haibo Zhang, Louise Comfort, Zhong Zongju & Nie Yulun 4. The Impact of Inter-Crisis Learning on the Risk Cognition and the Utilization of Information Technologies in Korea Kilkon Ko, Saemi Chang & Seunghyun Lee 5. Facilitating Citizens' Voluntary Commitment: Japan's Cooperation-based Approach Aya Okada 6. Multiscalar aspects of the COVID-19 crisis in Italy with a focus on the Metropolitan area of Milan Veronica Gazzola and Scira Menoni 7. A Comparative Analysis of COVID-19 responses in Ireland Conor Mark Dowling & Mary Lee Rhodes 8. Cognition, Communication, and Collective Action: Turkey's Response to COVID-19 Güne¿ Ertan & Ali Çarkölu, Koç 9. Same Country, Different Stories: Context, Complexity, and Cognition in the United States Michael D. Siciliano, Louise Comfort, Naim Kapucu, Seunghyun Lee & Jun Li 10. The Need to Protect the Most Vulnerable: The COVID-19 Crisis in Long-Term and Residential Care in Canada Jean Slick & Haorui Wu 11. From "People Need to Hug Each Other, Do It - and Nothing Will Happen" to "Keep a Healthy Distance": The Mexican Government's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Monica Camacho & Mónica Jacobo Suárez 12. Cognition and Collective Action for COVID-19 Prevention and Response in the United Arab Emirates Edris Alam 13. Evidence and Indicators of 'Collective Cognition' Across Countries Mary Lee Rhodes & Louise Comfort 14. A Learning Model for Global Risk? Louise Comfort & Mary Lee Rhodes