Daniel Aldrich
His studies of disasters from Kobe to Katrina show that trust and networks among neighbours predict recovery better than wealth or outside aid.
About us
Safety you can build on, together.
Safety isn't a product you buy or a wall you put up. It grows out of the right place, sound finances and living systems, and above all out of people who look out for each other.
Providing expert advice and innovative instruments that can mitigate political and climate risks, and turn them into opportunities. Our mission
Why we exist
We live in a time of overlapping crises: a warming climate, strained public finances, geopolitical tension and fast technological change. Researchers call it a polycrisis, because a shock in one system spills over into the next.
The Safe Haven Group exists to help people and organisations get through this transition well, and come out of it stronger. We combine strategic advice with practical instruments and a network of specialists, so our clients can find, build and sustain a safe haven in every dimension that matters.
See what we doWhat we believe
Six principles behind every plan
01
Safety has many dimensions
Physical, ecological, financial, social, and legal and digital. A plan that covers only one of them leaves gaps in the others.
02
Community over isolation
A sealed bunker without neighbours, skills and shared norms becomes an expensive trap. We build connected havens.
03
Balance over hyper-optimisation
Fixing one risk can create another. We look for solutions that strengthen the whole system.
04
Evidence over labels
"Safe" assets, places and products have to prove it. We test claims against how they actually held up under stress.
05
Power close to people
Polycentric, participatory governance adapts faster and fails more gracefully than top-down control.
06
Risk as opportunity
Volatile transitions reward those who prepare. Good preparation protects value, and it also creates it.
Ideas we build on
Grounded in research
Our approach draws on decades of work in disaster science, sociology and political economy.
Eric Klinenberg
In Chicago's 1995 heatwave, neighbourhoods with similar populations had very different death rates. Where shops, diners and block clubs survived, neighbours checked on each other.
Elinor Ostrom
The Nobel laureate showed that communities can govern shared resources well when authority is spread across many overlapping centres, rather than imposed from above.
We draw on their published research. This does not imply any endorsement of The Safe Haven Group.
Our network
The flagship of The Element Investments
The Element Investments is a networked micro-investment movement for entrepreneurs, antropreneurs (human-centred social entrepreneurs) and investors. The Safe Haven Group is its flagship venture.
Sister ventures include Ecosystemix, The Space Institute, The Migration Exchange, The Code Weavers, Bodygit, The School of Senses, Virtuavexi and The House of Love. Together they treat safety as human, legal and systemic adaptation, not as hiding away.
Visit The Element InvestmentsWhat members get
- First-mover access to investment opportunities
- Joint branding and showcasing
- Shared operational resources
- Education and growth support
- Help with measuring real-world impact
Let's talk about your safe haven.
Tell us what you want to protect. We'll take it from there.