This policy brief aims to promote a holistic mindset about the COVID-19 pandemic by 1) applying a complexity lens to understand its drivers, nature, and impact, 2) proposing actions to build resilient societies to pandemics, and 3) deriving principles to govern complex systemic crises. Building resilience to prevent, react to, and recover from systemic shocks need to become a core element of how societies are governed. This requires an integrated approach between health, social, economic, environmental, and institutional systems. The brief has been developed by a team of researchers coming from both the natural and social sciences.1 Reviewed by a group of policy actors,2 the brief aims to foster a dialogue between academic institutions and policymakers.