In our efforts towards achieving sustainability, it has become increasingly important to develop new approaches to help us better understand how human societies deal with changes in linked social-ecological systems, and to build capacity to adapt to such changes. The concept of resilience is central to this perspective.
Resilience is an emergent property of complex systems, often defined as the potential of a system to absorb disturbances without changing its fundamental structural and functional characteristics. The greater the resilience, the greater a system's adaptive capacity to absorb disturbances and adapt to changes. As a system loses its resilience, therefore, it can flip into a different state when subject to even small perturbations.
Resilient social-ecological systems have the potential to sustain development by responding to and shaping change in a manner that does not lead to a loss of future development options. Resilient systems also provide the capacity for renewal and innovation in the face of rapid transformation and crisis. In this context, sustainability is the process of building and maintaining the adaptive capacity of social and ecological systems to change.
The Gaian Institute promotes participatory approaches to structuring society's interactions with the natural world as a way to promote resilience and build adaptive capacity. Adaptive co-management provides the multiplicity of perspectives and expertise necessary for addressing complex social-ecological issues and fostering resilience to changes at multiple scales.
Recommended reading:
Berkes, F. & Folke, C. eds, (2000). Linking Social and Ecological Systems: Management Practices and Social Mechanisms for Building Resilience. Cambridge University Press
Berkes, F., Colding, J. and Folke, C., eds, (2003). Navigating Social-Ecological Systems: Building Resilience for Complexity and Change. Cambridge University Press
Midgley, G. (2000). Systemic Intervention: Philosophy, Methodology, and Practice. Kluwer Academic
Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. eds. (2001). Handbook of Action Research. Participative Inquiry & Practice. SAGE Publications
Gunderson, L. H., Holling, C. S. and Light, S. S., eds, (1995). Barriers and Bridges to the Renewal of Ecosystems and Institutions. Columbia University Press