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Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability in Social-Ecological Systems
Abstract
The concept of resilience has evolved considerably since Holling's (1973) seminal paper. Different interpretations of what is meant by resilience, however, cause confusion. Resilience of a system needs to be considered in terms of the attributes that govern the system's dynamics. Three related attributes of social-ecological systems (SESs) determine their future trajectories: resilience, adaptability, and transformability. Resilience (the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity, and feedbacks) has four components-latitude, resistance, precariousness, and panarchy-most readily portrayed using the metaphor of a stability landscape. Adaptability is the capacity of actors in the system to influence resilience (in a SES, essentially to manage it). There are four general ways in which this can be done, corresponding to the four aspects of resilience. Transformability is the capacity to create a fundamentally new system when ecological, economic, or social structures make the existing system untenable. The implications of this interpretation of SES dynamics for sustainability science include changing the focus from seeking optimal states and the determinants of maximum sustainable yield (the MSY paradigm), to resilience analysis, adaptive resource management, and adaptive governance.
... Source: Authors' construction based on Benyus (1997), Wilson (1984), Capra (1996Capra ( , 2002, and Walker et al. (2004). Biophilia, coined by E. O. Wilson (1984), describes humankind's intrinsic connection to the natural world. ...
... Source: Authors' construction based on Benyus (1997), Capra (1996Capra ( , 2002, Ruano (2019), and Walker et al. (2004). ...
... Actively enhances ecosystem health and biodiversity. Walker et al., 2004;Godeanu et al., 2022. Examples Energy-efficient appliances, recycling programs. ...
This is a discussion of how modern organizational architectures can emerge out of the properties of biomimicry and organic principles and how such an evolution of organizational architecture can translate into newer approaches to enterprise architecture evolution, moving beyond the legacy architectures of enterprise formation. The study highlights that nature's resilience, adaptability, and interconnectedness can inspire new strategies for innovation and sustainability-all based on ecological patterns. Some additional specific concepts are holistic design frameworks incorporating scope, scale, and symbiosis; biomimetic principles for maximizing adaptability and efficiency; and models for collecting and harnessing earth, water, air, and fire in the enterprise. The chapter provides examples of subsystems of biomimicry in action across help industries, from technology to urban planning, such as those by Interface, Tesla, and Patagonia. It emphasizes strategies for embedding ecological models throughout organizational strategy, fostering regenerative practices, and applying digital technology to replicate successful sustainability programs. Moreover, this discourse links the stories of ecological sustainability with economic growth via these stories, making a strong argument for balancing profit-sharing with ecologically friendly practices as early as the planning and construction stages. It concludes with its looking ahead and asking directions organics enterprise architecture that employs the potential of next-generation technologies, collaborative platforms, and regenerative methodologies to confront global challenges. Such an approach of achieving resilience, sustainability, and long-term growth in a complex world by aligning enterprise systems to natural laws is a potentially compelling approach to achieving the same.
... In the mountain cryosphere, icerich permafrost landforms overlain by a thick, coarse blocky debris layer stand out as the least sensitive, i.e. most robust, landforms, appearing as rock glaciers (Haeberli et al., 2006) and frozen talus slopes (Delaloye and Lambiel, 2005) that have been responding slowly to climate change. Note that we use the term "robust" in the sense of "climate-insensitive" (Schaffer and MacDonell, 2022) or "resistant to changes", which is one aspect of resilience (Walker et al., 2004;Jorgenson et al., 2010). ...
... Coarse blocky landforms benefit from specific processes that occur in the clast-supported coarse debris (decimetresized blocks, sparse fine material), collectively known as undercooling processes (Wakonigg, 1996;Rist et al., 2003). Undercooling locally creates a stable ground thermal regime (microclimate) that is typically 1-5°C colder than the surrounding fine-grained or bedrock terrain (Gorbunov et al., 2004; and can preserve permafrost conditions under otherwise unfavourable topo-climatic conditions (azonal permafrost) (Morard et al., 2010;Wicky and Hauck, 2020;Wicky et al., 2024). ...
... Undercooling locally creates a stable ground thermal regime (microclimate) that is typically 1-5°C colder than the surrounding fine-grained or bedrock terrain (Gorbunov et al., 2004; and can preserve permafrost conditions under otherwise unfavourable topo-climatic conditions (azonal permafrost) (Morard et al., 2010;Wicky and Hauck, 2020;Wicky et al., 2024). The effect of undercooling has been known for a long time from field investigations (Bächler, 1930;Wakonigg, 1996;Harris and Pedersen, 1998;Kneisel et al., 2000;Gorbunov et al., 2004;Delaloye and Lambiel, 2005;Sawada et al., 2003;Delaloye and Lambiel, 2005;Herz, 2006;Millar et al., 2014;Popescu et al., 2017b;Wagner et al., 2019) and arises from an interplay of several heat transfer and storage processes in a permeable buffer layer between the ground and atmosphere or seasonal snow cover (Johansen, 1975;Wakonigg, 1996). Exact processes have long remained elusive. ...
We measured sub-surface heat fluxes and calculated the energy budget of the coarse blocky active layer (AL) of Murtèl rock glacier, a seasonally snow-covered permafrost landform located in the eastern Swiss Alps. In the highly permeable AL, conductive/diffusive heat transfer, including thermal radiation, non-conductive heat transfer by air circulation (convection), and heat storage changes from seasonal build-up and melting of ground ice, shapes the ground thermal regime. Individual heat fluxes are quantified based on a novel in situ sensor array in the AL (operational from 2020–2023) and direct observations of the ground ice melt (in thaw seasons 2022–2024). The AL energy budget yields the first field-data-based quantitative estimate of the climate sensitivity of rock glaciers. The total Murtèl AL heat uptake during the thaw season has been increasing by 4–10 MJ m-2 per decade (4 %–11 % of the 2022 heat uptake of 94MJm-2), driven by earlier snow melt-out in June and increasingly hot and dry July–September periods. Two thaw-season processes render Murtèl rock glacier comparatively climate-robust. First, the AL intercepts ∼70 % (55–85 MJ m⁻²) of the thaw-season ground heat flux by melting ground ice that runs off as meltwater, ∼20 % (10–20 MJ m⁻²) is spent on heating the blocks, and only ∼10 % (7–13 MJ m⁻²) is transferred into the permafrost body beneath and causes slow permafrost degradation. Second, the effective thermal conductivity in the ventilated AL increases from 1.2Wm-1K-1 under strongly stable temperature gradients (weak warming) to episodically over 10Wm-1K-1 under unstable temperature gradients (strong cooling), favouring convective cooling by buoyancy-driven Rayleigh ventilation (thermal semiconductor effect). In winter, radiatively cooled air infiltrating through a discontinuous, semi-closed snow cover leads to strong AL cooling. The two characteristic parameters (effective thermal conductivity and intrinsic permeability) are sensitive to debris texture; hence the two undercooling processes are specific to highly permeable coarse blocky material.
... Engineering resilience, for instance, focuses on the ability of a system to return to its original equilibrium state after a disturbance [16]. Ecological resilience, conversely, emphasizes the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb change and maintain its essential functions and structures, potentially shifting to new stable states [17]. Social resilience, often employed by sociologists and development economists, highlights the ability of communities and societies to cope with and adapt to adversity, emphasizing social capital, governance structures, and individual agency [15]. ...
... For example, a community repeatedly impacted by floods might advocate for significant changes in land use planning, or a group of farmers facing chronic drought might drive for policy changes that promote irrigation infrastructure and diversified income streams. Transformative capacity is not about simply adjusting or surviving, but about proactively reshaping the system to be more equitable and more resilient to future challenges [17]. It calls for visionary leadership, innovation, and a commitment to challenging the status quo, often leading to more sustainable and equitable outcomes than adaptive or coping strategies alone. ...
... Within the specific context of Sub-Saharan Africa, resilience must be understood not as a fixed endpoint, but as an ongoing, dynamic process perpetually in flux. It is not a matter of simply 'bouncing back' to a previous state, but rather a continuous journey of learning, adaptation, and transformative change in response to various stresses and shocks [17]. This involves actively adjusting to evolving circumstances, incorporating new knowledge, and modifying established practices. ...
This chapter presents a theoretical exploration of resilience dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa within the context of climate change. Employing a qualitative, conceptual framework, the study synthesizes existing literature across diverse disciplines to develop a multidimensional model for understanding resilience. It introduces a multidimensional framework, dissecting resilience into social, political, economic, environmental, and institutional dimensions. The study explores how these dimensions, both individually and interactively, contribute to societal adaptive capacity. Recognizing resilience as a complex interplay, the chapter argues that understanding these intricate relationships is crucial for effective policy. The framework is then applied to climate policy analysis, demonstrating how this approach informs evidence-based strategies for enhanced resilience and sustainable development. The systematic framework provides researchers and policymakers a pathway to apply a detailed understanding of resilience for the development of targeted climate policy. This necessitates strengthening local governance, fostering economic diversification, enhancing access to essential resources, and supporting social cohesion to build truly robust and lasting resilience across Sub-Saharan Africa.
... En este sentido, la resiliencia es un concepto que permite entender la dinámica de los socio-ecosistemas y su capacidad de responder a eventos inesperados. Es definida como "la capacidad de un sistema para absorber las perturbaciones y reorganizarse al mismo tiempo que experimenta un cambio, de modo que aún conserva esencialmente la misma función, estructura, identidad y retroalimentación" (Walker, Holling, Carpenter & Kinzig, 2004). También ha sido definida como la posibilidad de recuperarse de un evento o shock, mantener y arreglar sus capacidades, activos y asegurar los medios de vida sustentables (Plummer & Armitage, 2007). ...
... Sin embargo, existen varios esfuerzos para su medición, principalmente de organizaciones internacionales y del sector académico. Walker, et al., (2004) proponen que para medir la resiliencia es necesario: i) conceptualizar el sistema, definir sus componentes y variables, así como sus formas de interacción ii) definir a qué es resiliente el sistema (tipo de shock o estresor) y iii) definir si se trata de resiliencia del sistema en su totalidad o bien de alguna parte específica del mismo. No obstante, aunque muchos estudios hacen referencia a un socioecosistema, pocos reflejan y miden las interacciones existentes entre el ámbito social y ambiental. ...
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
... As an ecosystem service, adaptive feedback mechanisms help maintain the stability of ecosystems by allowing communities to proactively address emerging challenges, supporting ecosystem health and long-term functionality. Resilience refers to an ecosystem's capacity to recover from disturbances and continue providing essential services [12,47]. By prioritizing resilience and long-term sustainability, ecosystem services are designed to endure future pressures and changes, ensuring the consistent provision of resources and benefits for future generations. ...
... Although IAD supports polycentric governance, which allows local institutions to respond flexibly, it does not inherently facilitate rapid adaptation to ecological changes or external pressures like climate change. C-DERM incorporates dynamic, real-time feedback mechanisms, allowing communities to adjust practices based on ecological shifts, strengthening resilience [47,103]. This adaptive governance structure in C-DERM enhances ecosystem resilience and sustainability, a critical component that IAD overlooks by focusing mainly on institutional resilience (code 9.3 ). ...
Ecosystem service (ES) frameworks help to assess the benefits ecosystems provide to society, yet weak governance integration often limits their effectiveness. This review critically examines major ES frameworks’ governance gaps, introduces the Community-Driven Ecosystem Resilience and Equity framework (C-DERM), and identifies five key gaps. Thematic coding is applied to achieve research objectives. The analysis of ten ecosystem service models shows that when considering the five socio-ecological elements of ES based on C-DERM—including community engagement and participatory governance, integration of cultural values and local knowledge, dynamic adaptive feedback mechanisms, social equity and inclusion, and social resilience and long-term sustainability—only the IAD-SES model achieves a strong score (3) in community engagement, while SES and IAD-SES moderately (2) integrate cultural values and address resilience; however, most models exhibit weak (1) or absent (0) consideration of social equity and participatory governance, highlighting a critical gap in inclusivity and community-driven approaches within existing frameworks. Finally, C-DERM enhances the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) framework by embedding social considerations into ES assessments.
... The ball-in-the-basin model commonly focuses on four key challenges in assessing the danger of system change: latitude (the maximum change before losing recovery ability), resistance (the ease of system change), precariousness (proximity to a threshold), and panarchy (interdependence between ecosystem levels) [39]. Empirical measures of ecological resilience along these lines involve long-term biological and chemical monitoring of factors such as water eutrophication, acid rain, species loss, and climate change. ...
... Ecological resilience research (e.g., Ref. [39]; Folke et al., 2004) emphasizes the role of timely human intervention and strategic environmental management in avoiding undesirable outcomes. In some cases, a new system (or regime) may be required when the current one becomes unsustainable due to ecological, economic, or social changes. ...
... In order to bring these two concepts closer together at the building scale, the following definition for resilience was proposed: It is the capacity of the building to undergo changes to meet new demands while keeping certain elements unchanged 2 . Thus, an attempt was made to establish a limit (Walker et al., 2004;Garcia;Vale, 2017) for the resilient behavior of the building and, consequently, to avoid excessive resource consumption. ...
... Comparison between the limit in engineering (on the left) and the limit in architecture (on the right).Source: Elaborated byBraga (2024), based onWalker et al. (2004) and Callister and Rethwisch (2021).Oculum Ensaios I Campinas I v. 22 I e2511709 I 2025 ...
The increase in the elderly population can be observed in various countries around the world, including Brazil. Aging involves the individual as a whole, and there are natural structural and functional changes associated with this process. These changes correspond to impacts capable of reducing the independence of the elderly. For each impact, house renovation can be undertaken to compensate. Such renovations will possibly be simpler and more economical in a resilient house. Are current houses resilient to the demands of aging? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand what resilience is and then measure it. The objectives of this article are: (i) to expose the level of resilience of houses regarding the impacts of aging; (ii) to present and discuss the results; and (iii) to prescribe changes in the house to increase its resilience. For this purpose, two post-occupancy evaluation instruments were prepared: an impact questionnaire and a resilience ruler. This research was conducted based on the Design ScienceResearch method. Additionally, a case study was used to test the evaluation instruments and obtain specific data from Residencial Sucesso Brasil, part of a social housing complex located in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The primary factor contributing to the diminished resilienceof the residential units at Residencial Sucesso Brasil compared to the original design and the requirements of aging was the elimination of illuminating areas. It is necessary and urgent to establish a collaborative relationship between architects and engineers and the residents of the residential complex to facilitate the construction of more resilient housing.
... By incorporating the attribute of resilience, it also implies that a healthy ecosystem need not be devoid of pressures altogether, but it does require that the vigour and organisation of the ecosystem is such that the system is able to maintain its function over time under the action of these pressures. Walker et al. (2004) frame, the definition of the resilience of systems, by recognising that systems are dynamic and operate in a "state space" that is defined by the 'current values' they exhibit at any point in time. Ecosystems respond to pressures, disturbances and actors that shape the response of systems, its resilience, adaptability and transformability. ...
... Within a notional multidimensional landscape that encompasses all possible combinations of the variables that constitute the system (e.g. water quality and hydraulics) thus sustainability and management strategies will need to be context dependent, with a knowledge and understanding of local and regional attributes of the system being monitored (Walker et al 2004). Including projections of adaptability, resilience and transferability of the ecosystem of interest, if appropriate monitoring is to be applied, and informed management decision-making is to be undertaken. ...
The aim of this project is to review and make recommendations on a monitoring framework that will support transition from feature-based
assessments towards informing the effective delivery of healthy ecosystems for Scotland’s protected fresh waters and wetlands.
... These initiatives often emphasize participatory approaches that empower communities to take charge of their natural resources, thereby encouraging sustainable practices tailored to local conditions 16 . However, existing literature reveals a notable gap in specific strategies designed for Zimbabwe's communal areas; most national policies focus on broader objectives without addressing localized needs 17 . It is important to develop strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change and land degradation within these vulnerable communities. ...
The nexus between climate change and land degradation in semi-arid regions is closely interconnected, with each exacerbating the other. In these areas, which are already vulnerable due to limited water availability and harsh environmental conditions, climate change leads to increased temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events such as droughts. These changes can cause soil erosion, desertification, and the loss of soil fertility, all of which contribute to land degradation. Conversely, land degradation worsens the impacts of climate change. Degraded land has a reduced capacity to retain water and nutrients, which undermines the resilience of ecosystems and agriculture. This creates a vicious cycle, as degraded lands are more prone to further climate stress, leading to lower productivity and increased poverty in these regions. Effective climate adaptation and land restoration management are crucial to mitigate the combined effects of climate change and land degradation in semi-arid areas. Nevertheless, these linkages are overlooked in the planning of agricultural land management practices in semi-arid areas. This paper explores the linkages between climate change and land degradation, focusing on communal areas in Zimbabwe. A clear understanding of the link between the two aspects will lead to effective land use planning and management.
... Walker [4] expanded on Holling's concept by introducing the idea of adaptive cycles, emphasizing the importance of transformation in socio-ecological systems. Carbon farming aligns with this perspective by fostering innovation in sustainable land-use practices that not only recover from environmental stresses but build the capacity to thrive under new conditions. ...
Climate change presents significant challenges to smallholder farmers, whose livelihoods are deeply intertwined with weather patterns, soil health, and overall ecosystem stability. As extreme weather events become more frequent and unpredictable, smallholder agriculture faces increasing risks, including reduced crop yields, soil degradation, and heightened food insecurity. Carbon farming—an approach that integrates agricultural practices designed to sequester carbon dioxide (CO₂) in soil and vegetation—has emerged as a promising strategy to address these challenges. By improving soil organic matter, enhancing biodiversity, and promoting sustainable land use, carbon farming offers a holistic approach to climate resilience. This review explores the potential of carbon farming as a multifaceted solution for climate change mitigation and adaptation in smallholder systems. It draws upon theoretical and conceptual frameworks to assess the effectiveness of carbon farming practices, such as agroforestry, cover cropping, conservation tillage, and biochar application. Additionally, empirical studies demonstrate how these practices improve soil fertility, increase water retention, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to both environmental sustainability and food security. However, several challenges hinder widespread adoption, including financial constraints, knowledge gaps, and policy limitations. Addressing these barriers requires targeted interventions, such as capacity-building programs, financial incentives, and supportive policy frameworks. Ultimately, this review underscores the dual benefits of carbon farming: mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration while enhancing smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacities. By integrating carbon farming into agricultural systems, policymakers and stakeholders can foster long-term resilience, ensuring sustainable livelihoods for smallholders while contributing to broader climate goals.
... These early warning signals bring agility and also help supply chain partners to align their processes with each other (Collins & Kapucu, 2008;Ponomarov, 2012). Moreover, some organizations were quick in anticipating the impact of Covid-19, which allowed them to quickly planning and establishing safe environments for the employees and supply chain partners helped these supply chains to align and adapt quickly during the response phase (Shahzad et al., 2013;Walker et al., 2004). ...
This study offers a modified three-dimensional Haddon Matrix to assess intervention and coping strategies adopted by various organizations for the preparation, response and recovery phases of the COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions. Evidence is gathered from available qualitative information sources concerning the current COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 35 academic and non-academic sources were used for data analysis. These sources were analyzed to assess the interventions that are reported as being useful in the pandemic context for different supply chain networks. The analysis reports a current list of interventions and strategies corresponding to the three dimensions of the modified Haddon Matrix; (i) disaster phase (pre-event, response, and post-event), (ii) factors/actors involved in the disaster (supply chains, risk events, physical environment, and socio-cultural environment), and (iii) resilience components of agility, adaptability, and alignment. Overall, the findings showed that effective communication along the supply chain, pre-event risk management, strong relationships and higher coordination within the wider network community all play key roles in enhancing the overall resilience of supply chains against pandemics. This study proposes a third dimension (resilience components) to the extant Haddon Matrix and is hence, somewhat unique. This modified matrix offers managers and researchers a new tool to aid in a more thorough analysis and a deeper understanding of supply chain resilience. Piloting the modified matrix, this study also assesses reported intervention strategies thus helping supply chain managers to prepare, respond, and recover from disruptions caused by pandemics.
... The framework that emerged, and the example of incorporating community members with lived experience directly into the work of a public health initiative, underscored the value of both content and context expertise, provided a voice for community members' input into the initiative's work and increased opportunities for power-sharing. Taken together, these findings align with factors previously found to impact healthy, change-oriented socioecological trajectories: resilience, adaptability, and transformability [137]. ...
Background
Community capacity-building is the cornerstone of many public health initiatives, with increasing attention paid to community engagement, collective impact, and trauma-informed practices designed to support resiliency and promote health equity. Large-scale capacity-building projects proliferated during the global pandemic, highlighting the need for practical guidance and steps for efficiently responding to changing community needs and effectively communicating information across partnership and community members. The present qualitative longitudinal study provides a pragmatic framework for trauma-informed knowledge exchange across stakeholders in a large urban collective impact, capacity-building initiative designed to establish partnerships that engage community members, promote equity through tailored referrals and resource access, and address community needs and aspirations.
Methods
Interviews were conducted with the leads of nine agencies funded to implement regionally responsive strategies addressing adverse childhood experience-driven health needs among their diverse subcommunities, while offsetting the impact of trauma, building capacities and improving resource access. We aimed to capture (1) the socioecological context of traumatic experiences and health barriers that propelled agencies to participate in a trauma-informed initiative; (2) agency leads’ vision for community health; and (3) unfolding approaches to the initiatives’ complex work, spanning pre-pandemic community needs and pandemic era challenges.
Results
Agency leads’ vision for healthy communities emerged from the strengths, adversity-driven challenges and health barriers of their communities; while focusing on relationship-building, trust-based engagement and equitable access to trauma-informed resources through knowledge exchange. Results support reflection-based learning practices that are characterized by a flexible mindset and action-oriented adaptability. Mechanisms that power multi-directional knowledge exchange included creative partnering; frameworks and trainings that address partnership and community needs; and actionable skill-building. Incorporating community members directly into the initiative’s work exemplified the vision of an informed/resourced community, relationship-based engagement, use of adaptive practices and creative partnering. Lived experience staff provided a credibility bridge facilitating knowledge exchange between community and partnership members and creating power-sharing opportunities.
Conclusions
Engagement in public health initiatives is essential for community well-being and responsive public health initiatives. These data provide an emerging framework for thoughtful engagement and knowledge exchange among partnership and community members, while highlighting knowledge exchange as a key impact for outcome consideration.
... Sustainable development (Andersson et al. 2021;Reyers and Selig 2020) highlights the intricate relationship between societal progress and environmental conservation. Resilience (Berkes 2017;Grêt-Regamey et al. 2019;Walker et al. 2004) emphasizes understanding and adapting to dynamic SESs' responses to disturbances. Furthermore, ecosystem services (Felipe-Lucia et al. 2022;Rüdisser et al. 2020;Shen et al. ...
This study presents a comprehensive analysis of social-ecological systems (SESs) research spanning from 1998 to 2022, utilizing bibliometric and scientometric methodologies to examine the field's evolution, key contributions, and future trajectories. Through a systematic review of 1792 peer-reviewed articles, selected via a rigorous combination of keyword searches and citation tracking, we identified significant patterns and trends in SESs research development. The analysis reveals a marked shift in SESs research paradigms toward applied, interdisciplinary studies since 2020, with particular emphasis on resilience, sustainability, and global health considerations. Although interdisciplinary research within SESs has expanded substantially, the field continues to face challenges related to definitional and methodological inconsistencies. Our findings underscore the critical need for a unified theoretical framework to guide subsequent research endeavors. Furthermore, we identified prominent institutions and researchers who have contributed significantly to the field's advancement, while also highlighting several understudied domains within SESs research, particularly in conservation science. This study's primary scientific contribution lies in its provision of a comprehensive synthesis of the SESs literature, coupled with the proposition of a unified theoretical framework to understand complex social-ecological dynamics. Additionally, it offers strategic guidance for future research initiatives toward more integrated approaches. The findings hold significant implications for enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration in the understanding and management of complex social-ecological systems, while simultaneously illuminating promising avenues for future investigation in this domain.
... Companies need to adapt to these transiHons by changing their business model, which typically affects their cash flow profile (Walker, Holling, Carpenter, and Kinzig, 2004;Kurznack, Schoenmaker and Schramade, 2021). Sustainability transiHons can thus have a major impact on company valuaHon. ...
Companies face serious transition risks and opportunities, which put their futureproofness to the test. Current valuation ratios are not well suited to value those transition risks and opportunities. We argue that the solution lies in expanding financial-based valuation ratios with externalities (external impacts), which are good proxies for transition risks and opportunities. Building on impact valuation methods, we calculate a company’s integrated value, which combines financial, social and environmental value. This paper turns integrated value into a valuation ratio: the futureproofing ratio.
We provide an empirical analysis by calculating futureproofing ratios for the companies on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. This analysis shows that the futureproofing ratio varies significantly across companies and sectors, and provides valuable insight in the transition risk of a company’s business model. Company management and investors can use this ratio as a guide for investment decisions.
... Traditional assessment models, such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) 13 , are widely used but rely heavily on expert judgment, which introduces subjectivity and often lacks dynamic adaptability. The theory of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), first introduced by Holland 14 and further developed by Holling and Walker 15 , offers a promising framework for understanding community resilience by emphasizing the nonlinear interactions and self-organizing behaviors of system components. In the field of disaster resilience, CAS theory has been applied to explore the adaptive mechanisms of urban systems under stress. ...
The increasing risks from both natural and human-made disasters, exacerbated by the dense concentration of urban populations and assets, pose serious challenges for disaster prevention and response. These challenges are especially acute in urban old communities, which often lack sufficient resistance and adaptive capacity. This study focuses on urban old communities and, drawing on Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory and the concept of community resilience, explores the resource systems that support resilience enhancement. A disaster resilience evaluation index system is developed, and the entropy-weight method combined with the cloud model is used to assess the current level of resilience. Key factors influencing resilience are identified, and a fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) model is applied to simulate their dynamic interactions and mechanisms of influence. The results indicate that low disaster resilience in urban old communities stems primarily from aging infrastructure, weak ecological systems, imbalanced population structures, economic instability, insufficient organizational capacity, and limited cultural awareness. Among these, the resilience of infrastructure and cultural awareness emerge as the most critical factors, representing key pathways for resilience enhancement. Based on these findings, the study proposes targeted resilience enhancement strategies. In resource-constrained environments, a phased and prioritized approach is recommended, focusing on strengthening infrastructure, improving ecological conditions, optimizing population composition, enhancing economic stability, reinforcing organizational systems, and promoting cultural awareness. These measures aim to systematically improve disaster resilience in urban old communities and provide a solid foundation for community-level disaster preparedness and response.
... Resilience capacities influence a 97 farm's ability to maintain or improve technical efficiency under shock conditions. In turn, the 98 sustainability of farming systems depends on how effectively they manage this balance across economic, 99 social, and environmental dimensions (Walker et al., 2004;Zawalińska et al., 2022). This study bridges 100 these concepts empirically by using data from Spain and Algeria. ...
Highlights
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Resilience and efficiency of Mediterranean farming systems are compared by diversification.
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Spanish farms are more robust; Algerian farms perform in adaptability and transformability.
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Higher adaptability improves technical efficiency in Algerian diversified farms but lowers it in Spanish farms.
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Robustness improves efficiency in Spanish farms but reduces it in Algerian diversified farms.
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Results highlight trade-offs between resilience and efficiency based on farming system sustainability.
... Resilience refers to a system's ability to endure disruptions, adapt to changes, and restructure itself while maintaining its fundamental function, structure, identity, and feedback mechanisms [31]. This resilience operates at various levels, encompassing the individual, community, systems, and institutional domains, facilitating interaction with hazards or stressors while enhancing cooperation between entities to maintain or restore function. ...
Given the escalating use of digital tools and the Internet of Things in public spaces for quality control, there is an imperative need to address the following question: How can cities enhance the adaptability of their public spaces in the face of various risks and threats, especially those with consequences spanning all urban areas? The COVID-19 pandemic directed unprecedented attention to public spaces, prompting studies on the role of their digitization in influencing their usage during times of crisis. Here, the question arises: Can digital transformations in public spaces be beneficial during crises? While the digitalization of public spaces has its critics, as examinations indicate, the use of certain tools in these locations during the pandemic was able to positively impact their performance. Amsterdam, through the utilization of digital solutions during the COVID period, functioned notably as a significant case study in enhancing the efficiency of public spaces. The aim of this study is to examine the creation of a comprehensive framework that investigates some of Amsterdam's public spaces during the pandemic. The focus of this study is on evaluating the digital solutions applied to public spaces, with an emphasis on resilience against unforeseen challenges. A list of some digital tools that have made public spaces adaptable during the COVID period is reviewed in this section. In essence, the goal is to learn lessons from Amsterdam and present this perspective for similar experiences in cities worldwide to contribute to the resilience and strengthening of their public spaces.
... Indeed, it is increasingly recognized that managing for MSY alone may constrain the contributions of fisheries to nutrition (Robinson et al. 2022b), employment (Bavinck et al. 2024, and human well-being (Giron-Nava et al. 2021). Those applying an SES framework to fisheries (Cinner et al. 2018;Mason et al. 2022) argue that systemlevel outcomes are a product of the interactions and feedbacks between ecological, socioeconomic, and governance dimensions, and that managing for resilience (i.e., the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance while retaining its core attributes and capacity to regenerate) may require moving beyond broad-scale single-species management paradigms (Walker et al. 2004;Wilson 2006;Frawley et al. 2021). ...
Small Pelagic Fish (SPF) exhibit large fluctuations in abundance and distribution in response to environmental variability. To maintain the resilience of fishing communities and develop effective and equitable climate adaptation strategies, improved understanding of how the fishing industry responds to spatio-temporal shifts within and across SPF populations is of critical importance. In this paper, we examine the responses of the fishing industry and resource managers to shifts in SPF availability worldwide and identify the resulting socioeconomic impacts. Leveraging SPF case studies from around the globe, we synthesize and compare the social-ecological linkages and feedbacks mediating how SPF fisheries respond to changes in marine ecosystem structure and function associated with (1) spatial shifts in species distribution and habitat availability, (2) ‘boom and bust’ population dynamics, or (3) changes in fish size and quality. Our case studies illustrate multiple paths towards the resilience of small pelagic fisheries and the fishing industry dependent upon them while emphasizing the need for increased coordination and cooperation across sectors and scales as climate change progresses. Drawing from the lessons offered by historical responses, as environmental variability increases, efforts to increase the flexibility and dynamism of SPF harvest portfolios and management strategies, licensing regimes, and international catch and allocation agreements may be required to ensure resource sustainability and human well-being.
... On the basis of the evolution of ecological resilience, scholars have put forward a new concept, that is, evolutionary resilience. In this new conceptual framework, Walker et al. propose that resilience should not be seen as merely a recovery of the system to the initial state, but rather as a change, adaptation, and transformation ability of complex socio-ecological systems in response to pressures and constraints [6] . Falk et al. also believe that the current idea of resilience mainly focuses on the three aspects of the socio-ecological system, namely, resilience as persistence, adaptability, and transformation ability [7] . ...
The rapid development of urbanization has aggravated the impact of natural disasters on cities. Cities are facing increasingly diverse disaster risks, which have seriously affected the safety of people's lives and property. As an important part of society, the population density of counties and districts is not lower than that of cities, but the infrastructure, social security and various emergency measures to deal with disaster risks lag far behind those of cities. As a result, county-level units are facing a greater risk of disasters and have seriously affected the safety of people's lives and property. Disaster resilience has become an important research object in resilience governance and social governance.
... For instance, resilience could be a cyclic process when the system is able to resist or absorb the impact of a perturbation [12]. Alternatively, it can be transformative and spiral when the impact of shock is more than the system's capacity to endure, when the challenge threatens the existence of the individual or system [13]. ...
Background
The initial inquiry into the concept revealed its usage as a boundary object and how this facilitated its interdisciplinary utilization. The same feature enabled the shift to literature within other disciplines and then identify its conceptualization in them. This led to the understanding that though many disciplines have used the term resilience to describe a phenomenon with a general understanding of “bouncing back to original position”, its multi-disciplinary usage has added a lexical ambiguity to the term. The purpose of the study is to utilize this broad and overlapping nature of resilience to identify those elements, models or pathways that might enable conceptualizing resilience in the context of public health. In this process we uncover the underlying philosophical elements that converge or diverge with the whole conceptualization process of resilience in the discipline of public health.
Methods
We used a modified integrated review of the body of literature while also reflecting on how the concept of resilience has evolved from a narrow, “Substance Metaphysics,” “Reductionist” phenomenon to a more expansive, “Multi-Dimensional,” “Intersectional,” and “Dynamic phenomenon.” Afterwards, existing philosophical theories that converged or diverged with the conceptualization process were used to further validate the entire process that resulted in the definition of resilience in the context of public health emergencies.
Results
The critical evaluation of existing literature led to the identification of two patterns by which resilience has been conceptualized across disciplines. One on the basis of engagement with acute or enduring crisis resulting in trajectories that enables stability or growth and transformation. Another on the basis of the levels at which it was conceptualized by various authors from multiple disciplines. The two approaches were later critically evaluated so as to conceptualize resilience in the context of public health.
Conclusion
An integrated response to the crisis may be necessary to preserve people’s health and the health of communities in order for them to be resilient. Resilience in public health is a result of the successful engagement of relevant stakeholders responsible for health preservation to current and emerging health inequalities that places them in enabling trajectories of sustenance or growth leading to the development of potential capabilities that are sensitive to diverse health disparities.
... In an ever-changing world, resilience emerges as the crucial property that safeguards the integrity of natural ecosystems (Walker and Salt, 2012). Resilience buffers sudden or unexpected shifts, ensuring that ecosystems can recover from external perturbations-such as changing environmental, anthropogenic, and biological conditions-while maintaining their functions, thus decreasing the risk of catastrophic ecosystem collapse (Holling, 1973;Walker et al., 2004;Folke et al., 2010;Walker and Salt, 2012). As resilience plays a vital role in upholding the functions of natural ecosystems and their associated contributions to people (Cardinale et al., 2012;Reyers et al., 2022), its loss would involve significant and negative consequences for ecosystems, livelihoods, and human well-being (Folke et al., 2004;Agardy et al., 2005). ...
... This ongoing effort also involves recalibrating the relationship between national and state-level planning tools and transition policies (Kallies 2021). This configuration relates to the principle of "adaptive governance" rooted in socio-ecological transition theory (Walker et al. 2004). Poulter (2020a) applied this principle to the Australian energy governance framework, highlighting how tailor-made energy policies-designed to address the specific needs and conditions of each Australian state-serve as a prime example of adaptive governance within the National Electricity Market (NEM). ...
This paper examines the implications of an energy transition characterized by the widespread adoption of renewable energy sources, distributed energy assets, and digitalization, using South Australia as a central case study. By leveraging and adapting the concept of “Electrical Hybridization” (Verdeil and Jaglin, 2023), we show how South Australia’s ambitious energy policies, which integrate economic growth with decarbonization, are transforming its electricity system. This transformation requires both the reinforcement of the electricity network (reticulation) and the extensive deployment of distributed energy assets (heterogeneity). An additional trend, coordination, is emerging as a crucial element in South Australia, facilitating the control of distributed energy assets through smart interfaces and digital networks. We then analyse the system-wide evolutions driven by the convergence of renewable energy transition and digitalization, detailing the evolving energy governance arrangements and underlining the significant interaction between public bodies and private initiatives in investments and regulatory reforms. Finally, we explore the broader implications of these developments, raising critical questions around decentralization, local empowerment, and participation in the energy transition. We conclude by suggesting that further research is essential to fully understand the complex, intertwined effects of the renewable and digital transitions.
... social-ecological systems) or ability (e.g. communities) of a system to successfully deal with disturbances or change while retaining its basic structure and functioning (Walker et al. 2002(Walker et al. , 2004UNDP 2018). Resilience focuses on the dynamics of change and how to adapt to and shape change (Plieninger and Bieling 2012). ...
The olive landscape in the Mediterranean region has intentionally been designed and managed for various purposes for centuries. Although this landscape is crucial for the livelihoods of local communities, assessing its resilience remains uncertain due to the limited studies made so far. To contribute to this knowledge gap, this study aimed to assess the resilience of the olive landscape and explore appropriate nature-based solutions (NbS) for its protection and sustainable management in the Akdeniz protected area of Northern Cyprus by employing a range of resilience assessment indicators, a questionnaire designed on a 1–5 scoring system, and focus group discussions. The resilience of the olive landscape was evaluated within the context of four domains. The results showed that although the resilience of biodiversity and ecosystem conservation remains at a moderate level (3.29 points), there is a decline in the resilience of livelihood and well-being (2.78 points), traditional knowledge (1.84 points), and governance and social equity (2.67 points), respectively. The greatest degree of resilience was found in the indicators for food security (4.28 points), traditional diet (4.25 points), and lifestyle (4.23 points). However, the overall resilience of the olive landscape was estimated to be low at 2.77 points due to the impact of several landscape change drivers identified (e.g. land abandonment). Therefore, a typology of NbS, focusing on the category and types of NbS, was developed to tackle the resilience of the olive landscape and support the sustainable development of the region. Consequently, the concepts of resilience and NbS can serve as a guiding framework to promote the protection and sustainable management of the olive landscape in the region and beyond.
... Alternatively, some studies introduced resilience in a more dynamic and evolutionary approach. In this approach, resilience refers to the system's capacity to transform into an entirely new system when the existing one becomes unsustainable [11,12]. Thus, evolution resilience shifted the focus from a static perspective, restoring a previous state, to a dynamic one, concentrating on the process of transformation and the ability of a system to adapt and adjust to external threats [8,13]. ...
Cities today face significant environmental challenges, including climate change, drought, flooding, and heat waves. These issues demand new approaches to help cities endure and adapt, leading to the emergence of resilience—the ability of a city to withstand and adjust to future threats. While resilience has multiple definitions, its core objective remains ensuring cities meet their inhabitants' physical, social, and economic needs with minimal disruption. Understanding a city's capabilities is crucial to assessing its resilience, and this paper focuses on districts as manageable units that reflect urban resilience. This study examines the resilience of districts' spatial structures, a critical component of urban resilience. Based on broad references, key qualities of resilient spatial structures include internal and external connectivity, mobility, accessibility, and legibility. Evaluating these aspects provides insight into spatial resilience. The study assesses several districts in Jeddah, including demolished ones, using a quantitative analysis based on space syntax theory and techniques. Findings indicate that many districts exhibited poor spatial structure resilience, contributing to their demolition. Additionally, the study identified areas within resilient districts, such as Al-Rehab, where specific vulnerabilities diminished overall resilience, leading to their eventual demolition. These results validate the proposed methodology in identifying vulnerable districts at the city scale and pinpointing weak areas within resilient districts. The findings offer crucial insights for necessary interventions to enhance the resilience of Jeddah's districts, informing future urban planning and development strategies.
... Adaptive capacity is defined as the ability of a system to adjust, modify, or change its characteristics and actions to better respond to existing and anticipated future climatic shocks and stresses and to take advantage of opportunities (Brooks, 2003;IPCC, 2012). Lastly, the ability of a system to fundamentally change its characteristics and actions when the existing conditions become untenable in the face of climatic shocks and stresses (Béné et al., 2012;Walker et al., 2004). ...
Aims: This study examines the key factors of livelihood resilience of flood-affected households in northwestern Bangladesh, a region recurrently impacted by flood hazards. Study Design: The research employed convergent mixed-methods approaches, combining simultaneous quantitative analysis of household surveys (n=220) with qualitative insights from 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 8 key informant interviews (KIIs). Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in Gaibandha and Lalmonirhat, two districts of Bangladesh, from April to June 2017. Methodology: The Composite Livelihood Resilience Index approach was adapted to assess absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacity by combining 4 dimensions (e.g., social, economic, ecological, and institutional) with 12 indicators. Results: This study determined the overall livelihood resilience index of flood-affected households to be 33.33% in northwestern Bangladeshi areas. Absorptive ability was identified as the most important factor in total livelihood resilience, followed by adaptive and transformational capacity. The results demonstrate that social factors consistently dominate across all three capacities, highlighting their critical importance in building resilience against flood shocks and stresses. Economic dimensions are also significant, indicating that financial stability and adaptability are key components of resilience strategies. However, ecological contributions vary across capacities, while institutional contributions are consistently low, indicating a need for stronger governance frameworks and institutional interventions. In strengthening the livelihood resilience of flood-affected households, the regression analysis identified 4 key factors involving human capital (β= 0.278), non-farm income-generating activities (β= 0.251), social capital (β= 0.224), and infrastructure (β= 0.220), respectively. Resilience strategies depend heavily on localized factors such as land availability, river dynamics, and community infrastructure, while climate variability and institutional barriers disproportionately affect resilience. Without broader geographic coverage and thorough analysis in household-centric frameworks, findings may lack applicability to other flood-prone regions. Conclusion: This research concludes that the north-western community people have limited livelihood resilience capacity, positively influenced by four crucial determinants. The study recommends enhancing institutional support, boosting ecologically smart strategies adoption, strengthening transformative capacity, and fostering social networks for building resilient livelihoods of flood-affected households. Policymakers could be aided with critical insights that could foster equitable resilience-building strategies tailored to the north-western regional context of Bangladesh.
... This study filtered out an indicator library from two dimensions: community capital components and community residents' capacity variables that affect community resilience (Figure 2), based on the risk factors and community resilience characteristics encountered by the "post-unit system" communities. Over 20 specialists in pertinent study domains were chosen to do three rounds of indicator evaluation and selection to derive the final community resilience index (Lu et al., 2023, Folke et al., 2010, Walker and Salt, 2012, Walker et al., 2004. The components of community capital encompass the built environment, material capital, emergency response facilities, community infrastructure, and public service facilities. ...
... This complex notion of resilience aligns with more recent usage of the term that implies a definition of community beyond humans. Ecological resilience, for example, refers to the capacity of an ecosystem to recover from disruption and shock events (Folke et al., 2004;Walker et al., 2004). When grasslands suffer from drought conditions, for example, resilient grassland ecosystems are better able to withstand the negative impact of the drought conditions and recover more quickly after the drought conditions subside (Voltaire et al., 2014;Tilam & Downing, 1994). ...
... Transformability is regarded as the ability to go beyond the existing trajectory and discover new ways of development [46]. It is considered a crucial path towards resilience [47]. ...
Adaptability is a crucial yet often misunderstood aspect of sustainable architecture. This study explores how adaptability can be systematically embedded from the early design phase through construction, use, and eventual transformation or repurposing. By conducting a comprehensive literature review, the research categorises adaptability into distinct types of change and examines their relevance at different project stages. The findings emphasise the necessity of incorporating adaptability considerations early in the process, ensuring that buildings can respond to evolving spatial, functional, and environmental demands over time. While existing research acknowledges the importance of adaptability, gaps remain in its practical application across the full building life cycle. This study addresses these gaps by proposing a methodology to support long-term decision-making and reduce obsolescence in the built environment. By promoting life cycle thinking, this paper contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of adaptability, advocating for strategies that enhance the longevity and sustainability of buildings while responding to future uncertainties.
... 13 Like sustainability, resilience is an emergent property of a system. 2 It is most often defined as the ability of a system to "absorb" exogenous shocks and maintain or return to its functional state. 15 High resilience in a system does not imply that outputs are unchanging (a property that might be better defined as resistance), but that changes are reversed over some period of time to resemble prior output, or at least maintain some level of output (i.e., the system persists, albeit in a modified state of productivity). ...
Sustainability and resilience are familiar terms, but are often poorly defined in the context of management. While managers have implicit incentive to achieve sustainability and resilience, it is not always apparent how to manage toward these objectives. Development of a systems orientation toward management may improve incorporation of these objectives. Recognizing that both are emergent, and not directly observable properties of complex systems, suggests that indicators that can inform decision making are important if operation-level management toward sustainability and resilience are to be achieved. A management framework that defines the purpose for ranch management, and characterizes this purpose with recognition of a timeframe, allows for development of indicators important for decision making. Desired attributes of indicators are described, and potential indicators of the likelihood of achieving sustainability and resilience in operating contexts are suggested. Managers are likely reliant on professional assistance in developing key indicators, especially related to social dimensions of sustainability which include animal well-being.
... Resilience is a multifaceted concept having different elements to explain the condition of the community, household, or individual. Although the term resilience comes from engineering and ecological science (Walker et al. 2006, Holling and systematics 1973, Walker et al. 2004, the most prominent definitions define resilience as "… the ability of countries, communities and households to manage change, by maintaining transforming living standards in the face of shocks or stresses-such as earthquake, drought or violent conflict-without compromising their long-term prospects" (DFID 2011). Another definition by Serfilippi and Ramnath (2018) confirms resilience as "… the capacity of people, communities, or systems to prepare for and to react to stressors and shocks in ways that limit vulnerability and promote sustainability". ...
Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract Resilience thinking has gained prominence in research and policy debates in food security analysis. This article aims to estimate the effect of household resilience capacity on food security outcomes. The manuscript uses the Cambodia Living Standard Measurement-Plus Survey 2019-2020. The measurement of resilience capacity is done through Resilience Index Measurement and Analysis-II by FAO. In the RIMA approach, the manuscript also applies Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to cluster households, categorizing homogenous resilience levels through "Low Resilient," "Medium Resilient," and "High Resilient" profiles. In the estimation strategy, the current study proposes a step-by-step analytical approach for using the propensity score matching (PSM) techniques with LPA to draw causal effects of resilience profiles on dietary diversity and food expenditure per capita. The findings generally confirm that "Medium Resilient" and "High Resilient" households have positive effects on food security outcomes compared to those labelled as "Low Resilient" households.
... From an ecological perspective, protected areas reinforce an ecologically inauthentic, static view of nature where desirable conditions are seen as stationary landscape elements, rather than emergent properties of ecosystem processes (Hessburg et al. 2019 ). Although they appear stable, landscapes continuously shift in large and small ways, sometimes nearing tipping points; at other times, they are deep in the cup, using the ball and cup analogy (Walker et al. 2004 ). In western US forests, this dynamic was common historically under the influence of natural and humancaused disturbances (e.g., wildfire and cultural burning, drought, beetle outbreaks). ...
Protected areas form the backbone of modern conservation. However, the current policies and practices in protected areas reinforce a static view of nature. This view is further enabled by cultural resistance to change, including efforts to mitigate or exclude keystone ecosystem processes (e.g., characteristic wildfire) that that create and maintain desired conditions. This protectionist model of conservation undervalues the human role in generating landscape dynamics and will be ineffective over the long term and increasingly in the short term. Under climatic change, resisting natural landscape dynamics will backfire and heighten vulnerability to ecosystem transformation through large-scale disturbance (e.g., megafires and megadroughts). Within protected areas, there is an urgent need to rethink what we are protecting: the current landscape conditions or the landscape dynamics that generate those conditions. Cast in a different light, protected areas could be the cornerstones for a new era of conserving landscape dynamics across broader geographies.
... Resilience in agriculture refers to the capacity of farming communities to withstand heat stress, prolonged droughts, and erratic rainfall patterns while maintaining stable food production (IPCC, 2021). According to Walker et al. (2006), resilience is built through diversification of crops and livestock, sustainable water management, and institutional support for climate adaptation. Thus, Climate Resilience Theory provides a crucial lens for understanding why CSA is essential in mitigating the effects of heat stress on agriculture and food security. ...
. Abstract
Urban heat stress has emerged as a critical environmental and public health challenge, particularly in informal settlements in the Great Horn of Africa, where inadequate infrastructure, poor housing conditions, and weak governance exacerbate vulnerabilities. This study employed a systematic review research design to synthesize existing empirical literature, policy reports, and case studies on heat stress adaptation strategies, climate resilience, and urban governance frameworks. The research aimed to assess the impact of heat stress on livelihoods, health, and well-being, evaluate the effectiveness of sustainable adaptation strategies, and examine the role of urban planning policies and governance in mitigating heat stress in informal settlements. The findings revealed that urban heat stress significantly affected economic productivity, health, and social well-being, particularly among low-income workers, elderly populations, and children. Informal settlements in Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Mogadishu recorded higher heat exposure levels, leading to increased cases of heat exhaustion, dehydration, and respiratory
... It follows that both engineering resilience and ecological resilience are based on the system being in a unique state of equilibrium. In the 1990s, Walker further introduced it into human social systems and developed the "adaptive cycle" model, which proposes that systems are in a dynamic process of continuous change and development, and that there is no single equilibrium state 13 . Evolutionary resilience refers to the ability of a system to return to its original or develop a new equilibrium after a disturbance and to achieve sustainable development 14 , emphasizing continuous adaptation, learning, and innovation, which makes the system stronger after a shock. ...
Rural tourism and COVID-19 have brought significant impacts and lasting challenges to the resilience development of rural territorial systems. To improve the livelihoods of farmers and promote the sustainable development of tourism village systems, it is of great significance to clarify the characteristics of, and obstacle factors to, the evolution of these systems. Based on the concept of production-living-ecology, resilience theory, and sustainable livelihood theory, a resilience assessment framework for tourism villages is constructed from the perspective of farmers in the following three dimensions: production resilience, living resilience and ecological resilience. Moreover, the comprehensive index method and an obstacle degree model are utilized to quantitatively measure and identify the resilience characteristics and obstacle factors of the tourism villages in Xiangxi Prefecture, China. The results reveal the following. (1) The three periods of the evolution of the resilience of tourism villages in Xiangxi Prefecture included the undeveloped tourism period, the normalized tourism period, and the COVID-19 disturbance period. Throughout these periods, tourism village resilience was characterized by a steady increase followed by a small decline, overall demonstrating a fluctuating upward trend. Rural tourism has had a positive effect on the long-term development of the rural territorial system, whereas the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect. (2) The tourism village resilience of farmers perspective with different livelihood types exhibits obvious heterogeneity; the tourism village resilience of tourism-led farmers is the highest, followed by that of part-time balanced farmers. Thus, these livelihood types are the main direction for the development and transformation of farmers with other livelihood types. (3) The obstacle factors to the evolution of the resilience of tourism villages in Xiangxi Prefecture exhibit a converging trend. In the three periods, the common obstacles to the evolution and development of tourism village resilience included the number of people participating in rural tourism, the tourism business area, and the area of farmland returned to forests.
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
Esta tercera entrega de la colección Informe del Desarrollo en México, del Programa Universitario de Estudios del Desarrollo (PUED) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, está dedicada a dos temas divididos en dos ejes: el primero es un balance general de las condiciones económicas y sociales a una década de la Gran Recesión y el segundo aborda diferentes perspectivas de la relación entre desastres y desarrollo.
This study developed and measured a disaster resilience index for local communities by utilizing the concept of “disaster resilience” to address the increasing damage caused by climate change-related disasters. Based on prior research, this study conceptualized disaster resilience into three components: resistance, recovery, and transformation. It further categorized resilience into four dimensions: social, economic, infrastructure, and institutional resilience. For each dimension, five measurement variables were selected, resulting in 60 measurement variables used to develop the disaster resilience index. To verify the validity of the index, its relationship with actual disaster damage was investigated using spatial regression analysis. The results of the analysis revealed a negative (-) relationship between the disaster resilience index and disaster damage, confirming that regions with higher disaster resilience experienced lower impacts from disasters.
Günümüze kadar yapılan birçok çalışmada bu iki kavram anlam ve amaç açısından net bir ayrım yapılmaksızın kullanılmıştır. Sürdürülebilirlik ve dayanıklılık arasındaki benzerlikler ve farklılıklar konusunda var olan bilgi eksikliği hem akademik çalışmalarda hem de uygulamalı çalışmalarda sorunlara yol açmıştır. Bu çerçevede bu çalışmanın amaçları (i) sürdürülebilirlik ve dayanıklılık kavramlarının tarihsel gelişimlerinin ortaya konulması, (ii) sürdürülebilirlik ve dayanıklılığı ilişkilendiren çalışma çerçevelerinin incelenmesi, (iii) mevcut çalışma çerçevelerinin farklı uygulamalardaki avantajlarını ve dezavantajlarının ortaya konulması ve (iv) sürdürülebilirlik ve dayanıklılık konularındaki çalışmaların tarihsel gelişiminin ve gelecek araştırma eğilimlerinin belirlenmesidir. Sürdürülebilirlik ve dayanıklılık konularına odaklanan mevcut literatürün gelişimi, genel nitelikleri ve eğilimleri kritik literatür incelemesi, bibliyometrik analiz, tematik analiz ve meta analiz yöntemleri yardımıyla ortaya konulmuştur. Araştırma bulguları, sürdürülebilirlik kavramının daha çok korumaya ve çıktıya, dayanıklılık kavramının ise uyum/iyileştirme ve sürece odaklandığını göstermiştir. Araştırma bulguları ayrıca günümüze kadar yapılan çalışmalarda sürdürülebilirlik ve dayanıklılık kavramları arasındaki rekabet ve tamamlayıcılık ilişkilerinin yeterli düzeyde ele alınamadığını ve bu yüzden akademik çalışmalarda ve uygulamada büyük sorunlarla karşılaşıldığını göstermiştir. Türkiye’de gerçekleştirilen akademik çalışmalarda sağlamlık kapasitesi kastedilerek sağlamlık ile dayanıklılık kavramlarının aynı anlamda kullanıldığı belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca, yakın gelecekte dayanıklılık ve sürdürülebilirlik bağlamında çalışmaların iklim (dayanıklılık, kırılganlık, iklim değişikliği, sürdürülebilirlik, adaptasyon, güvenlik açığı, yönetişim, iklim değişikliği adaptasyonu ve dönüşüm) ve sosyal-ekolojik sistemler (ekosistem hizmetleri, yönetişim ve dayanıklı şehirler) odağında ilerleyeceği tespit edilmiştir. Dayanıklılık ve sürdürülebilirlik arasındaki rekabet ve tamamlayıcılık ilişkilerinin dikkate alınması ve uygun çalışma çerçevesinin seçilmesi yapılacak akademik ve uygulamalı çalışmaların etkinliğini artırabilecektir.
In the context of climate change and sustainable development, building climate resilience is essential to help cities to cope with extreme weather events. However, comprehensive assessments of climate resilience and adaptive capacity among Chinese prefecture-level cities remain insufficient. This study constructed a multidimensional evaluation framework for urban climate resilience in terms of the robustness, rapidity, adaptability, and sustainability. Based on official data from multiple sources, the Climate Resilience Index (CRI) scores for 298 prefecture-level cities from 2002 to 2020 were calculated using the entropy weight method. According to the CRI scores and the coupling coordination of the four properties, the 298 cities were classified into four categories: leading cities, potential cities, backward cities, and unbalanced cities. The results show that from 2002 to 2020, the overall CRI of China’s cities has increased by 19.10%, and the coupling of the four properties has also increased, indicating that the overall development trend is favorable. The gaps between the leading and backward cities have been narrowing, and the development of China’s urban climate resilience has become more balanced. The findings underscore the necessity for locally tailored measures to address vulnerabilities specific to different types of cities regarding climate change adaptation, including policies related to economics, society, technology, government action, and talent training. This research framework is applicable to other countries or regions, providing scientific guidance and theoretical support for evaluating urban climate resilience.
This chapter examines the dynamic and evolving nature of climate policy in the context of a rapidly changing global environment. It explores how policy frameworks must adapt to the increasing complexities of climate change, characterized by heightened uncertainty, emerging scientific knowledge, and shifting socio-economic conditions. The chapter discusses the role of policy instruments, such as carbon pricing, regulatory measures, and incentives for green technologies, in driving climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. It also analyzes the influence of political, economic, and social factors on policy formulation and implementation, highlighting the challenges of balancing short-term interests with long-term sustainability goals. Through case studies of successful and failed policy initiatives, this chapter provides insights into the critical factors that shape effective climate governance, offering strategic recommendations for enhancing policy responsiveness and resilience in the face of ongoing environmental changes.
Las ciudades sostenibles se definen por la interacción de tres indicadores: eficiencia económica, bienestar ciudadano y protección ambiental. El desarrollo urbano sostenible es un objetivo en sí mismo y a la vez, especialmente en su vertiente ecológica, un puntal de la estrategia para prevenir y mitigar los efectos del cambio climático. Las instituciones y gobiernos nacionales e internacionales se han volcado en reforzar la contribución de las políticas medioambientales al desarrollo sostenible del planeta. Pero para conseguir beneficios globales es importante actuar localmente. En un contexto de creciente concentración de la población mundial en áreas urbanas, las ciudades desempeñan un papel clave en la lucha contra el cambio climático, y no solo en su vertiente de mitigación o reducción de la severidad de los futuros impactos. El cambio climático ha aumentado la exposición de las ciudades a amenazas derivadas del mismo y, en consecuencia, la gestión del riesgo de desastres y la resiliencia deben integrarse en el diseño de políticas urbanas como parte de una estrategia global para alcanzar un desarrollo sostenible y garantizar la equidad intergeneracional.
The multiple current transformations can determine complex radical market changes. Many market actors feel an increasing need to make sense of market dynamics, which bring opportunities but also threats. We leverage on the Service-Dominant logic and deepen its roots in complexity science to delineate radical market changes (i.e., phase transitions of service ecosystems). In particular, within complexity science literature, we found that phase transitions are approached in three diverse ways: shifts to a new complex order, shifts to a region of complexity where chaos and order achieve a balance, and shifts to escape chaos. We show that those three approaches can be integrated to give a full explanation of the dynamics of the service ecosystems. Then, we reconcile the approaches with the S-D logic narrative to delineate the complexity science insights into the phase transitions of service ecosystems. In doing so, we highlight some interesting concepts to further explore within S-D logic: institutional instability and service ecosystem viability near the edge of chaos, and institutionalization due to self-organized criticality. The implications connect the conceptual findings to the practice of market actors facing transformations.
This conceptual work focuses on service ecosystems dynamics, since they can be crucial for innovation, resilience, and sustainability. Specifically, in this chapter these dynamics have been considered in relation to actors’ perspectives and perceptions on service ecosystem complexity and frictions. Recognizing the importance of such elements in the evolution of service ecosystems, it offers a framework for matching the three service ecosystem complexity states (ordered, manageable, and free complexity), the most common frictions (dilemmas, trade-offs, and paradoxical tensions), and the main systems dynamics drivers (emergence and institutionalization). It also provides illustrations in the realm of healthcare systems and their relations with digitalization and new technologies. The study offers labels for contexts and supports the selection of strategies to cope with complexity and related frictions to both academics and practitioners.
The idea that alternative stable states may exist in communities has been a recurring theme in ecology since the late 1960s, and is now experiencing a resurgence of interest. Since the first papers on the subject appeared, two perspectives have developed to describe how communities shift from one stable state to another. One assumes a constant environment with shifts in variables such as population density, and the other anticipates changes to underlying parameters or environmental "drivers". We review the theory behind alternative stable states and examine to what extent these perspectives are the same, and in what ways they differ. We discuss the concepts of resilience and hysteresis, and the role of stochasticity within the two formulations. In spite of differences in the two perspectives, the same type of experimental evidence is required to demonstrate the existence of alternative stable states.
Conservation decisions about how, when, and where to act are typically based on our expectations for the future. When the world is highly unpredictable and we are working from a limited range of expectations, however, our expectations will frequently be proved wrong. Scenario planning offers a framework for developing more resilient conservation policies when faced with uncontrollable, irreducible uncertainty. A scenario in this context is an account of a plausible future. Scenario planning consists of using a few contrasting scenarios to explore the uncertainty surrounding the future consequences of a decision. Ideally, scenarios should be constructed by a diverse group of people for a single, stated purpose. Scenario planning can incorporate a variety of quantitative and qualitative information in the decision-making process. Often, consideration of this diverse information in a systemic way leads to better decisions. Furthermore, the participation of a diverse group of people in a systemic process of collecting, discussing, and analyzing scenarios builds shared understanding. The robustness provided by the consideration of multiple possible futures has served several groups well; we present examples from business, government, and conservation planning that illustrate the value of scenario planning. For conservation, major benefits of using scenario planning are ( 1 ) increased understanding of key uncertainties, ( 2 ) incorporation of alternative perspectives into conservation planning, and ( 3 ) greater resilience of decisions to surprise.
We describe existing models of the relationship between species diversity and ecological function, and propose a conceptual
model that relates species richness, ecological resilience, and scale. We suggest that species interact with scale-dependent
sets of ecological structures and processes that determine functional opportunities. We propose that ecological resilience
is generated by diverse, but overlapping, function within a scale and by apparently redundant species that operate at different
scales, thereby reinforcing function across scales. The distribution of functional diversity within and across scales enables
regeneration and renewal to occur following ecological disruption over a wide range of scales.
All ecosystems are exposed to gradual changes in climate, nutrient loading, habitat fragmentation or biotic exploitation. Nature is usually assumed to respond to gradual change in a smooth way. However, studies on lakes, coral reefs, oceans, forests and arid lands have shown that smooth change can be interrupted by sudden drastic switches to a contrasting state. Although diverse events can trigger such shifts, recent studies show that a loss of resilience usually paves the way for a switch to an alternative state. This suggests that strategies for sustainable management of such ecosystems should focus on maintaining resilience.
THIS REVIEW EXPLORES BOTH ECOLOGICAL THEORY AND THE BEHAVIOR OF NATURAL SYSTEMS TO SEE IF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES OF THEIR BEHAVIOR CAN YIELD DIFFERENT INSIGHTS THAT ARE USEFUL FOR BOTH THEORY AND PRACTICE. THE RESILIENCE AND STABILITY VIEWPOINTS OF THE BEHAVIOR OF ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS CAN YIELD VERY DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES. THE STABILITY VIEW EMPHASIZES THE EQUILIBRIUM, THE MAINTENANCE OF A PREDICTABLE WORLD, AND THE HARVESTING OF NATURE'S EXCESS PRODUCTION WITH AS LITTLE FLUCTUATION AS POSSIBLE. THE RESILIENCE VIEW EMPHASIZES DOMAINS OF ATTRACTION AND THE NEED FOR PERSISTENCE. BUT EXTINCTION IS NOT PURELY A RANDOM EVENT: IT RESULTS FROM THE INTERACTION OF RANDOM EVENTS WITH THOSE DETERMINISTIC FORCES THAT DEFINE THE SHAPE, SIZE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOMAIN OF ATTRACTION. THE VERY APPROACH, THEREFORE, THAT ASSURES A STABLE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED YIELD OF A RENEWABLE RESOURCE, MIGHT SO CHANGE THESE CONDITIONS THAT THE RESILIENCE IS LOST OR IS REDUCED SO THAT A CHANCE AND RARE EVENT THAT PREVIOUSLY COULD BE ABSORBED CAN TRIGGER A SUDDEN DRAMATIC CHANGE AND LOSS OF STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE SYSTEM. A MANAGEMENT APPROACH BASED ON RESILIENCE, ON THE OTHER HAND, WOULD EMPHASIZE THE NEED TO KEEP OPTIONS OPEN, THE NEED TO VIEW EVENTS IN A REGIONAL RATHER THAN A LOCAL CONTEXT, AND THE NEED TO EMPHASIZE HETEROGENEITY. THE RESILIENCE FRAMEWORK DOES NOT REQUIRE A PRECISE CAPACITY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE BUT ONLY A QUALITATIVE CAPACITY TO DEVISE SYSTEMS THAT CAN ABSORB AND ACCOMMODATE FUTURE EVENTS IN WHATEVER UNEXPECTED FORM THEY MAY TAKE.
Human institutions—ways of organizing activities—affect the resilience of the environment. Locally evolved institutional arrangements
governed by stable communities and buffered from outside forces have sustained resources successfully for centuries, although
they often fail when rapid change occurs. Ideal conditions for governance are increasingly rare. Critical problems, such as
transboundary pollution, tropical deforestation, and climate change, are at larger scales and involve nonlocal influences.
Promising strategies for addressing these problems include dialogue among interested parties, officials, and scientists; complex,
redundant, and layered institutions; a mix of institutional types; and designs that facilitate experimentation, learning,
and change.
Ecosystems are prototypical examples of complex adaptive systems, in which patterns at higher levels emerge from localized interactions and selection processes acting at lower levels. An essential aspect of such systems is nonlinearity, leading to historical dependency and multiple possible outcomes of dynamics. Given this, it is essential to determine the degree to which system features are determined by environmental conditions, and the degree to which they are the result of self-organization. Furthermore, given the multiple levels at which dynamics become apparent and at which selection can act, central issues relate to how evolution shapes ecosystems properties, and whether ecosystems become buffered to changes (more resilient) over their ecological and evolutionary development or proceed to critical states and the edge of chaos.