Resilience and Resource Management.

Eleanor D Brown,Byron K Williams

doi:10.1007/s00267-015-0582-1

Eleanor D Brown, Byron K Williams

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0582-1

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Abstract

Resilience is an umbrella concept with many different shades of meaning. The use of the term has grown over the past several decades to the point that by now, many disciplines have their own definitions and metrics. In this paper, we aim to provide a context and focus for linkages of resilience to natural resources management. We consider differences and similarities in resilience as presented in several disciplines relevant to resource management. We present a conceptual framework that includes environmental drivers, management interventions, and system responses cast in terms of system resilience, as well as a process for decision making that allows learning about system resilience through experience and incorporation of that learning into management. We discuss the current state of operational management for resilience, and suggest ways to improve it. Finally, we describe the challenges in managing for resilience and offer some recommendations about the scientific information needs and scientific issues relevant to making resilience a more meaningful component of natural resources management.

Highlights

Among and even within disciplines, there are numerous definitions of resilience that focus on different attributes or different perspectives (e.g., Klein et al 2004; Folke 2006; Zhou et al 2010)
We present a conceptual framework that includes environmental drivers, management interventions, and system responses cast in terms of system resilience, as well as a process for decision making that allows learning about system resilience through experience and incorporation of that learning into management
Regardless of the definition of resilience, better decision making is promoted by a decision process that provides managers with information about what actions will contribute to resilience, what attributes to measure, how to learn about system resilience through experience, and how to incorporate that learning into

Summary

Introduction

Among and even within disciplines, there are numerous definitions of resilience that focus on different attributes or different perspectives (e.g., Klein et al 2004; Folke 2006; Zhou et al 2010). From its beginnings in engineering and materials science in the nineteenth century, where resilience was seen as a measure (the ‘‘modulus of resilience’’) of the elastic deformation of materials under physical strain, the resilience concept has expanded into other disciplines. It was applied in ecology in the 1970s, spread into the social sciences, especially in connection with social impacts of disasters and natural hazards, and now is referenced broadly with respect to any change or adverse circumstance. We use a conceptual framework that includes environmental drivers, management interventions, and system responses cast in terms of system resilience, as well as a process for decision making. Regardless of the definition of resilience, better decision making is promoted by a decision process that provides managers with information about what actions will contribute to resilience, what attributes to measure, how to learn about system resilience through experience, and how to incorporate that learning into

Objectives

Conclusion