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Global Environmental Change, Resilience, and Sustainable Outcomes
building social networks to provide aid and shelter to those affected. We have
also recognized in recent years that hazards differentially impact the weaker
segments of society and that building their capacities would disproportionately
lower the overall vulnerability of the system.
Related to efforts to reduce system vulnerability by lowering the sensitivity
of the system is building its resilience to stresses and shocks. The resilience of
a social-ecological system is defined as its ability to experience external stresses
and shocks and maintain its core functioning and characteristics (Folke 2006;
Holling and Gunderson 2002). Nelson and her colleagues as well as Paulette
relate their case studies to ideas from resilience theory. Several key concepts
resonate with the situations described in the case studies. First is that change
is to be expected and welcomed rather than feared and resisted. The goal is
to experience change in a “graceful” way that does not damage the system in
an undesirable way. Resilience theorists have created a metaphor figure shaped
like a figure 8 to represent the stages of the adaptive cycle of a system experiencing
change (Holling and Gunderson 2002: figure 2.1). The adaptive cycle
emphasizes the opportunity for positive growth to result from stress-induced
system change.
F. Stuart Chapin and his colleagues (2009: 324–328) have suggested four
domains of strategies that would enhance social-ecological resilience: fostering
biological, economic, and cultural diversity; fostering a mix of stabilizing feedback
and creative renewal; fostering social learning through experimentation
and innovation; and adapting governance to changing conditions. Among the
strategies they recommend, several are particularly appropriate here. Renew the
functional diversity of degraded systems after the hazard or sudden change has
occurred. Foster retention of stories that illustrate past patterns of adaptation
to change (eco-knowledge as described in Cooper’s chapter). Subsidize innovations
that foster economic novelty and diversity. Foster stabilizing feedbacks
that sustain natural and social capital. Allow modest disturbances that permit
the system to adjust to changes in underlying controls. Broaden the problem
definition by learning from multiple cultural and disciplinary perspectives and
facilitating dialogue and knowledge coproduction among multiple groups of
stakeholders. Provide an environment for leadership to emerge and trust to
develop. Foster social networking that bridges communication and accountability
among existing organizations.
Sudden environmental change has characteristically been viewed with horror.
Its unpredictability, enormity, and devastating impact on numerous people
contribute to its being seen as a terrible calamity. There is no question that
both modern and ancient natural hazards have caused significant loss of life
and property and adversely affected many people. Unfortunately, the course of
modern history seems to have made these patterns worse, not better. Damage
could be reduced and loss of life minimized, and in many cases positive results
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