Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Regional · 18th March 2009
norberto
I have been reading about social-ecological systems resilience, a very important element that is getting lots of attention with all the current crises we are facing.
Actually, I am afraid that we have missed the opportunity of becoming sustainable, resilience is one of our best chances to deal with all these threats.
The fundamental notion behind resilience is that life is a continuous change, and by ignoring this fact we increase our vulnerability and miss out on promising opportunities to choose our future. Resilience is not about staying the same, nor it is about preventing change. It is about increasing our capacity to change so we can bounce back after the change. A simple way to understand resilience is the ability to prepare ourselves, our communities, our organizations, for potential dramatic changes, so to recover and adapt our lifestyles. Change happens, so we better work with it, instead of become victims of it.
Let me share the attached paper that has an extract from Thomas Homer-Dixon’s book The Upside of Down. I think it will help in understanding these concepts.
For more information about this, let me suggest a few resources:
- The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas Homer-Dixon. Great book, with lots of emphasis on Resilience.
- Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World by Brian Walker. Short, easy to understand, with actual case studies.
- The Transition Handbook: From oil dependency to local resilience by Rob Hopkins. This is the Transition Towns initiative that is getting so much attention all over the world.
Ecology and Society magazine - they offer many free articles on resilience, covering both the social and the ecological aspects. Visit their website at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org
Resilience Alliance - http://www.resalliance.org/1.php - probably the most comprehensive site on the subject.
Canadian Centre for Community Renewal - out of Port Alberni, these guys developed a Community Resilience Manual about 10 years ago ! It has great concepts and ideas. Check it out here: http://www.cedworks.com/communityresilience02.html
Good reading !
Actually, I am afraid that we have missed the opportunity of becoming sustainable, resilience is one of our best chances to deal with all these threats.
The fundamental notion behind resilience is that life is a continuous change, and by ignoring this fact we increase our vulnerability and miss out on promising opportunities to choose our future. Resilience is not about staying the same, nor it is about preventing change. It is about increasing our capacity to change so we can bounce back after the change. A simple way to understand resilience is the ability to prepare ourselves, our communities, our organizations, for potential dramatic changes, so to recover and adapt our lifestyles. Change happens, so we better work with it, instead of become victims of it.
Let me share the attached paper that has an extract from Thomas Homer-Dixon’s book The Upside of Down. I think it will help in understanding these concepts.
For more information about this, let me suggest a few resources:
- The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas Homer-Dixon. Great book, with lots of emphasis on Resilience.
- Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World by Brian Walker. Short, easy to understand, with actual case studies.
- The Transition Handbook: From oil dependency to local resilience by Rob Hopkins. This is the Transition Towns initiative that is getting so much attention all over the world.
Ecology and Society magazine - they offer many free articles on resilience, covering both the social and the ecological aspects. Visit their website at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org
Resilience Alliance - http://www.resalliance.org/1.php - probably the most comprehensive site on the subject.
Canadian Centre for Community Renewal - out of Port Alberni, these guys developed a Community Resilience Manual about 10 years ago ! It has great concepts and ideas. Check it out here: http://www.cedworks.com/communityresilience02.html
Good reading !
(Our_Panarchic_Future_Homer-Dixon.pdf)