A Handful of Heuristics and Some Propositions for Understanding Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems
Ecology and SocietyPublished 1 January 2006Open access
Brian Walker, Lance Gunderson, Ann P. Kinzig, Carl Folke, Steve Carpenter, Lisen Schultz
Citations1,338
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.07
SNIP1.07
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This paper articulates the understanding of how complex systems change and what determines their ability to absorb disturbances in either their ecological or their social domains and presents a list of some that could help define the next phase of resilience-related research.
Abstract
This paper is a work-in-progress account of ideas and propositions about resilience in social-ecological systems. It articulates our understanding of how these complex systems change and what determines their ability to absorb disturbances in either their ecological or their social domains. We call them "propositions" because, although they are useful in helping us understand and compare different social-ecological systems, they are not sufficiently well defined to be considered formal hypotheses. These propositions were developed in two workshops, in 2003 and 2004, in which participants compared the dynamics of 15 case studies in a wide range of regions around the world. The propositions raise many questions, and we present a list of some that could help define the next phase of resilience-related research.
Keywords
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