SRC powerpoint 2015 · Humanity is part of the biosphere and ... first rule of holes! Guidance for...
Transcript of SRC powerpoint 2015 · Humanity is part of the biosphere and ... first rule of holes! Guidance for...
Resilience thinking
Elin Enfors Kautsky, researcher and theme leader, Stockholm Resilience Center
Multi-Actor Dialogue on Resilience Thinking, Assessments and Mainstreaming Addis Abeba, 12 Nov 2015
At the same time humanity is utterly
dependent on the capacity of the
biosphere to sustain our wellbeing and
development
Humanity is part of the biosphere and
shapes it from local to global scales –
we now live in the Anthropocene
Economy
Society
Biosphere
Our world view
Greenhouse
gases
Biodiversity
Land use
Chemical
pollution
Fresh water
Atmospheric
particle loading
Ozone layer
Ocean
acidification
Nitrogen and
phorsphorus
Human wellbeing within planetary boundaries
Rockström et al. Nature, 2009
A safe and just space for humanity
www.oxfam.org
Our analytical focus – the social-ecological system
Regional
ecosyste
ms
Local
ecosystems
Ecosystem
feedbacks
Management practices
Nested
institution
s
Ecological
knowledg
e
InstitutionsLarger
ecosystems
Berkes & Folke 2003, Biggs et al 2015
Foley et al., Science 2005
An ecosystem services perspective on sustainable
development
Agroforestry system
What development paths will provide the
ecosystem services we need?
Developmenttrajectories
Stakeholder needs
Enfors 2013
Resilience – a concept with multiple
meanings
Different aspects of ability to
cope with shock, stress and
disturbance, and continue to
function
Deals with the tension between
persistence and change
Resilience as a systems property
(1) the amount of disturbance a
system can absorb and still remain
within the same state (resistance)
(2) the degree to which the system is
capable of self-organization
(adaptability)
(3) the degree to which the system
can build and increase the capacity
for learning (adaptability &
transformability)
Carpenter 2001
Resilience thinking as a lens for analysis, that
directs attention to:
Key system variables & interactions between these (social-
ecological feedbacks)
Non-linear system change (thresholds in Ecosystem service
provisioning)
Scale-interactions (processes at e.g global levels influence local
ecosystem services)
Shocks, disturbances and drivers for change (abrubt and gradual)
3 things to remember:
Managing resilience is NOT about not changing
Resilience, per se, is neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’, depends on trajectory
Are we managing for adaptation or transformation? Remember the
first rule of holes!
Guidance for Resilience in the Anthropocene: Investments
for Development - The GRAID program
• Reframing of development, more focus on resilience
• Increased interest and demand in the emerging concept of resilience -
GRP (Rockefeller, USAID, SIDA, DFID, Reinsurers)
• Objective: to increase our understanding of resilience (principles,
theories, empirical evidence) & to develop, operationalize and train in
methods & approaches
Example: E-learning course
Resilience thinking for
development practitioners
1. Facilitate outreach and learning of key resilience concepts through
online teaching modules, for diverse actors
2. Contribute to participant’s capacity to use a resilience approach in
their respective context.
3. Complement and link to existing assessment frameworks and tools