Resilience to climate change: translating principles into practice

Morecroft, Michael D.; Crick, Humphrey Q. P.; Duffield, Simon J.; Macgregor, Nicholas A.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02136.x

Cited by 101 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Hence, strategies to build resilience can be characterised as relatively safe "no-regret" approaches to tackle climate change, notably the reduction of existing pressures such as pollution, overgrazing, invasive species, and loss of organic matter from soils. Beyond resilience-based approaches, strategies that aim to accommodate change and then promote a transformation towards new conservation objectives may be necessary but are likely to involve a higher degree of risk because the outcomes are difficult to influence with any certainty [90]. The current ecological network of protected sites provides a firm basis on which to build these actions, but in the UK at present this network needs to be complemented by wider landscape measures to improve cohesion, quality and quantity of habitat because protected sites are too spatially constrained to provide climate change resilience [31,91].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These mutable limits are underpinned by diverse values and they are particularly expressed through the values people attach to places and landscapes, including synergies between natural and cultural assets. The challenges for adaptation policy are particularly exemplified by the dilemma in distinguishing so-called "native" and "non-native" species [99], and the eventual need to shift from a conventional conservation paradigm that protects existing "priority" species to one that also accommodates the objective of maintaining healthy functioning ecosystems, probably by containing a mix of new and existing species [90].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative Risk Assessment to Inform Adaptation Priorities for the Natural Environment: Observations from the First UK Climate Change Risk Assessment

Brown

2015

Climate

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Risk assessment can potentially provide an objective framework to synthesise and prioritise climate change risks to inform adaptation policy. However, there are significant challenges in the application of comparative risk assessment procedures to climate change, particularly for the natural environment. These challenges are evaluated with particular reference to the first statutory Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) and evidence review procedures used to guide policy for the UK government. More progress was achieved on risk identification, screening and prioritisation compared to risk quantification. This was due to the inherent complexity and interdependence of ecological risks and their interaction with socio-economic drivers as well as a climate change. Robust strategies to manage risk were identified as those that coordinate organisational resources to enhance ecosystem resilience, and to accommodate inevitable change, rather than to meet specific species or habitats targets. The assessment also highlighted subjective and contextual components of risk appraisal including ethical issues regarding the level of human intervention in the natural environment and the proposed outcomes of any intervention. This suggests that goals for risk assessment need to be more clearly explicated and assumptions on tolerable risk declared as a primer for further dialogue on expectations for managed outcomes. Ecosystem-based adaptation may mean that traditional habitats and species conservation goals and existing regulatory frameworks no longer provide the best guide for long-term risk management thereby challenging the viability of some existing practices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Risk Assessment to Inform Adaptation Priorities for the Natural Environment: Observations from the First UK Climate Change Risk Assessment

Brown

2015

Climate

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“…Methods to measure resilience essentially fall into two categories (Morecroft et al 2012). The first is the amount of time it takes to recover from a perturbation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing stability landscapes to identify alternative states in coupled social-ecological agent-based models

Bitterman¹,

Bennett²

2016

E&S

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ABSTRACT. The resilience of a social-ecological system is measured by its ability to retain core functionality when subjected to perturbation. Resilience is contextually dependent on the state of system components, the complex interactions among these components, and the timing, location, and magnitude of perturbations. The stability landscape concept provides a useful framework for considering resilience within the specified context of a particular social-ecological system but has proven difficult to operationalize. This difficulty stems largely from the complex, multidimensional nature of the systems of interest and uncertainty in system response. Agent-based models are an effective methodology for understanding how cross-scale processes within and across social and ecological domains contribute to overall system resilience. We present the results of a stylized model of agricultural land use in a small watershed that is typical of the Midwestern United States. The spatially explicit model couples land use, biophysical models, and economic drivers with an agent-based model to explore the effects of perturbations and policy adaptations on system outcomes. By applying the coupled modeling approach within the resilience and stability landscape frameworks, we (1) estimate the sensitivity of the system to contextspecific perturbations, (2) determine potential outcomes of those perturbations, (3) identify possible alternative states within state space, (4) evaluate the resilience of system states, and (5) characterize changes in system-scale resilience brought on by changes in individual land use decisions.

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“…Resilience resonates with policy makers and researchers alike, and is often viewed in normative terms [3,36]-as a commitment to "become more resilient" [38]. Resilience has been criticised for its theoretical opacity [38], nevertheless it is a powerful explanatory framework for understanding responses to challenges, and is now applied in diverse contexts and across fields of study from psychology [39,40] to natural resource management [41][42][43].…”

Section: Resilience and Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformations for Resilient Rural Futures: The Case of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand

2018

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On 14 November 2016, a magnitude (M w ) 7.8 earthquake struck the small coastal settlement of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand. With an economy based on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, Kaikōura was immediately faced with significant logistical, economic, and social challenges caused by damage to critical infrastructure and lifelines, essential to its main industries. Massive landslips cut off road and rail access, stranding hundreds of tourists, and halting the collection, processing and distribution of agricultural products. At the coast, the seabed rose two metres, limiting harbour-access to high tide, with implications for whale watching tours and commercial fisheries. Throughout the region there was significant damage to homes, businesses, and farmland, leaving owners and residents facing an uncertain future. This paper uses qualitative case study analysis to explore post-quake transformations in a rural context. The aim is to gain insight into the distinctive dynamics of disaster response mechanisms, focusing on two initiatives that have emerged in direct response to the disaster. The first examines the ways in which agriculture, food harvesting, production and distribution are being reimagined with the potential to enhance regional food security. The second examines the rescaling of power in decision-making processes following the disaster, specifically examining the ways in which rural actors are leveraging networks to meet their needs and the consequences of that repositioning on rural (and national) governance arrangements. In these and other ways, the local economy is being revitalised, and regional resilience enhanced through diversification, capitalising not on the disaster but the region's natural, social, and cultural capital. Drawing on insights and experience of local stakeholders, policy-and decision-makers, and community representatives we highlight the diverse ways in which these endeavours are an attempt to create something new, revealing also the barriers which needed to be overcome to reshape local livelihoods. Results reveal that the process of transformation as part of rural recovery must be grounded in the lived reality of local residents and their understanding of place, incorporating and building on regional social, environmental, and economic characteristics. In this, the need to respond rapidly to realise opportunities must be balanced with the community-centric approach, with greater recognition given to the contested nature of the decisions to be made. Insights from the case examples can inform preparedness and recovery planning elsewhere, and provide a rich, real-time example of the ways in which disasters can create opportunities for reimagining resilient futures.

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Resilience to climate change: translating principles into practice

Cited by 101 publications

References 18 publications

Comparative Risk Assessment to Inform Adaptation Priorities for the Natural Environment: Observations from the First UK Climate Change Risk Assessment

Comparative Risk Assessment to Inform Adaptation Priorities for the Natural Environment: Observations from the First UK Climate Change Risk Assessment

Constructing stability landscapes to identify alternative states in coupled social-ecological agent-based models

Transformations for Resilient Rural Futures: The Case of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand

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