Water and Resilience

Efforts to apply science to understand and manage change have provoked a range of theories to facilitate discussion and generate ideas to test. Two theories of current interest have emerged from radically different perspectives. Resilience was originally developed within the natural sciences to better examine non-linear change in ecosystems. The social sciences developed Vulnerability as a conceptual framework to assess the potential for harm to various agents, processes and factors in society as a “function of exposure and sensitivity to hazard and the capacity to adapt.”

Breaking from the conventional assumption that all systems are at stable, steady state, resilience offers a view of systems far from steady state, where even tiny perturbations can shift the system into another stability domain or regime of behavior, sometimes irreversibly. From this perspective, resilience can be measured as “the magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed before the system redefines its structure by changing the variables and processes that control behavior.” Vulnerability accounts for the natural context in assessing the distribution of natural resources and prior stressors. However, it focuses primarily on the fate and influence of agents (as victims and/or actors) as it assesses adaptive capacity, sensitivity, and exposure to the impacts of shocks and stressors.

Both concepts offer useful and complementary views of the factors and interactions that influence the stability and persistence of social-ecosystems and their component parts. As no single concept adequately accounts for the diversity of factors influencing the dynamics of complex, adaptive systems, the similarities and contrasts found in applying both resilience and vulnerability can enrich both theories as well as add depth to our understanding of change in the face of uncertainty.

Building on the Decisions & Governance group, RPV is well situated to launch more intensive activities on water and governance.

The group is currently working on the following projects:

Assessing Fisheries Sustainability in Burkina Faso (SusFish)

The SusFish project is developing a diverse set of methodological and technical resources to assess the integrity and long-term sustainability of water quality and fisheries in the African country of Burkina Faso. More

Accelerating Cuts in Greenhouse Gases (RESPONSES)

RESPONSES is a project to develop strategies that will enable European Union countries to accelerate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and better adapt to environmental, social, and economic disruptions caused by climate change. More

Improving Landslide Risk Responses (SafeLand)

SafeLand is a response to the growing risk of landslides in mountainous regions of Europe due to climate change-related increases in overall rainfall, concentrated rains over short periods, more extreme weather, and increased snowmelts in Alpine regions. More

Last edited: 08 March 2012