Resilience Practice: Building Capacity to Absorb Disturbance and Maintain Function

by Walker, Brian; Salt, David

• ISBN13: 9781597268011
• ISBN10: 1597268011
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-08-06
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

In 2006, Resilience Thinkingaddressed an essential question: As the natural systems that sustain us are subjected to shock after shock, how much can they take and still deliver the services we need from them? This idea caught the attention of both the scientific community and the general public. In Resilience Practice, authors Brian Walker and David Salt take the notion of resilience one step further, applying resilience thinking to real-world situations and exploring how systems can be managed to promote and sustain resilience. The book begins with an overview and introduction to resilience thinking and then takes the reader through the process of describing systems, assessing their resilience, and intervening as appropriate. Following each chapter is a case study of a different type of social-ecological system and how resilience makes a difference to that system in practice. The final chapters explore resilience in other arenas, including on a global scale. Resilience Practicewill help people with an interest in the "coping capacity" of systemsfrom farms and catchments to regions and nationsto better understand how resilience thinking can be put into practice. It offers an easy-to-read but scientifically robust guide through the real-world application of the concept of resilience and is a must read for anyone concerned with the management of systems at any scale.

Author Biography

Brian Walker is a Research Fellow in CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences and Chair of the Resilience Alliance. David Salt is a science and environment writer at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Preparing for Practice: The Essence of Resilience Thinking	p. 1
Thresholds on the Range: A Safe Operating Space for Grazing Enterprises	p. 27
Describing the System	p. 35
From Taos to Bali and Sri Lanka: Traditional Irrigation at the Crossroads	p. 55
Assessing Resilience	p. 67
Assessing Resilience for "the Plan": The Namoi and Central West Catchment Management Authorities	p. 107
Managing Resilience	p. 117
People and Pen Shells, Marine Parks and Rules: Why Governance Is Central to the Resilience of Coastal Fisheries	p. 135
Practicing Resilience in Different Ways	p. 145
Out of the Swamp: Lessons from Big Wetlands	p. 169
A Resilient World	p. 185
Postscript: A View from the Northwest Passage	p. 201
References	p. 205
Glossary	p. 213
About the Authors	p. 217
Index	p. 219
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.