SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The term ‘resilience’ is increasingly used in the context of discussion, policies and programming around climate change adaptation1 This paper works with the following definition of climate change adaptation, ‘is a process by which strategies to moderate, cope with and take advantage of the consequences of climatic events are enhanced, developed, and implemented’ (Levina & Tirpak, 2006). View all notes (‘adaptation’) and disaster risk reduction2 Disaster risk reduction is ‘a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of disaster. It aims to reduce socio-economic vulnerabilities to disaster as well as dealing with the environmental and other hazards that trigger them’ (Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon, & Davis, 2004 Wisner, B., Blakie, P., Cannon, T. and Davis, I. 2004. At risk: Natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters, London: Routledge. [Google Scholar] ). View all notes . It has become particularly popular to describe the intersection between these two fields and those of poverty and development, and ‘climate resilient development’ is rapidly becoming a catch-all for tackling climate change impacts in a development context. This paper reviews academic use of the concept of ‘resilience’ in social, ecological and socio-ecological systems and its application to the climate, disaster and development nexus. From this review, we distil 10 key characteristics of resilience: high diversity; effective governance and institutions; the ability to work with uncertainty and change; community involvement and the inclusion of local knowledge; preparedness and planning for disturbances; high social and economic equity; robust social values and structures, acknowledging non-equilibrium dynamics, continual and effective learning and the adoption of a cross-scalar perspective. Finally, we highlight knowledge gaps and suggest directions for further research.