Operationalization and Measurement of Social-Ecological Resilience: A Systematic Review

Cristina González-Quintero and V. Sophie Avila-Foucat
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Cristina González-Quintero: Posgrado en Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 3000, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
V. Sophie Avila-Foucat: Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Laboratorio Nacional de Resiliencia Costera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Universidad 3000, Mexico City 04510, Mexico

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: Academics and practitioners have become more interested in the operationalization and measurement of social-ecological resilience. An analysis of how social-ecological resilience has been operationalized and measured is crucial to understanding systems complexity and dynamics and for clarifying empirical cases of monitoring programmes in ways that enrich their utility and explanatory power. The literature shows that social-ecological resilience has been operationalized using the concepts of adaptability and absorption of disturbance. In addition, diversity and connectivity are principles that have been studied. Climate change in rural coastal regions is the most common stressor that has been studied, and the human dimension of such systems is the dominant focus. Systems interactions, feedbacks and thresholds are rarely identified or assessed. In addition, attributes of the system primarily using indicators are preferred over analysing causal relationships with models. Answering the question of what this resilience is for is a very important aspect of defining the system and the method for assessing resilience.

Keywords: resilience operationalization; resilience measurement; social-ecological resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:6073-:d:282379

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