Engaging with complexity in resilience practice

In a complex and turbulent world, there is heightened interest in managing for resilience. However, resilience guides, particularly those used in the development field, often lack a theoretical grounding in complex adaptive systems. There is a demand for guidance on how to operationalize complexity...

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Autores principales:	My M. Sellberg, Allyson Quinlan, Rika Preiser, Katja Malmborg, Garry D. Peterson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Resilience Alliance 2021
Materias:	case comparison complex adaptive systems practice social-ecological systems transdisciplinary Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9de3b5568abe4450bf9083f492c0719a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9de3b5568abe4450bf9083f492c0719a2021-11-15T16:40:20ZEngaging with complexity in resilience practice1708-308710.5751/ES-12311-260308https://doaj.org/article/9de3b5568abe4450bf9083f492c0719a2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol26/iss3/art8/https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087In a complex and turbulent world, there is heightened interest in managing for resilience. However, resilience guides, particularly those used in the development field, often lack a theoretical grounding in complex adaptive systems. There is a demand for guidance on how to operationalize complexity in applications of resilience, such as resilience assessment and planning. This study synthesizes lessons from how twelve cases of social-ecological resilience practice are engaging with complexity. We assessed how each case engaged with complexity, according to a framework of six features of complex adaptive systems. The cases are situated in a diversity of contexts, that include rural villages in Tajikistan, a Swedish municipality, Australian catchment management authorities, a Canadian coastal fishery, and the Arctic council. Our results revealed two main ways of engaging with complexity: capturing and making sense of the complexity of a social-ecological system (system complexity) and embodying complexity into the participatory process (process complexity). Our comparison demonstrates that resilience practice provides a useful approach to address system complexity by, for example, conceptualizing social-ecological interactions, identifying interactions across scales, and assessing system dynamics. Strategies related to understanding the adaptive and emergent features of complex systems were less developed and widespread. The study also revealed a set of strategies to address process complexity, such as facilitating dialogue, building networks, and designing a flexible and iterative process, showing how complexity can be embedded into the resilience assessment process. The more participatory and embedded cases of resilience practice were stronger in these process-oriented strategies. The complexity framework we used and the identified practical strategies provide a theoretically-grounded resource for managers, decision-makers, and researchers on how to engage with complexity when applying resilience in a variety of contexts, including development and landscape management.My M. SellbergAllyson QuinlanRika PreiserKatja MalmborgGarry D. PetersonResilience Alliancearticlecase comparisoncomplex adaptive systemspracticesocial-ecological systemstransdisciplinaryBiology (General)QH301-705.5EcologyQH540-549.5ENEcology and Society, Vol 26, Iss 3, p 8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	case comparison complex adaptive systems practice social-ecological systems transdisciplinary Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	case comparison complex adaptive systems practice social-ecological systems transdisciplinary Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 My M. Sellberg Allyson Quinlan Rika Preiser Katja Malmborg Garry D. Peterson Engaging with complexity in resilience practice
description	In a complex and turbulent world, there is heightened interest in managing for resilience. However, resilience guides, particularly those used in the development field, often lack a theoretical grounding in complex adaptive systems. There is a demand for guidance on how to operationalize complexity in applications of resilience, such as resilience assessment and planning. This study synthesizes lessons from how twelve cases of social-ecological resilience practice are engaging with complexity. We assessed how each case engaged with complexity, according to a framework of six features of complex adaptive systems. The cases are situated in a diversity of contexts, that include rural villages in Tajikistan, a Swedish municipality, Australian catchment management authorities, a Canadian coastal fishery, and the Arctic council. Our results revealed two main ways of engaging with complexity: capturing and making sense of the complexity of a social-ecological system (system complexity) and embodying complexity into the participatory process (process complexity). Our comparison demonstrates that resilience practice provides a useful approach to address system complexity by, for example, conceptualizing social-ecological interactions, identifying interactions across scales, and assessing system dynamics. Strategies related to understanding the adaptive and emergent features of complex systems were less developed and widespread. The study also revealed a set of strategies to address process complexity, such as facilitating dialogue, building networks, and designing a flexible and iterative process, showing how complexity can be embedded into the resilience assessment process. The more participatory and embedded cases of resilience practice were stronger in these process-oriented strategies. The complexity framework we used and the identified practical strategies provide a theoretically-grounded resource for managers, decision-makers, and researchers on how to engage with complexity when applying resilience in a variety of contexts, including development and landscape management.
format	article
author	My M. Sellberg Allyson Quinlan Rika Preiser Katja Malmborg Garry D. Peterson
author_facet	My M. Sellberg Allyson Quinlan Rika Preiser Katja Malmborg Garry D. Peterson
author_sort	My M. Sellberg
title	Engaging with complexity in resilience practice
title_short	Engaging with complexity in resilience practice
title_full	Engaging with complexity in resilience practice
title_fullStr	Engaging with complexity in resilience practice
title_full_unstemmed	Engaging with complexity in resilience practice
title_sort	engaging with complexity in resilience practice
publisher	Resilience Alliance
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9de3b5568abe4450bf9083f492c0719a
work_keys_str_mv	AT mymsellberg engagingwithcomplexityinresiliencepractice AT allysonquinlan engagingwithcomplexityinresiliencepractice AT rikapreiser engagingwithcomplexityinresiliencepractice AT katjamalmborg engagingwithcomplexityinresiliencepractice AT garrydpeterson engagingwithcomplexityinresiliencepractice
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Engaging with complexity in resilience practice

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