Cited by 3,136Sustainability and Climate Change GovernanceEcosystem dynamics and resilienceSustainable Development and Environmental Management

Resilience and Sustainable Development: Building Adaptive Capacity in a World of Transformations

Folke, Carl, Carpenter, Steve, Elmqvist, Thomas, Gunderson, Lance, Holling, C. S., Walker, Brian·2002·AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment

Abstract

Emerging recognition of two fundamental errors underpinning past polices for natural resource issues heralds awareness of the need for a worldwide fundamental change in thinking and in practice of environmental management. The first error has been an implicit assumption that ecosystem responses to human use are linear, predictable and controllable. The second has been an assumption that human and natural systems can be treated independently. However, evidence that has been accumulating in diverse regions all over the world suggests that natural and social systems behave in nonlinear ways, exhibit marked thresholds in their dynamics, and that social-ecological systems act as strongly coupled, complex and evolving integrated systems. This article is a summary of a report prepared on behalf of the Environmental Advisory Council to the Swedish Government, as input to the process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa in 26 August 4 September 2002. We use the concept of resilience--the capacity to buffer change, learn and develop--as a framework for understanding how to sustain and enhance adaptive capacity in a complex world of rapid transformations. Two useful tools for resilience-building in social-ecological systems are structured scenarios and active adaptive management. These tools require and facilitate a social context with flexible and open institutions and multi-level governance systems that allow for learning and increase adaptive capacity without foreclosing future development options.

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Crossref · 10.1579/0044-7447-31.5.437

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157 of 157 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Sustainability can be viewed as a change process that can be influenced by individuals throughout initiatives by continuing to develop and adapt in response to the needs of the system.

    “This lens allows sustainability to be viewed as a change process that can be influenced by individuals throughout initiatives by continuing to develop and adapt in response to the needs of the system [15–17].”

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Authors
Folke, C., Carpenter, S., Elmqvist, T., Gunderson, L., Holling, C. S., & Walker, B.
Affiliations
Stockholm University (SE)
Corresponding author
  • Folke, Carl
  • Carpenter, Steve
  • Elmqvist, Thomas
  • Gunderson, Lance
  • Holling, C. S.
  • Walker, Brian
Venue
AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
Published
2002-08
Volume
31
Issue
5
Pages
437-440
ISSN
0044-7447 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2175360117
Cited by
3,136
References
157
Citations by year
2026: 79 · 2025: 114 · 2024: 122 · 2023: 158 · 2022: 162 · 2021: 187 · 2020: 181 · 2019: 190 · 2018: 196 · 2017: 178 · 2016: 188 · 2015: 170 · 2014: 187 · 2013: 152 · 2012: 154
FWCI
37.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • AMBIO (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • BioOne Complete (BioOne) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Ecosystem dynamics and resilience
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Sustainable Development and Environmental Management
Keywords
resilience, adaptive capacity, sustainable development, social-ecological systems, ecological thresholds, environmental management, adaptive management, multi-level governance, institutional flexibility, World Summit on Sustainable Development, natural resource policy
MeSH terms
Agriculture, Conservation of Natural Resources, Ecology, Environment, Humans, Industry, Models, Theoretical, Policy Making, Social Conditions, Ecosystem, Risk Assessment

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