Advancing Resilience Practice : Bridging social-ecological resilience theory and sustainable development practice

Abstract

This thesis investigates the application of resilience thinking in different real-world settings and research-practice interfaces, for example in the context of natural resource management, local government planning and food systems. The number of cases of resilience practice are growing, including resilience assessments, planning and action, but there are still few scientific studies and even less synthesis across cases. This thesis describes existing cases of resilience practice, in natural resource management in Australia (Paper I) and across different international cases (Paper II), and experiments with new methods and approaches for improving resilience practice, based on pilot projects of co-production in Sweden (Paper III and Paper IV). The results confirm that resilience practice can contribute to the understanding and adaptive governance of complex social-ecological systems, but is weak in addressing the need for transformations, particularly for the sake of the resilience of Earth systems and global sustainability. The results also highlight practical strategies for engaging with complexity and novel approaches to enhance the potential of local-regional resilience practice to align with global sustainability concerns. The thesis as a whole sheds light on the field of resilience practice, by outlining different approaches, contexts and purposes and contributes to building transdisciplinary networks and relationships in multiple arenas. ; At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.