Climate-resilient Environmental Systems Overview

Principles

Definition

Climate-resilient environmental systems is a research field and academic concept that investigates the capacity of natural and human-modified environments to withstand, adapt to, and recover from the impacts of climate change. This concept explores the dynamic interactions between climate stressors and system components, focusing on properties like robustness, adaptability, and transformability across various scales. Its significance lies in informing interdisciplinary strategies for sustainable development, risk reduction, and enhancing the long-term viability of socio-ecological systems in the face of climate uncertainty.

Ontological type

Core Concepts

Modeling Approaches

Infrastructure Design

Key developments

Key Figures

Urban Resilience Governance era

Katrina Brown [1] is a leading scholar associated with the University of Exeter [3] during the Urban Resilience Governance era (2013–2016). Her key contributions in this era include translating resilience concepts into policy instruments, indicators, and budgeting decisions, as articulated in the 2013 paper Global environmental change I [6], which demonstrated how cross-scale metrics could drive governance action. Andrew Newsham [2] is associated with the University of London [4] and the University of Sussex [5] during this period. His key contributions derive from the 2014 review article RESILIENCE, POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT [7], which integrated resilience, poverty, and development considerations to inform governance indicators and budgeting priorities for urban resilience.

Networked Resilience Paradigm era

Mikhail Chester [1] is a scholar associated with Northern Arizona University [3] and Arizona State University [4]. His Interdependent Infrastructure as Linked Social, Ecological, and Technological Systems (SETSs) to Address Lock-in and Enhance Resilience [6] reframes resilience as interdependent networks of social, ecological, and technological systems, addressing lock-in and guiding climate-adaptive planning; his 2021 Infrastructure resilience to navigate increasingly uncertain and complex conditions in the Anthropocene [7] extends this by emphasizing adaptive capacity under deep uncertainty for planning and governance; and his 2020 Reconciling complexity and deep uncertainty in infrastructure design for climate adaptation [8] integrates multi-stressor design and adaptive pathways as practical tools for networked resilience. Samuel A. Markolf [2] is affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University [5] and Arizona State University [4]. His 2018 Interdependent Infrastructure as Linked Social, Ecological, and Technological Systems (SETSs) to Address Lock-in and Enhance Resilience [6] advances an interdependent view of infrastructure that helps address lock-in and guide resilience in coupled social-ecological-technical systems, and his 2021 Infrastructure resilience to navigate increasingly uncertain and complex conditions in the Anthropocene [7] deepens this by stressing resilience under uncertainty for planning and governance in networked systems.