Under the general rubric of sustainability, societies are now struggling with the reconciliation of the demands of human systems and the health and continuation of the biosphere that supports them. Fundamental to coping with this challenge is the creation of decision-making and management approaches that possess an ability to operate in the face of pervasive risk and uncertainty In searching for clues to ways in which to meet the challenge, it would make sense to look to areas of human experience where change and the interaction of human and natural systems have been addressed before. We examine the intellectual areas of ecology and risk, and find that the attribute of resilience is a strong theme. A three-class typology of resilience (resistance to change; change at the margins; openness and adaptation), is developed to structure the discussion and clarify the issues. We argue that, whereas the nature of the problems facing humanity demands entertaining responses across this spectrum, current institutions and policy processes appear to be locked into "type 2"—change at the margins.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Australian Department of Home Affairs and Environment. (1984). A national conservation strategy for Australia . Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
2.
Australia. The Commonwealth. (1992). National strategy for ecologically sustainable development, December 1992 . Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
3.
Begon, M., Harper, J.L., & Townsend, C.R. (1990). Ecology: Individuals, populations and communities. London: Blackwell Scientific.
4.
Bennett, J.W., & Dahlberg, K.A. (1990). Institutions, social organisation, and cultural values. In B. L. Turner II, W. C. Clark, R. W. Kates , J. F. Richards, J. T. Mathews, & W. B. Meyer (Eds.), The earth as transformed by human action (pp. 69-86). New York: Cambridge University Press.
5.
Boyden, S. (1987). Western civilization in biological perspective: Patterns in biohistory. Oxford, UK: Clarendon.
6.
Boyden, S., Dovers, S., & Shirlow, M. (1990). Our biosphere under threat: Ecological realities and Australia's opportunities. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
7.
Cameron, J., & Abouchar, J. (1991). The precautionary principle: A fundamental principle of law and policy for the protection of the global environment. Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, 14, 1-27.
8.
Camilleri, J.A., & Falk, J. (1992). End of sovereignty? The politics of a shrinking and fragmenting world. Aldershot, UK: Elgar.
9.
Cannon, T. (1993). A hazard need not a disaster make: Vulnerability and the causes of "natural" disasters. In P. A. Merriman & C.W.A. Browitt (Eds.), Natural disasters: Protecting vulnerable communities (pp. 92-105). London: Thomas Telford.
10.
Carson, R. (1962). Silent spring. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
11.
Checkland, P., & Scholes, J. (1990). Soft systems methodology in action. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
12.
Cleveland, C.J. (1987). Biophysical economics: Historical perspectives and current research trends. Ecological Modelling, 38, 47-73.
13.
Common, M., & Perrings, C. (1992). Toward an ecological economics of sustainability . Ecological Economics, 6, 7-34.
14.
Conway, G.R. (1987). The properties of agroecosystems. Agricultural Systems, 24, 95-117.
15.
Davis, K., & Bernstam, M.S. (Eds.). (1991). Resources, environment and population: Present knowledge and future options. New York: Oxford University Press.
16.
de Vanssay, B. (1992, April). The Sandoz pollution disaster. Paper presented at Environmental Emergencies: An International Workshop, London.
Dovers, S., Norton, T.W., Hughes, I., & Day, L. (1992). Population growth and Australian regional environments . Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
25.
Faber, M., Manstetten, R., & Proops, J. (1992). Toward an open future: Ignorance, novelty and evolution. In R. Costanza, B. G. Norton, & B. D. Haskell (Eds.), Ecosystem health: New goals for environmental management (pp. 72-96). Washington, DC: Island Press.
26.
Funtowitz, S.O., & Ravetz, J.R. (1991). A new scientific methodology for global environmental issues. In R. Costanza (Ed.), Ecological economics: The science and management of sustainability (pp. 136-152). New York: Columbia University Press.
27.
George, S. (1988). A fate worse than debt. London : Penguin.
28.
Gilbert, C. (1992). Le pouvoir en situation extreme: Catastrophes et politique [Power in an extreme situation: Catastrophes and politics]. Paris: L'Harmattan.
29.
Green, C.H. (1991). Ignorance, arrogance and morality: The necessary components of decision making. Enfield, UK: Middlesex University, Flood Hazard Research Centre.
30.
Handmer, J.W., & Parker, D.J. (1992). Hazard management in Britain: Another disastrous decade? Area, 24(2), 113-122.
31.
Herman, E.S., & Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media. New York: Pantheon .
32.
Hewett, K. (Ed.). (1983). Interpretations of calamity. Winchester, UK: Allen & Unwin.
33.
Hiskes, R.P. (1992). The democracy of risk. Industrial Crisis Quarterly, 6(4), 259-278.
34.
Holling, C.S. (1973). Resilience and stability of ecological systems . Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4, 1-24.
35.
Holling, C.S. (1986). The resilience of terrestrial ecosystems: Local surprise and global change. In W. C. Clark & R. E. Munn (Eds.), Sustainable development of the biosphere (pp. 292-317). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
36.
Hood, C., Pidgeon, N., Jones, D., Turner, B., & Gibson, R. (1992). Risk perception. In The Royal Society (Eds.), Risk assessment, perception and management (chap. 5, pp. 135-201). London: The Royal Society
37.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ( 1990). Climate change: The IPCC scientific assessment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press .
38.
Kasperson, R.E., Renn, O., Slovic, P., Brown, H.S., Emel, J., Goble, R., Kasperson, J.X., & Ratick, S. (1988). The social amplification of risk. Risk Analysis, 8,177-187.
39.
Kreps, G. (1992). Foundations and principles of emergency planning and management. In D. J. Parker & J. Handmer (Eds.), Hazard management and emergency planning (pp. 159-174). London: James & James.
40.
Lazslo, E. (1972). The systems view of the world: The natural philosophy of the new development in the sciences. New York: Braziller.
41.
Lewis, P. (1979). Axioms for reading the landscape: Some guides for the American scene. In D. Meinig (Ed.), The interpretation of ordinary landscapes: Geographical essays (pp. 11-32). New York: Oxford University Press.
42.
Lockhart, R.B. (1985). Halfway to heaven: The hidden life of the sublime Carthusians. London: Thames Methuen .
43.
Mannion, A.M. (1991). Global environmental change: A natural and cultural environmental history. Harlow, UK: Longman.
44.
Marks, D. (1990). Imagery, information and risk. In J. Handmer & E. C. Penning-Rowsell (Eds.), Hazards and the communication of risk (pp.19-30). Aldershot , UK: Gower.
45.
Martinez-Alier, J. (1987). Ecological economics: Energy, environment and society. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell .
46.
Meadows, D.H., Meadows, D.L., & Randers, J. (1992). Beyond the limits: Global collapse or sustainable future. London: Earthscan.
47.
Morton, S. (1990). The impact of European settlement on the vertebrate animals of arid Australia: Aconceptual model. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia, 16, 201-213.
48.
Myers, N. (1993). Population, environment and development. Environmental Conservation, 20,205-216.
49.
Newsome, A. (1975). An ecological comparison of the two arid zone kangaroos of Australia, and their anomalous prosperity since the introduction of ruminant stock to their environment. Quarterly Review of Biology, 50, 389-424.
50.
O'Riordan, T. (1990). Hazard and risk in the modem world: Political models for program design. In J. Handmer & E. C. Penning-Rowsell (Eds.), Hazards and the communication of risk (pp. 293-302). Aldershot, UK: Gower.
51.
O'Riordan, T. (1992). The precautionary principle in environmental management (CSERGE GEC Working Paper 92-03). Norwich, UK: Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment .
52.
O'Riordan, T., & Rayner, S. (1991). Risk management for global environmental change . Global Environmental Change, 1, 91-108.
53.
Ponting, C. (1991). A green history of the world. New York: Penguin.
54.
Population Summit of the World's Scientific Academies (1993). A joint statement by fifty-eight of the world's scientific academies. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
55.
Ravetz, J.R. (1986). Usable knowledge, usable ignorance: Incomplete science with policy implications. In W. C. Clark & R. E. Munn (Eds.), Sustainable development of the biosphere (pp. 415-432). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
56.
Rayner, S. (1992). Cultural theory and risk analysis. In S. Krimsky & D. Golding (Eds.), Social theories of risk (pp. 83-115). Westport, CT: Praeger.
57.
Rees, W.E. (1990). The ecology of sustainable development. The Ecologist, 20(1), 18-23.
58.
Rhodes, C. (1992). Third-world debt: The disaster that didn't happen . The Economist, 324(7776), 19-25.
59.
Short, J.F. (1990). Hazards, risk and enterprise: Approaches to science, law and social policy. Law and Society Review, 24(1),179-198.
60.
Skjaerseth, J.B. (1992). The "successful" ozone-layer negotiations: Are there any lessons to be learned?Global Environmental Change , 2, 292-300.
61.
Smithson, M. (1989). Ignorance and uncertainty: Emerging paradigms . New York: Springer Verlag.
62.
Smithson, M. (1991). Managing in an age of ignorance. In J. Handmer, B. Dutton, B. Guerin, & M. Smithson (Eds.), New perspectives on uncertainty and risk (pp. 39-65). Canberra: Australian National University and Australian Emergency Management Institute, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies .
63.
Stafford Smith, D.M., & Morton, S.R. (1990). A framework for the ecology of arid Australia . Journal of Arid Environments, 18, 255-278.
64.
Timmerman, P. (1981). Vulnerability, resilience and the collapse of society (Environmental Monograph 1). Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto, Institute for Environmental Studies .
65.
Tuan, Y-F. (1979). Landscapes of fear. New York : Pantheon.
66.
United Nations. (1992). Agenda 12: The United Nations programme of action from Rio. New York: Author.
67.
US row over aerosol ban. (1976, November 4). New Scientist, p. 262.
68.
von Bertalanffy, L. (1968). General systems theory: Foundations, development, applications. New York: Braziller .
69.
Waddell, E. (1983). Coping with frosts, government and disaster experts: Some reflections based on a New Guinea experience and a perusal of the relevant literature. In K. Hewett (Ed.), Interpretations of calamity (pp. 33-63). Winchester, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
70.
Webler, T., Rakel, H., & Ross, R.J.S. (1992). A critical look at technical risk analysis. Industrial Crisis Quarterly, 6, 23-38.
71.
Wildavsky, A. (1985). Trial without error: Anticipation versus resilience as strategies for risk reduction. In M. Maxey & R. Kuhn (Eds.), Regulatory reform: New vision or old curse (pp. 200-201). New York: Praeger.
72.
Wildavsky, A. (1988). Searching for safety. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
73.
Winchester, P. (1992). Power, choice and vulnerability: A case study in disaster mismanagement. London: James & James.
74.
Wittfogel, K.A. (1967). Oriental despotism: A comparative study of total power. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
75.
World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
76.
Wynne, B. (1982). Rationality and ritual: The Windscale inquiry and nuclear decisions in Britain. Chalfont St. Giles, UK: British Society for the History of Science.
77.
Wynne, B. (1992). Uncertainty and environmental learning: Reconceiving science in the preventive paradigm. Global Environmental Change , 2(2), 111-127.
