1. RESILIENCE
The terms vulnerability and resilience
are highly complementary since greater
resilience is what is achieved when
vulnerability is reduced
The term resilience is derived from the
Latin resilio, meaning “to jump back”

2. This concept of resilience was introduced
in 1973 by ecologist C.S. Holling
He has drawn this concept from agro-
ecology and natural resource
management literature
This term gained prominence in the
disaster literature after Hurricane Katrina,
supplementing the concept of disaster
resistance

3. “The capacity that people or groups may
possess to withstand or recover from
emergencies and which can stand as a
counterbalance to vulnerability.” (Buckle 1998)
“Not just the absence of vulnerability.
Rather it is the capacity, in the first place,
to prevent or mitigate losses and then,
secondly, if damage does occur to maintain
normal living conditions as far as possible,
and thirdly, to manage recovery from the
impact.” (Buckle et al. 2000)

4. “The capacity of a group or organization to
withstand loss or damage or to recover from
the impact of an emergency or disaster. The
higher the resilience, the less likely damage may
be, and the faster and more effective recovery
is likely to be.” (Dept. of Human services 2000)
“Resilience to disasters means a locale can
withstand an extreme natural event with a
tolerable level of lasses. It takes mitigation
actions consistent with achieving that level of
protection.” (Mileti 1999)

5. What is the relationship between
vulnerability and resilience?
Zhou et al. (2010) identify some overlap between these two concepts
The ability or capacity to cope with and
recover from impacts of disasters is central
to the theme of resilience

6. Resilience is a more encompassing term than coping capacity
Capacity to
remain functional
during an event +
Complete recover as
quickly as possible

7. The time takes for a disaster-impacted
community to return to its pre-disaster
level for a given extent of damage can be
measured
with the
help of a
resilience
triangle

8. Framework of Resilience
R4 Framework of Resilience
Robustness:
Inherent
strength of
a system

9. Redundancy: The extent to which elements
in systems are sustainable

10. Resourcefulness: Capacity to mobilize
needed resources
Rapidity: Speed with which disruption can
be overcome and service, income, etc.
restored
This framework highlights the multiple
paths of resilience and each one of these
components can be improved through
investment in hazard mitigation measures

11. Themes in Resilience Studies
Resilience as a Biophysical Attribute
Biophysical attribute includes physical
components that add redundancy
Focuses on key components of systems,
such as biodiversity and functional
diversity, which provides a system with
variety of responses

12. Resilience as a Social Attribute
The capacity of a group or a community to
bounce back or respond positively to
adversity
Social attributes include economic,
demographic, and institutional factors in
both temporal and spatial context
Economic – growth, stability, and income
distribution

13. Demographic: population displacement
and mobility (guest workers)
The above factors determine whether a
given social group is either vulnerable or
or more adaptable to extreme events
Social resilience can be increased
through institutional development,
diversification, land reform, and
demographic change

14. Resilience as a Social-Ecological System
(SES) Attribute
Refers to learning to live with the change
and uncertainty
Focusing on diversity is another factor in
building SES, because it helps increase
options for coping with impacts of
extreme event

15. Resilience as an Attribute of Specific
Place
Refers to all the above attributes of a
specific place
Zhou, H. et al Resilience to Natural
Hazards: A Geographic Perspective.
Natural Hazards 53: