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Using measures of social, economic, and ecological health to understand community resilience

Case Study

Global

Publication date: September 29, 2025

File format: URL

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Community resilience reflects the combined social, economic and ecological capacities that enable communities to withstand, respond to and recover from disturbances. Drawing on definitions from resilience theory, this chapter highlights how coping, adaptive and transformative capacities shape responses to hazards, while vulnerability depends on both hazard probability and impact. Understanding these linked dimensions is essential for strengthening resilience in communities facing increasing shocks and change.

Subject Tags

  • Community-based conservation
  • Climate resilience

Abstract

Community resilience is on the minds of many researchers and practitioners these days but means different things to different people. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the interest in and recognition of the importance of resilience at many levels of society. Resilience can have many definitions. At the community scale, resilience can be viewed as a combination of social, economic and ecological factors. Resilience can have many definitions (Folke, 2016). For the purposes of this chapter, community resilience is defined as “a measure of the sustained ability of a community to utilize available resources to respond to, withstand and recover from adverse situations” (Rand Corporation, nd). Social resilience can be a combination of coping, adaptive and transformative capacities that social actors use to overcome challenges, prepare for future events and work to improve quality of life (Keck & Sakdapolrak, 2013). Economic resilience is often defined as the ability of an economy to resist or avoid shocks (e.g., Bakhtiari & Sajjadieh, 2018). Ecological resilience is typically defined as the ability for a natural system to withstand a disturbance without changing some of its underlying systems and processes (Gunderson, 2000). These three types of resilience are intertwined within communities, particularly when natural resources play a role in the local economy and identity (Adger, 2000). Vulnerability is related to resilience and reflects the combination of probability of a hazard occurring and the magnitude (or consequences) associated with its impact. Risk can be expressed quantitatively using the following equation: Risk= Hazard probability × Magnitude of impact.

Citation

Rogers, S., Garlick, S., Contosta, A., Groffman, P. M., Templer, P., & Bush, K. F. (2025). Using Measures of Social, Economic, and Ecological Health to Understand Community Resilience. Case Studies in Environmental and Planetary Health: Competencies and Frameworks.

TNC Authors

  • Sarah Garlick
    Director of Conservation, New Hampshire
    The Nature Conservancy
    Email: sarah.garlick@tnc.org