Community Resilience to Climate Change: Theory, Research and Practice

89 Identifying & Evaluating Resilience Considering the difficulty in pinning down an agreeable interpretation of resilience, choosing the best metrics for evaluating it can also pose a challenge. After all, how can you evaluate the state of something when you are not completely sure what you are looking for? Still, it is often important to measure (quantitatively) or assess (qualitatively) resilience in order to justify a particular plan of action, or to determine the effects of a past effort. There are no universal indicators of resilience - that is, the specific system features targeted for evaluation. They are chosen ad hoc by the researcher, based on the research question/project at hand, and often have to do with his/ her theoretical or disciplinary leanings. For example, an ecologist may judge the resilience of an urban wetland system by its function and presence of biodiversity; an urban planner may consider flooding and infrastructure damage within the same system. Similarly, an engineer may consider a city resilient to extreme heat if roads can withstand high temperatures; a public health official may emphasize access to air conditioned space for vulnerable populations. Depending on one’s perspective and interests, framing and methods will vary. This section provides multiple case studies in which researchers sought to frame, identify (via a series of chosen indicators), and assess or measure resilience. Methods range from quantitative to qualitative; indicators from general to local. The cases come from both the global north and south, address numerous climate-related hazards, and frame resilience in terms of economic prosperity, food security, vulnerability, adaptation, and more. The purpose is not to advance one methodological framework for identifying and evaluating resilience - all have their advantages and disadvantages - but to offer some potential avenues that youmight take. Remember, resilience is a flexible concept, and different situations may call for different approaches to evaluating it. However, it is always helpful to clarify the following details before undertaking an evaluation: I want to evaluate the resilience of ______ to ______.