What is Resilience?

A simple definition that is often used for "resilience" is the ability to bounce back from some kind of trauma to return to a full state of functionality.

A more complex set of resilience definitions exist to address circumstances in which an individual, community, or society can no longer return to the pre-exiting state of being, for example in a time of significant global change (including, but not limited to climate change).  

In Miami Beach and many large coastal cities around the world, for example, simple forms of adaptive resilience (e.g., building higher barriers to sea level rise and to prevent storm damage are no longer enough.  Actions must also be taken to address the problems that are causing adverse effects rather than just adapting to them.  Transforming underlying conditions such as reducing ecological footprints and moving from a petrochemical political economy to a green political economy is an example of "transformative resilience," which provide far better results for maintaining health, human security, and sustainability in the medium to longer term.