Using system dynamics to support a participatory assessment of resilience

Abstract

Resilience has emerged as a buzzword among researchers and practitioners. However, despite its popularity, there has been little progress in moving it from a metaphor to applied projects. While case study research is rich with examples of systems that have proven to be resilient or are striving to develop resilience, the approaches for operationalising concepts described in the literature are still under development. This paper contributes to this development by incorporating system dynamics (SD) modelling within participatory approaches to resilience assessment. With this aim, we combined concepts and practices from the resilience literature with experiences, those documented in the literature and our own, applying system dynamics to resilience assessment. The proposed approach builds and complement other the literature by outlining a modelling process that is consistent with both the resilience literature and the SD modelling practices and providing a generic structure for designing interventions.