Defining Resilience
by Charlie Edwards
The capacity of an individual, community or system to adapt in order to sustain an acceptable level of function, structure, and identity.*
This definition has been adapted from various sources, including: the ISDR, and Brian Walker et al, ‘Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability in Social-ecological Systems’ in Ecology and Society, Volume 9, No. 2, Art 5, 2004.
There are literally tens, even hundreds of definitions of resilience in the academic literature, journals, policy papers, etc. 'The current definition of resilience in use: 'To bounce back'' is arguably rather narrow and limited, but the above definition strikes me as being comprehensive and practical.
*To reference : Edwards, C. Resilient Nation: How communities respond to systemic breakdown, Demos, forthcoming)