Resilience Thinking introduces a bold and necessary shift in how we understand and manage systems--whether ecological, economic, or social--in a world marked by rapid change and uncertainty. Rather than offering short-term fixes or efficiency-driven solutions that often lead to brittle outcomes, this book presents a powerful framework for building systems that can adapt, transform, and thrive over time.
Written by scientist Brian Walker and science communicator David Salt,
Resilience Thinking explains how human and natural systems operate as dynamic networks shaped by cycles of disturbance, renewal, and evolution. The book explores what qualities make a system resilient--such as diversity, modularity, and the ability to learn--and how these qualities can be nurtured to ensure long-term sustainability.
Clear, concise, and engaging, the book offers more than just theory. Through five real-world case studies, readers see how resilience thinking can be applied across landscapes, communities, and industries to navigate risk, foster innovation, and expand future options. Whether managing a watershed, planning urban growth, or designing policy, this approach equips decision-makers with tools for thinking beyond linear models and toward systems that can absorb shocks and keep functioning.
Resilience Thinking is essential reading for environmental professionals, business leaders, and anyone seeking smarter ways to steward resources in a complex, interconnected world.
Brian Walker has been one of the leading proponents of resilience theory and practice in the past two decades. He is currently an honorary fellow at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australian National University visiting professor, and a fellow in the International Beijer Institute for Ecological Economics in Sweden. Walker was chief of Australia's CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology (1985-1999), chaired the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (1990-1997), and was director of the international Resilience Alliance (2000-2010). He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. He has a long list of scientific publications and has served on the editorial boards of five international journals. With David Salt, Walker coauthored
Resilience Thinking (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006) and
Resilience Practice (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2012).
David Salt has been writing about science, scientists, and the environment for much of the last three decades. He created and then produced
The Helix (Australia's best-loved science magazine for young people) for more than a decade, served as communications manager for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Division of Wildlife and Ecology, and was the inaugural editor of an Australian version of the popular science magazine
Newton. More recently, Salt has written and edited books on farm forestry and agri-environment policy. He currently edits two research magazines,
Decision Point and
Science for Saving Species, and is based in Canberra at the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions at the Australian National University. With Brian Walker, Salt coauthored
Resilience Thinking (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006) and
Resilience Practice (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2012).
Walter V. Reid is a consulting professor with the Stanford Institute for the Environment in Stanford, California, and was the Director of the Millennuim Ecosystem Assessment.
