RU R A L D E V E LO PM E N T I N S T I T U T E K N OW L E D G E B R I E F FA L L 2016

KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

Economic Development Part II: Assessing & Measuring
Resilience in Regional & Local Economies

INTRODUCTION
Regional and local economies, particularly in rural
areas, are vulnerable to unexpected and unforeseen
shocks and disturbances.1 This can take many forms,
including: the closure of a major employer, regional
recessions, tourism declines, major policy changes,
national currency crises, major technological
advances, the collapse of a natural resource (e.g.,
mines, forestry, fishery), climate change, and natural
disasters. In recent years, there has been a growing
interest in assessing and managing the resilience of a
regional or local economy as a way to address these
and other types of shocks and disturbances.1-2
Resilience is a term that is used in different ways.
The concept of resilience was originally developed
in the natural sciences to explain the ability of
an ecosystem to cope with or absorb a shock or
disturbance (e.g., a drought, disease outbreak, fire),
and keep functioning in the same kind of way.3-4 This
'ecological resilience' idea of a system being able
to absorb a shock is different from the concept of
'engineering resilience' which refers to the time it
takes for a system to bounce back from a shock.3, 5
Social-ecological resilience expands the ecological
resilience concept to include people. This opened
the possibly of assessing the resilience of social and
economic systems to adapt to potential disturbances

and experimenting with strategies for how to do so.
Having the capacity to adapt explains why people,
communities, ecosystems, and social-ecological
systems can display a lot of variation, be exposed
to disturbances, and cope without changing their
'identity' or becoming something else.4
The central notion within resilience thinking is that
things change, and if you ignore or resist change
instead of finding ways to adapt, then you increase
vulnerability and can miss out on new emerging
opportunities.6
The popularity of resilience thinking has grown
substantially and it is now being used for assessing
and managing a range of human and natural
systems, including within regional and local
economic development. For instance, following the
closure announcement of a major employer, the
District of Mackenzie, British Columbia, partnered
with the Community Development Institute at the
University of Northern British Columbia to develop a
proactive, long-term economic renewal plan based
on the principles of resilience. Their plan has since
been developed into a toolkit for rural communities
faced with a sudden economic crisis.7

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KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

E CO N OM I C D E V E LO PM E N T PA R T I I

The Union of BC Municipalities has also encouraged
communities to build their resiliency through
“effective community engagement processes, a
long-term strategic vision, collaborative partnerships,
flexible planning processes, and a comprehensive
and robust business development program can help
weather the economic storm while also working
toward the long-term vision a community sets for
itself”.8
The practice of managing for resilience should be
understood as being a complement to sustainable
development. The key to sustainability is to
enhance the resilience of social-ecological systems.6
Resilience in itself is neither good nor bad.4 Both
desirable (e.g., democracy, productive agricultural
land) and undesirable systems (e.g., dictatorships,
desertification) can be resilient. For this reason, an
assessment and measurement of resilience requires
answers to the following questions: resilience of
what, to what, for whom, by what means, and for
what purpose/outcome.1, 9-10
Characteristics of Social & Economic
Resilience to Measure & Manage
1.

5.

Rural Development In s t i t u t e K N OW L E D G E B R I E F Fa ll 2 0 1 6

Emphasize learning, experimentation, and
innovation:
• Learning and experimentation should be
actively incorporated into the decision-making
process. Innovation and change should be
embraced.6, 11-12

6.

Ensure tight feedbacks:
• There should be experimentation, monitoring,
and learning in order to increase capacity to
detect thresholds and to respond to changes
in a timely manner. For instance, too much
red tape for starting up a business has the
consequence of making it harder to create
economic development opportunities.
Experimenting with ways to simplify and
shorten the process increases the likelihood
of new business inquiries. However, too few
restrictions in the process can also create
undesirable consequences.6, 11-12

• Include a diversity of stakeholder interests,
values, and perspectives in planning and
decision-making.6, 11-12

• Encourage specialization in multiple industries.1

Acknowledge slow variables:
• Slow variables (e.g., legal systems, values,
traditions) determine the underlying structure
of a system and aren’t always apparent in
the short-run. These variables should be
acknowledged and addressed as part of the
long-term governance of a system.6, 11-12

• Build a diversity of livelihood and economic
strategies,6, 11-12 as regional economic diversity
can enhance robustness, and adaptability.1

• Encourage redundancy in economic
development, in which (1) certain industries
or businesses can substitute for one another if
some fail and (2) the region’s resources can be
put to related or alterative use.1

2

4.

Encourage diversity and redundancy:

• Include a variety of organizations (e.g.,
governments, non-governmental, and
community groups) with overlapping
jurisdiction and authority in governance and
flexible institutions that are responsive to
change.6, 11-12

Manage connectivity:
• Social networks between stakeholders
(including government) are important
and help build trust. Adequate avenues of
communication and connectedness between
stakeholders should be maintained to allow
for meaningful and fair communication (i.e.,
avoid top-down decision-making). However,
it is dangerous when all stakeholders in an
economy are overly dependent/connected
on one another because a shock to one part
impacts everyone. For example, if different local
industries are too closely linked to each other it
makes the structure of the economy vulnerable
to a shock.1 To minimize this risk, it is important
to keep a level of modularity between
stakeholders,6, 11-12 where several smaller groups
of stakeholders are highly connected within
each group, but there are looser connections
between each of these groups.

Broaden participation and build social
capital:
• Actively engage all relevant stakeholders
to build a high level of trust, develop social
networks, and leadership in order to increase
capacity to collectively respond and adapt to
change.6, 11-12

2.

3.

7.

Recognize value of ecosystem services:
• Ecosystem services are the benefits humans
receive from the environment (e.g., water
quality, pollination, aesthetic and cultural
value), many of which are unpriced. The value
of ecosystem services should be recognized in
development proposals and assessments.6, 11-12

REFERENCES & RESOURCES
1.

Martin, R., & Sunley, P. (2014). On the notion of
regional economic resilience: Conceptualization
and explanation. Journal of Economic Geography,
1-42.

9.

2.

Mancini, A., Salvati, L., Sateriano, A., Mancino, G., &
Ferrara, A. (2012). Conceptualizing and measuring
the economic issues in the evaluation of socioecological resilience: A brief commentary.
International Journal of Latest Trends in Finance
and Economic Sciences, 2(3), 190-196.

10. Quinlan, A. E., Berbés‐Blázquez, M., Haider, L. J., &
Peterson, G. D. (2015). Measuring and assessing
resilience: Broadening understanding through
multiple disciplinary perspectives. Journal of
Applied Ecology, 53, 677-687.

3.

Holling, C. S. (1973). Resilience and stability of
ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and
Systematics, 4, 1-23.

4.

Walker, B., & Salt, D. (2012). Resilience thinking:
Sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing
world. Island Press.

5.

Gunderson, L. H. (2000). Ecological resilience--in
theory and application. Annual Review of Ecology
and Systematics, 31, 425-439.

6.

Walker, B., & Salt, D. (2006). In resilience thinking:
Sustaining people and ecosystems in a changing
world. Island Press.

7.

Halseth, G., Killam, S., & Manson, D. (2008).
Transition toolkit: Working framework for a
more resilient community. Prince George, BC:
University of Northern British Columbia. Retrieved
from http://www.unbc.ca/sites/default/files/
assets/community_development_institute/
toolkit/mackenzie__transition_toolkit_ed._1_
oct._20_2008.pdf.

8.

Union of British Columbia Municipalities. (2010).
Evaluating the economic development role of BC
local governments. BC: Union of British Columbia
Municipalities. Retrieved from http://www.
ubcm.ca/assets/Resolutions~and~Policy/Policy/
Community~Economic~Development/UBCM%20
ED%20REPORT%204-14.pdf.

Carpenter, S., Walker, B., Anderies, J. M., & Abel,
N. (2001). From metaphor to measurement:
Resilience of what to what? Ecosystems, 4(8),
765-781.

11. Biggs, R., Schlüter, M., Biggs, D., Bohensky, E. L.,
BurnSilver, S., Cundill, G., . . . Kotschy, K. (2012).
Toward principles for enhancing the resilience
of ecosystem services. Annual Review of
Environment and Resources, 37, 421-448.
12. Nemec, K. T., Chan, J., Hoffman, C., Spanbauer, T.
L., Hamm, J. A., Allen, C. R., . . . Shrestha, P. (2014).
Assessing resilience in stressed watersheds.
Ecology and Society, 19(1).

KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

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The Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute, at Selkirk College, is a regional research centre with a
mandate to support informed decision-making by Columbia Basin-Boundary communities through the
provision of information, applied research and related outreach and extension support.

www.cbrdi.ca

1.888.953.1133