Evolutionary resilience and complex lagoon systems

The present study applies an evolutionary resilience framework to complex socioecological systems in the coastal regions in Europe with a particular focus on lagoons. Despite their variations, lagoons share common challenges in achieving effective and sustainable ways of governing and managing economic, social, and environmental uncertainties. Our aim is to demonstrate that building resilience involves planning not only for recovery from shocks but also for cultivating preparedness and seeking potential transformative opportunities that emerge from change. The framework consists of 4 dimensions: persistence, adaptability, transformability, and preparedness. To illustrate how this 4-dimensional framework can be applied to the specific context of lagoons, we draw on examples of good and poor practices from the 10 lagoons studied as part of the ARCH project. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:711-718. © 2016 SETAC.