Resilience of Complex Systems: State of the Art and Directions for Future Research

Table 1

Definitions of resilience in different domains.

	Definitions	Sources
Ecological resilience	Measure of the persistence of systems and of their ability to absorb change and disturbance and still maintain the same relationships between populations or state variables.	[1]
	Ability of a social-ecological system to absorb disturbances and reorganize while undergoing change, so as to still retain essentially the same functions, structures, identity, and feedbacks.	[3]
	The magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed before the system changes its structure by changing the variables and processes that control behavior.	[10]
	The ability of the system to maintain its identity in the face of internal change and external shocks and disturbances.	[8]
	Measure of the amount of change needed to change an ecosystem from one set of processes and structures to a different set of processes and structures.	[11]
Organizational resilience	Ability to bounce back from a disruption.	[12]
	Ability to return to the original state or to a new, more desirable one, after experiencing a disturbance.	[7]
	Capability to face disruptions and unexpected events in advance, thanks to the strategic awareness and a linked operational management of internal and external shocks.	[6]
Resilience engineering	Ability of a system to sense, recognize, adapt, and absorb variations, changes, disturbances, disruptions, and surprises.	[13]
	The ability to bounce back when hit with unexpected events.	[14]
	The joint ability of a system to resist (prevent and withstand) any possible hazards, absorb the initial damage, and recover to normal operation.	[15]
Economic resilience	Inherent ability and adaptive response that enable firms and regions to avoid maximum potential losses.	[16]
	Capacity to reconfigure, that is, to adapt its structure (firms, industries technologies, and institutions) so as to maintain an acceptable growth path in output, employment, and wealth over time.	[17]
Psychological resilience	Those factors that modify, ameliorate, or alter a person’s response to some environmental hazard that predisposes to a maladaptive outcome.	[18]
	The process of, capacity for, or outcomes of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances.	[19]
	The personal qualities that enable one to thrive in the face of adversity.	[20]
	The capacity of individuals to cope successfully with significant change, adversity, or risk.	[21]