A resilience thinking approach investigates how these interacting systems of people and nature can best be managed in the face of disturbances, surprises and uncertainty. We define resilience as the capacity of a system, be it an individual, a forest, a city or an economy, to deal with change and continue to develop. But amid the enormous attention it has attracted, confusion exists. What does resilience actually mean and how it should be applied?

Source: http://www.stockholmresilience.org/