Resilience in the face of climate change temporalities: dynamic processes in coastal social–ecological systems
Abstract
Social–ecological systems (SESs) are experiencing increasing vulnerability to climate change. Enhancing their resilience requires interdisciplinary approaches that allow the co-construction of adaptation strategies while explicitly accounting for the temporality of environmental changes. In this paper, we propose an analysis of resilience processes that distinguishes between endogenous intrinsic resilience and exogenous imported resilience. Endogenous intrinsic resilience refers to the inherent ecological and social properties of a system that enable it to resist, absorb, and adapt to change. Exogenous imported resilience refers to externally driven interventions that, when progressively appropriated and institutionalised, may be integrated into the system and contribute to a dynamic resilience trajectory. The proposed analytical approach is illustrated through the analysis of three contrasting coastal SESs in mainland France and overseas territories. We consider three types of change—slow and progressive changes, abrupt but recurrent events, and abrupt and unprecedented disturbances—associated with multiple climatic drivers, including temperature increase, heatwaves, rainfall variability, flooding, and sea-level rise. This approach facilitates the analysis of past dynamics by identifying resilience processes according to the pace and nature of change and helps to identify conditions under which exogenous measures may foster the adoption of transformational adaptations. More broadly, this study paves the way for interdisciplinary discussions on SES resilience by highlighting the interactions between ecological dynamics, social processes, and governance arrangements in the context of accelerating climate change.
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BibTeX
@article{lacoste2026resilience,
title = {{Resilience in the face of climate change temporalities: dynamic processes in coastal social–ecological systems}},
author = {Élise Lacoste and Hélène Rey-Valette and Valérie Derolez and Stéphane Ghiotti and Frédérique Viard and Esméralda Longépée and Adrien Chevallier and Gilbert David and Pierre Maurel and Romain Pete and Anliati Ahmed Abdallah and Patrick Monfort and Thierry Laugier},
journal = {Regional Environmental Change},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1007/s10113-026-02644-5},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05706483v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Resilience in the face of climate change temporalities: dynamic processes in coastal social–ecological systems
AU - Élise Lacoste
AU - Hélène Rey-Valette
AU - Valérie Derolez
AU - Stéphane Ghiotti
AU - Frédérique Viard
AU - Esméralda Longépée
AU - Adrien Chevallier
AU - Gilbert David
AU - Pierre Maurel
AU - Romain Pete
AU - Anliati Ahmed Abdallah
AU - Patrick Monfort
AU - Thierry Laugier
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/27
JO - Regional Environmental Change
DO - 10.1007/s10113-026-02644-5
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05706483v1
AB - Social–ecological systems (SESs) are experiencing increasing vulnerability to climate change. Enhancing their resilience requires interdisciplinary approaches that allow the co-construction of adaptation strategies while explicitly accounting for the temporality of environmental changes. In this paper, we propose an analysis of resilience processes that distinguishes between endogenous intrinsic resilience and exogenous imported resilience. Endogenous intrinsic resilience refers to the inherent ecological and social properties of a system that enable it to resist, absorb, and adapt to change. Exogenous imported resilience refers to externally driven interventions that, when progressively appropriated and institutionalised, may be integrated into the system and contribute to a dynamic resilience trajectory. The proposed analytical approach is illustrated through the analysis of three contrasting coastal SESs in mainland France and overseas territories. We consider three types of change—slow and progressive changes, abrupt but recurrent events, and abrupt and unprecedented disturbances—associated with multiple climatic drivers, including temperature increase, heatwaves, rainfall variability, flooding, and sea-level rise. This approach facilitates the analysis of past dynamics by identifying resilience processes according to the pace and nature of change and helps to identify conditions under which exogenous measures may foster the adoption of transformational adaptations. More broadly, this study paves the way for interdisciplinary discussions on SES resilience by highlighting the interactions between ecological dynamics, social processes, and governance arrangements in the context of accelerating climate change.
SN - 1436-3798
SN - 1436-378X
ER -