Vulnerability and resilience: Coalescing or paralleling approaches for sustainability science?

Vulnerability and resilience constitute different but overlapping research themes embraced by sustainability science. As practiced within this science, the two research themes appear to coalesce around one of the foundational pivots of sustainability, the coupled human–environment system. They differ in regard to their attention to two other pivots, environmental services and the tradeoffs of these services with human outcomes. In this essay I briefly review the emergence of sustainability science and the three foundational pivots relevant to vulnerability and resilience. I outline the distinctions and similarities between the two research themes foremost as practiced within sustainability science and especially in regard to the attention given to the three pivots. I conclude with the observation that improvement in the capacity of vulnerability and resilience research to inform sustainability science may hinge on their linkages in addressing tradeoffs.

Research highlights▶ Sustainability science has emerged as the research umbrella for climate and global environment change, including its human dimensions. ▶ Vulnerability and resilience are complementary research themes within sustainability science. ▶ Improved integration of these themes for sustainability science requires attention to coupled human–environment systems, environmental services, and tradeoffs of services and human outcomes. ▶ Resilience research has met these requirements better than has vulnerability research. ▶ The key for superior vulnerability and resilience assessments, and their integration, may reside in tradeoffs.