Specialised Concepts Flashcards
Resilience
The capacity of a system to experience shocks, while retaining essentially the same function, structure, feedbacks and identity.
Equilibrium
Systems can be considered to be in equilibrium when the input of mass and/or energy is balanced by self-adjustment of the elements and variables of a system, e.g. by the change of form or geometry.
Systems
Systems thinking is the process of understanding how those things (parts) which may be regarded as systems influence one another within a complete entity, or larger system (boundary)
Identity
The ways in which people connect to various places, and the effects of such bonds in identity development, place-making, perception and practice. It’s to do with belonging, meaning and attachment at a very personalised level.
Mitigation
The procedures, options and policies to reduce loss of life, infrastructure and property damage by lessening the spatial / temporal impact of disasters.
Adaption
Adaption seeks to lower the risks posed by the consequences by using different technologies, processes, policies etc to “live with it”. Adaptive capacity is highly variable and often linked to economic resources and nature of existing physical restraints.
Risk
The probability that exposure to a hazard will lead to to a negative consequence, or more simply, Risk = Hazard x Vulnerability / Context.
Globalisation
The process by which national and regional economies, societies and cultures have become integrated through the global network of trade, communication, transport and immigration.
Threshold
When a relatively small stimulus writhing a system suddenly induces a rapid change or alteration of that system. Thresholds in systems are generally (critical) tipping points, after which the system shifts radically and potentially irreversibly into a different equilibrium state.
Sustainability
Something that can be sustained over a period of time. The influential Brundtland Report defines sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Interdependence
The recognition that our world is not in reality composed of nation-states operating in an international system, with a clear-cut distinction between the domestic political life of states and the international area. Recognising that global governance is struggling to keep up with the pace and extent of economic globalisation, capital and trade flows, illegal and legal migration of people and technological change.
Inequality
When people, nations and non-state actors (ranging from TNCs to international agencies) have different levels of authority, competence and outcomes. Some actors and interests are more dominant than others. This can manifest itself in two ways - imaginatively and materially. The latter is the easiest way to see inequality.
Causality
The relationship between cause and effect. Recognising that a variety of processes result in change; they have impacts, which in turn have consequences.
Feedback
Feedback occurs when one element of a system changes because of an outside influence. This will upset the dynamic equilibrium, or state of balance, and affect other components in the system. Feedback can be either positive or negative.
Representation
The cultural practices by which human societies interpret and portray the world around them and present themselves to others.
