In this section of CASCADiS we review the concepts of resilience and regime shifts and present the method for and results of the resilience assessment (named “Resilience Assessment Tool - RAT”).

For more details see
»Resilience and regime shifts 
»Resilience Assessment Tool

Based upon the information gathered through the inventory of land management practice (see »Documented and evaluated natural resource management practices), and extensive work in the field in contact with land users and other stakeholders, the RAT was designed to be applicable on a variety of socio-ecological systems, from mainly natural ones to those heavily modified by human activities.

For more details see
»Objectives of the Resilience Assessment Tool
»Design of the Resilience Assessment Tool

The first step of the evaluation centers on assessing how land users value the provision of ecosystem services and the state of the environment; this allows defining the healthy state of the socio-ecological systems in a participative way. Furthermore, scientific and local knowledge are combined to assess the possible evolution of the socio-ecological system and of the pressure sources that can degrade it, as well as the impact of shocks and disturbances on the socio-ecological system. Moreover, we analyze in detail the contribution of land management practices to the resilience of the socio-ecological systems, together with the resilience of land management practices themselves across time, space and in relation to different disturbances.

The results from the first application of the Resilience Assessment Tool in the study sites of the CASCADE project are presented, along with some general conclusions about the most relevant factors playing a role in the resilience of dry Mediterranean socio-ecological systems.

For more details see
»Results: General information on the land management system
»Results: Perception and claims of land users
»Results: Evolution of the system
»Results: Shocks and disturbances
»Application of the Resilience Assessment Tool

The results of the RAT implementation will serve as base for developing guidelines for best practices that will be part of »Comprehensive guidelines for natural resource managers.

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