WHAT IS “RESILIENCE” IN THE CONTEXT OF INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT FOR BUILT HERITAGE?
by RHA LAB
Resilience is generally understood as the “ability of something or someone to recover and return to normality after confronting an abnormal, alarming, and often unexpected threat” (McAslan 2010). Originally coming from the disciplines of materials science and environmental studies, the concept has evolved very quickly and has become a theoretical basis for policy makers, practitioners, and academics all around the world. In this article, we would like to explain the different understandings of resilience in the context of Integrated Risk Management for built heritage. Quick spoiler: There are more nuances to consider (Davidson et al. 2016).
The term “resilience” covers a wide conceptual breadth that proposes different possibilities to answering the above question and thus clarifying the objective of local Integrated Risk Management.
Integrated Risk Management involves setting clear protection objectives that serve as the foundation for any measures implemented. For this purpose, it is important to ask questions such as, “Which state of the (urban) environment and society does the local Integrated Risk Management strive to maintain during and restore after a disturbance?” Answers to these kinds of questions can be very diverse – depending on the underlying understanding of resilience. We can generally differentiate between three different approaches:
The debates in the context of restoring Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after the fire in 2019 illustrate, how different approaches were discussed – before finally deciding to opt for ‘bouncing back’. An international architectural competition has shown before, that different solutions were possible which could, on the one hand, serve as a reminder of that event in which many firefighters lost their lives to save the landmark, and on the other adapt it to new functions and requirements of urban planning – such as the installation of a “greenhouse roof”, which would help reintroduce biodiversity in urban space and offer a place for education and solidarity (Walsh 2019).
SOURCES
- Davidson, J. L. et al. (2016): Interrogating resilience: toward a typology to improve its operationalization. Ecology and Society
- McAslan, A. (2010): The Concept of Resilience. Understanding its Origins, Meaning and Utility. 14 March 2010
- UN-Habitat (2021): Resilience and Risk Reduction, https://unhabitat.org/resilience
- Walsh, N. P. (2019): Studio NAB Designs a Greenhouse Roof for Notre-Dame. In: ArchDaily from 25 April 2019, https://www.archdaily.com/915803/studio-nab-designs-a-greenhouse-roof-for-notre-dame