Abstract
This chapter offers an overview of the evolution of resilience thinking, from a descriptive concept in ecology to a boundary concept and approach that fosters interdisciplinary research of social-ecological systems. The first section begins with a review of the evolving conceptualizations of resilience, distinguishing between those definitions that emphasize a systems understanding and the more recent definitions of resilience that emerge from its application in specific contexts. Given the breadth of definitions and their evolving nature, the chapter synthesizes some common framings that underpin resilience research and defines three key heuristics that have served to shape resilience thought, that is, the adaptive cycle, panarchy and regime shifts. From the theoretical constructs the second section moves to a discussion of the application of resilience, including adaptive environmental management and co-management, before highlighting seven principles for building resilience in social-ecological systems that may be transferable to tourism. The chapter ends with a discussion of some of the limitations and criticisms of resilience thinking that need to be considered as resilience is adopted for tourism research and practice.