Disasters and emergencies, from natural hazards to complex crises, demand a fundamental shift in traditional management paradigms. At all levels of disaster and emergency management, from frontline responders to high-level policymakers, 2 integrated concepts—situational awareness and a disaster mindset—are critical for effective response and resilience. Situational awareness is not merely the collection of data; it’s the dynamic and continuous process of perceiving, comprehending, and projecting a holistic understanding of the operational environment, including evolving threats, available resources, and stakeholder dynamics. When fused with a disaster mindset—a psychological and strategic posture characterized by proactive anticipation, radical adaptability, and decisive action under pressure—it creates a powerful framework for navigating uncertainty. This paper, presented as the Frederick M. (“Skip”) Burkle lecture, proposes a new, integrated framework that systematically applies these concepts to enhance decision-making and operational effectiveness across all managerial tiers, enabling a transition from a reactive to a proactive and resilient posture in the face of escalating global complexities.

Research has robustly demonstrated that children exposed to early ecological adversity are at risk for developing antisocial, externalizing behavior problems (rule breaking, aggression, disregard for others). Yet, studies have also demonstrated multifinality in developmental pathways unfolding in adversity’s aftermath, with many children showing remarkable resilience. Understanding sources of such resilience is critical, especially across different populations (Luthar et al., 2006, 2015). In Family Study (FS, 102 low-risk mothers, fathers, and infants) and Play Study (PS, 186 high-risk mother-toddler dyads), we test a model of parent–child attachment security, observed at 15 months in FS and 2.5 years in PS, as a moderator of effects of early family ecological adversity, assessed as a cumulative score of sociodemographic risks (graded for severity) at 7 months in FS and 2.5 years in PS, on children’s antisocial, externalizing problems, observed and parent-reported at 5.5 years in FS and 7 years in PS. We supported moderation for mother–child relationships in both studies: Higher early family adversity was associated with more antisocial outcomes five years later, but only for children with less secure attachments. We highlight the key role of early security as a protective factor and a source of resilience for children in families experiencing adversity.

This article examines how the labor and community structures of female skin-divers, the Japanese ama and Korean haenyeo, believed to exemplify the primitive ability to adapt to extreme climates, became staple research subjects for global adaptation-resilience science. In the context of development studies, adaptation-resilience discourse has been seen as reflecting the emergence of neoliberal governmentality. In contrast, this article frames adaptation-resilience as a reactionary technological response that emerges in times of scarcity and crisis. This article demonstrates how the discourse can be traced back to interwar Japanese physiologists, who saw themselves as rescuing Japan from the ills of modernity through a socio-biological development program that drew on the diver’s adaptability as a means to create subjects not only capable of surviving extreme deprivation but willing to do so in the service of the community and the state. These scientists and their research were taken up uncritically in the postwar by international science and development organizations, who found in them a shared vision of a labor-intensive and low ecological impact model of community-rooted development that offered a sustainable and healthier alternative to capitalism, one that could help humanity overcome crises of modern excess such as climate change. However, sustainability meant the valorization of absolute austerity as a development goal, ruling out relief for suffering marginalized populations. This article therefore suggests that resiliency-based development entraps its subjects in a regime of self-exploitation that forces them into a constant state of emergency, paradoxically deepening their vulnerability in the process.

Teachers in conflict-affected regions face chronic stress and trauma exposure, compromising their mental health and professional identity. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the “Conmigo, Contigo, Con Todo” (3Cs) programme in improving resilience, compassion and prosocial behaviours among Afro-Colombian teachers in Tumaco, Colombia, through a mixed-methods cluster-randomised controlled trial. Thirty-two teachers from eight schools were randomised into intervention (n = 28) and control (n = 4) groups. Quantitative outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and follow-up using validated scales for resilience (CD-RISC), PTSD symptoms (PCL-C), anxiety, depression, compassion (ECOM) and prosocial behaviour (PPB). Qualitative data were collected through focus groups and analysed thematically. Resilience improved from baseline to follow-up (Hedges’ g = 0.23, small effect). PTSD symptoms declined substantially post-intervention (Hedges’ g = 0.98, large effect), with partial relapse at follow-up. Anxiety decreased initially but increased over time. Compassion and prosociality remained stable. Qualitative findings revealed perceived improvements in emotion regulation and compassion, although the 94% female sample may influence results. This exploratory study provides preliminary evidence that culturally adapted, school-based interventions may improve resilience and reduce trauma-related symptoms among teachers in high-adversity settings, although findings are limited by small sample size and group imbalance. Larger-scale replication with sustained reinforcement strategies is warranted.

Child maltreatment increases the risk of emotional and behavioral problems, yet many children demonstrate resilience, functioning better than expected given their level of maltreatment exposure. Although resilience is a dynamic process shaped by children’s social support, including friendships, how different patterns of resilience and friendship support unfold together across development remains unclear. To better understand this process, we examined how patterns of emotional resilience, behavioral resilience, and friendship support co-develop across childhood and adolescence. We used group-based multi-trajectory modeling with data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 6, 518, 51% female) to identify distinct patterns of emotional and behavioral resilience (doing better-than-expected given their level of maltreatment exposure) and friendship support, across five timepoints from ages 6 to 17 years. We identified five trajectory groups. Nearly half the sample maintained high emotional and behavioral resilience and friendship support across development. While resilience trajectories varied, friendship support was generally high across groups. Most children followed trajectories of high resilience and perceived friendship support. Even among children with lower emotional and/or behavioral resilience trajectories, friendship support remained high, an encouraging finding. Future research should examine how children’s other relationships (e.g., with parents and siblings) unfold alongside resilience.

As global crises like inequality, climate change and financial instability intensify, ‘resilience’ has emerged as a central concept in international governance and law. The appeal lies in what scholars call the ‘resilience dividend’ – the promise that systems can recover and adapt when facing external shocks. This article critically examines how resilience has been adopted in international and transnational law, with a particular focus on transnational financial regulation. The article analyses the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)’ work on the resilience of central counterparties, which represents the most extended elaboration on resilience in transnational financial regulation. Rather than accepting resilience as an unqualified good, a more cautious approach is suggested. Resilience risks perpetuating existing injustices and reinforcing neoliberal structures by emphasising survival and adaptation over addressing the root causes of crises. Accordingly, resilience needs to be seen as an ambivalent concept that only through its specification one can determine its possible impact.

African dryland farming systems integrate crop and livestock production. In these systems, cropland and livestock productivities are intricately connected to support livelihoods of pastoral and agropastoral communities inhabiting African drylands. However, achieving sustainable increases in crop and livestock production under the prevailing conditions of low external inputs, soil degradation and climate variability and vulnerability to climate change, remains a great challenge in African drylands. Thus, to address these inherent challenges and achieve food security in the region, there is a need to adopt sustainable agricultural systems and practices. Pasture cropping, a no-tillage system where annual cereal crops are sown into perennial pastures during their dormant stage, has great potential to diversify African dryland farming systems and enhance overall cropland productivity. This can be linked to its contribution to increased perennial vegetation cover that protects the soil from agents of erosion, improving soil structure and soil hydrological properties, accumulation of organic matter, reducing N leaching, promoting C sequestration and weed control. Despite its great potential, pasture cropping in African drylands is still at its infancy stage. This review examines the potential of pasture cropping as a sustainable agricultural production system in African drylands. Specifically, we describe its salient features, benefits and challenges and explore its applicability to the environmental and socio-economic conditions of African drylands. Pasture cropping shows promise for improving agricultural productivity and sustainability in the African drylands. However, to achieve its full potential, significant adaptations are needed to tailor the system to match prevailing local socio-economic and environmental conditions, including climate and local adaptation, species selection, socio-economic constraints and economic viability among farming communities.