Part I. Introduction Chapter 1. In quest of a theory of adaptive change - C. S. Holling, Lance H. Gunderson and Donald Ludwig Part II. Theories of change Chapter 2. Resilience and adaptive cycles - C. S. Holling and Lance H. Gunderson Chapter 3. Sustainable and panarchies - C. S. Holling, Lance H. Gunderson and Garry D. Peterson Chapter 4. Why systems of people and nature are not just social and ecological systems - Frances Westley, Stephen R. Carpenter, William A. Brock, C. S. Holling and Lance H. Gunderson Chapter 5. Back to the future: ecosystem dynamics and local knowledge - Fikret Berkes and Carl Folke Chapter 6. The dynamics of political discourse in seeking sustainability - Lowell Pritchard Jr and Steven E. Sanderson Part III. Myths, models and metaphors Chapter 7. Collapse, learning and renewal - Stephen R. Carpenter, William A. Brock and Donald Ludwig Chapter 8. Dynamic interaction of societies and ecosystems - linking theories from ecology, economy, and sociology - Marten Scheffer, Francis Westley, William A. Brock and Milena Holmgren Chapter 9. A future of surprises - Marco A. Janssen Chapter 10. Resilience and sustainability: the economic analysis of nonlinear dynamic systems - William A. Brock, Karl-Göran Mäler and Charles Perrings Part IV. Linking theory to practice Chapter 11. Resilient rangelands - adaptation in complex systems - Brian Walker and Nick Abel Chapter 12. Surprises and sustainability: cycles of renewal in the everglades - Lance H. Gunderson, C. S. Holling and Garry D. Peterson Chapter 13. The devil in the dynamics: adaptive management on the front lines - Frances Westley Chapter 14. Planning for resilience: scenarios, surprises and branch points Part V. Summary and synthesis Chapter 15. Discoveries for sustainable futures - C. S. Holling, Stephen R. Carpenter, William A. Brock and Lance H. Gunderson Chapter 16. Toward an integrative syntesis - Ralf Yorque, Brian Walker, C. S. Holling, Lance H. Gunderson, Carl Folke, Stephen R. Carpenter, and William A. Brock