The Four Cornerstones of Resilience Engineering

As the practical interest for resilience engineering continues to grow, so does the need of a clear definition and of practical methods. The purpose of this short chapter is to propose a working definition of resilience and analyse it in some detail. The working definition, based on the work in the project described here, is as follows: A resilient system is able effectively to adjust its functioning prior to, during, or following changes and disturbances, so that it can continue to perform as required after a disruption or a major mishap, and in the presence of continuous stresses.