Ahead of the NHL session tomorrow afternoon, here are some thoughts on 'Resilience' from our headline speaker, Richard Hall:
"Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transitions movement, argues that resilience is “the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganise while undergoing change, so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks”. He focuses upon the local and the historic, and demands that we empower people to become self-organising. The key for Hopkins is that resilience is more crucial than sustainability – we need to be able to manage shock or disruption or vulnerability, and then find alternatives. This means that the local is as vital as the global. It also means that civil action rather than political action is the key to enfranchisement."
As a History researcher and lecturer, Richard will be analysing the role of the historian in this context. Please feel free to add your comments, here and/or at the lab meeting.
Tomorrow afternoon we will also bring you updates on the peregrination and the Mystery Guest Lecture, as well as a University of Leicester perspective on 'Resilience and History' from our very own distinguished historian and Honorary Visiting Fellow, Siobhan Begley. Please join us at 4.30 for tea and cake!
