The Resilience Approach Contribution to Rural Communities Social Assessment for Social Sustainability Based Strategies Implementation

Evaluating the rural communities capacity to manage changes is of paramount importance for effective Social Sustainability strategies identification. The aim of the present study is to analyze if social resilience can be integrated into the social assessment of rural communities, with the aim of implementing sustainability-oriented policies and strategies. A literature review was carried out on the Resilience approach definition and its application to the Social Assessment in rural areas. The analysis showed that the Resilience approach enriches the Social Assessment by focusing on the specific capabilities of the communities in managing changes. The Resilience perspective embraces the dynamic character of communities and human-ecosystem interactions providing a deeper understanding of how a community’s positive response to change can be strengthened and supported. Moreover, the specific focus on rural communities highlights how strongly social and ecological resilience are intertwined in guaranteeing social sustainability which, in turn, is strictly interrelated with environmental and economic sustainability.