Social Resilience for System Transformation - A STAP Information Note

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) increasingly recognizes that durable environmental outcomes depend on social resilience and the ability of communities to organize and cooperate. This STAP information note synthesizes evidence from the behavioral and social sciences to show that social resilience and collective action are prerequisites for achieving transformational change. It identifies seven institutional and psychological foundations that enable communities to withstand shocks, adapt, and steward natural resources over time (i.e. social cohesion, anchor institutions, resilient livelihoods, women’s empowerment, well-being, care, and hope and agency) and argues that by integrating these foundations more intentionally into project design the GEF can enhance equity, inclusion, and long-term effectiveness of its investments.