PopTech 2012: Toward Resilience (Part I)

In a world fraught with disruptions, what causes some systems, organizations, communities and people to break down and others to bounce back? For those that rebound, what do they tell us about how to build a secure future, and sturdier selves to inhabit it?

 

To explore these pressing questions, in June 2012 PopTech will convene a gathering of researchers, practitioners and thought leaders — working in fields such as international development, global business, climate adaptation, social psychology, economics, systems ecology, public health, emerging technology, disaster relief and community activism — for a dialogue about the emerging field of resilience. This area of research is yielding powerful insights into how to build systems that anticipate disruption, heal themselves when breached and can reorganize themselves to maintain their core purpose.

 

We’ll gather at the newly opened Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center in Reykjavik, Iceland. We’ve chosen Iceland because the country has not only experienced powerful shocks — from the global financial crisis to volcanic eruptions — but also because it has become a remarkable laboratory for social and ecological resilience.