Study on the Coupled Human – Natural System in Velingrad municipality, Bulgaria: a resilience perspective

Abstract

The study presents a new look on the socio-ecological relations in retrospective, focusing on their formation and adaptation over time in Velingrad Municipality, Bulgaria. The dependencies between the main components of the system are outlined and the main disturbances in terms of presses and pulses are examined. Examples of trade-offs and synergies are also offered to better understand the cross-scale dynamics of the studied components. The reaction of the system to pulses in its growth phase of the adaptive cycle is reviewed. In addition, the contemporary state of the main components of the coupled human-natural system is analysed in order to identify the slow and fast variables that determine the trajectory of the system at present. The resilience thinking concept is applied in analyzing the processes within the coupled human-natural system and in identifying the mechanisms that may enhance its capacity to absorb shocks.