Resilient systems never start from zero. They carry traces of what came before. A forest regrows after fire from seeds held in soil and canopy. A flood-prone town builds on lessons from high-water marks, evacuation routes, and neighbour-to-neighbour help. A sector retains knowledge through mentoring networks and tacit know-how. These are forms of system memory. They act like a memory bank that supports renewal when disruption arrives.
Memory can be a strength or a constraint. It anchors wisdom, relationships, and reserves that make recovery faster and safer. It can also trap systems in outdated rules, incentives, or mindsets that block adaptation. When we cling to how things have always been done, we risk getting stuck in persistence mode, even as conditions change. Resilience means honouring the past while updating it with new insight.
A practical process it to list sources of memory, case studies, seed stocks, cultural stories, place knowledge, and maintenance records. Consider rotating roles to share tacit knowledge, documenting key procedures in plain language, and pairing experienced hands with newer voices. Build archives that are easy to use under stress. Photos, videos, sound recordings can capture and communicate a lot in a short space of time. Strong systems remember what matters most and let go of what no longer serves.
Something to chew on:
What memories, traditions or structures shape how you respond to change? Which should be remembered, codified and which might need to be let go?
Resilience Bites offers weekly insights from the Australian Resilience Centre, drawn from decades of work alongside communities across Australia and internationally. Each Bite explores an aspect of resilience and closes with a reflective question to chew on.
Across the series we'll explore themes that shape resilience in practice, including place, patterns, networks, leadership, learning, feedbacks, thresholds and the deeper work of change.
This series is for people working in communities, landscapes, systems and change. It will help you learn key resilience concepts, apply them in practice and build our collective capacity to create resilient futures.
To learn more about the Australian Resilience Centre and explore our work and services, please visit https://www.ausresilience.com.au/
To read published Bites, please visit https://resiliencebites.ausresilience.com.au/
