| This paper examines the possibilities for transformation of a climate-change hot spot—the coal-producing Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia—using complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory. It uses CAS theory to understand the role of coal in the region’s history and efforts to strengthen the ecological, economic, and social resilience of the region’s coal industry in the face of demands for a shift from fossil fuel dependency to clean, renewable energy and genuine resilience and sustainability. It uses CAS theory to understand ways in which the resilience of two alternative futures, labeled “Carbon Valley” and “Post-Carbon Society” (Heinberg 2004), might evolve. The... |
