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Leveraging SETS resilience capabilities for safe-to-fail infrastructure under climate change

Journal Article · · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

As the rehabilitation of infrastructure is outpaced by changes in the profile, frequency, and intensity of extreme weather events, infrastructure’s service disruptions and failures become increasingly likely. Safe-to-fail approaches for infrastructure planning and design improve the capacity of cities to adapt for uncertain climate futures by identifying social, ecological, and technological systems (SETS) capabilities to prepare for potential failure scenarios. In this work, we argue for transforming infrastructure planning and design to effectively utilize safe-to-fail approaches by navigating the opportunities and trade-offs of SETS resilience capabilities. From a technological vantage point, traditional infrastructure planning approaches account for social and ecological domains as external design conditions rather than embedded system characteristics. Safe-to-fail approaches directly challenge the isolation of the technological domain by necessitating a recognition that SETS domains are interconnected and interdependent in infrastructure systems, as such risks and system capabilities for resilience must be managed cohesively.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1871091
Journal Information:
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Journal Name: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 54; ISSN 1877-3435
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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