capacity for resilient futures
About
The Australian Resilience Centre
Grounded in resilience science
The Australian Resilience Centre works across places, scales and sectors to help people navigate uncertainty and shape resilient futures. We bring decades of experience in resilience, adaptation and transformation, grounded in science and practice and informed by a deep understanding of social–ecological systems. Our approach blends complexity thinking with practical action, ensuring strategies are workable and grounded in local contexts.
Experienced across Australia, and globally
Over 17 years we have supported governments, regional agencies, community foundations, research institutions and international partners to strengthen resilience. Our work spans climate adaptation policy, drought resilience planning, rural leadership programs and transformation strategies for communities and ecosystems under pressure. With more than 1,500 workshops delivered, we have built skills and confidence in thousands of people and organisations across Australia and beyond.
Trusted partner in navigating complexity
We are recognised for connecting research, governance and practice in ways that build capability and trust. By designing inclusive processes, translating complex science into practical strategies and fostering leadership, we help communities, organisations and systems adapt to disruption. Our role is to accompany people through complexity, creating pathways for both incremental and transformational change that endure over time.
Paul Ryan, Founder and Director
Paul Ryan is widely recognised as Australia’s most experienced resilience practitioner. For over 30 years, he has worked at the intersection of research, governance and practice, helping communities, organisations and governments navigate disruption and build resilient futures. His expertise spans climate resilience, adaptation and transformation planning, adaptive governance, and leadership for change.
Paul is the founding Director of the Australian Resilience Centre, established in 2008. Under his leadership the Centre has delivered more than 1,560 workshops with some 30,000 people across Australia and internationally. He has designed and led resilience and transformation planning processes with local governments, regional agencies, national bodies and global networks. His early work included the first resilience assessment undertaken in Australia in the Goulburn Broken region, and since then he has guided many of the country’s major resilience initiatives.
Internationally, Paul worked for the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Resilience Alliance, supporting projects in Africa, South East Asia and Europe. He has also collaborated with CSIRO and universities to produce peer-reviewed research that continues to shape the field. Across all of this work, his focus remains on building the capacity of people and places to respond to uncertainty with confidence and creativity.
Paul brings deep knowledge of complexity thinking and social-ecological systems together with a practical commitment to leadership and community capacity building. He is known for creating processes that connect diverse voices, translate complex science into workable strategies, and support both incremental and transformational change. His career reflects a simple, enduring goal: to help people and places thrive in the face of change.
