1 This is a pre-publication copy of a book chapter. Please cite as: Cheer, J.M. and Lew, A.A. (2018). Environmental change, resilience and tourism: Definitions and frameworks. In A.A. Lew and J.M. Cheer, editors, 2017. Tourism, Resilience and Adaptation to Environmental Change, pages 3-12. London: Routledge. Environmental change, resilience and tourism: Definitions and frameworks Alan A. Lew Northern Arizona University, USA Alan.lew@nau.edu Joseph Cheer Monash University, Australia Joseph.cheer@monash.edu Resilience and environmental change The repercussions of global warming and changeable weather patterns such as El Niño on many of the world’s coral reefs, as exemplified by Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, demonstrate significant local-level effects of environmental change that are potentially severe for tourism communities (Norström et al., 2016). Indeed, natural hazard disasters are often ‘glocalized’, rather than limited to only one particular locality, as demonstrated in incidences of tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes (Uitto, 2016). This renders local adaptive responses inescapably interdependent within global action contexts, with the success or failure of either linked to some degree. That said, while environmental crises can be catastrophic in their outcomes, they can also present opportunities for change and innovation where feedback loops signal directional potentials, possibly resulting in more effective cooperation and better outcomes, and mitigating the ‘tragedy of the commons’ (Lindahl, Crépin & Schill, 2016). In a sense, this is illustrative of the aims of resilience where the new state condition can at times lead to far more resilient conditions. One of the benefits of a crisis, so long as the change does not lead to permanent destruction, is that tipping points may become obvious, enabling a clearer understanding of the causal mechanisms that generated the crisis situation (SRC, 2015). In identifying such tipping points, communities can ‘self organise and respond’ (Arctic Council, 2016), as well as spur innovation in a kind of creative– destruction manner (Schumpeter, 1943; Holling, 2001). Adaptive responses that leverage knowledge, experience and innovation are underpinned by policy learning and paradigm changes (Lew, 2014). However, the development of optimal adaptive capacities rests on ‘ensuring that a system is able to accept change and unpredictability, and is designed to be safe to fail, as well as being able to respond to the needs