Chapter 2 sets out the history of the Province from 1348 to 1559 showing first its resilience in the face of the Black Death with new foundations in Ireland and the establishment of the nuns’ convent at Dartford. Its resilence is then shown against theological attack in anti-fraternal literature, including writings by Wycliff, and the rise of Lollardy. The Province’s continuing value to key supporters is shown through the patronage manifest in church decoration, through lay burials and grants of confraternity, while their secure place in civic life before the Reformation is seen in relation to the guilds associated with their churches. The sudden collapse of the Province at the Henrician Reformation is then examined to identify several factors, the most important of which was the crown’s imposition of its agents as Provincials and Priors.

Zimbabwe’s longest election season span from the February 2000 referendum to the 2002 presidential election. In 2002, voters became wary and weary of violent elections. Politically motivated violence continued as Mugabe and Tsvangirai had their moment of reckoning as to who should be president of Zimbabwe. Over time, Mugabe become ever more dependent on violence and dictatorial methods, and less and less interested in the welfare of his people, treating Zimbabwe’s wealth and resources as rewards for loyal Zanu PF supporters, boasting that there was no vacancy at State House. A closer study of the incidence of election violence shows voter resilience amidst cyclical bouts of state-sponsored udlakela. Voter resilience in the ruling party and opposition showed the potential and capability of the electorate to recover from crises and shocks. Zimbabwe voter resilience revealed that no matter the number of violent disturbances Zimbabweans absorbed over time, they remained within a relatively similar political state domain without imploding. Voters in Zimbabwe were remarkably resilient, displaying abilities of self-organization under extreme periodic election stresses. They built capacity and adaptation in the face of election adversities without resorting to civil war.

This chapter investigates questions of language, context, cross-cultural communication and collective learning through three examples from Fórum Shakespeare. For the past twenty years, the (almost) bi-annual project Fórum Shakespeare has brought young actors from Brazilian peripheries together with theatre makers and audiences to ask questions about multicultural, multilingual and potentially mutually beneficial ways of engaging with Shakespeare. The three case studies discussed in this chapter include: Paul Heritage’s work on Romeo and Juliet with a group of juvenile prisoners in Rio de Janeiro in 1999; Bridget Escolme’s workshops for young people in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Brasília in 2011, 2013 and 2014; and Catherine Silverstone’s lecture and workshop for general audiences in São Paulo in 2016. The Fórum – and each case study – insists on the plurality of Shakespeare. The chapter explores how professional and non-professional participants have disturbed the harmful assumptions and challenged the negative expectations that limit young people, while teaching pleasure, resilience and compassion through performance. In Fórum Shakespeare meaning has consistently been constructed through exchange, with participants’ embodied acts of translation introducing new understandings of how working inter-culturally with Shakespeare’s texts can allow different stories to be told.

Although the dominant meaning of virtue today concerns human ethical capacity, the word had a much broader scope in Aristotle’s natural philosophy and in early-modern herbal and agricultural literature. This chapter tackles this ecological sense of “vertue” (as it was often spelled in the period), unpacking the resilient force it named in natural matter and the skill and virtue of stewardship it solicited from the humans entangled in its management in household, garden, or apothecary. As this chapter shows through readings of examples from Shakespeare, early modern practical texts, and modern environmental thinking, stewardship and resilience promise to capture the skills and virtues of household management in its broadest sense, to include care for the oikos shared by human and nonhuman creatures and systems – especially, in contemporary settings, in times of catastrophe. As keywords of contemporary environmental ethics, however, they have also been criticized for individualizing environmental virtue, undermining necessary structural change in favor of personal care and tenacity. This chapter suggests we might clarify this debate through a return to early modern vertues, by engaging the powers of nonhuman virtues and the legacy of these mixed and distributed agencies in the present.

Well-designed markets and public-sector actions can promote climate-resilient agriculture and improve livelihood opportunities for farmers. To enable small-scale farmers to access appropriate technologies, agronomic services, and markets while fostering rural industrialisation, countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa have created geographically focused, transformative commodity value-chain clusters. In addition, novel initiatives to incentivise the adoption of sustainable practices have demonstrated potential to contribute to food-system transformation. For example, private-sector co-investments with small and medium-sized enterprises and farmer cooperatives aim to accelerate financial inclusion and scale climate-resilient agriculture. National policy adoption of low-emissions practices, such as alternate wetting and drying, supports innovations in rice systems. Together, the public sector and privately driven initiatives can build markets that are advantageous for small-scale farmers and lessen their risks.

This chapter introduces health recovery processes, recommending realistic engagements backed by appropriate conceptual tools. Direct experience supported by the literature warns against linear narratives, ready-made solutions and missions accomplished! The nature of stresses and shocks, and their influence on health systems is discussed. The politics of transition and its implications are highlighted. Situation analysis, debate, and proposed intervention as the main drivers of a sound recovery process are reviewed. A situation analysis covers patterns, trends, and resource levels across a disrupted healthcare landscape including appraisal of vulnerabilities and strengths. An informed, contextualised debate regarding political settlement, demography, economy, privatisation, and urbanisation is needed with all stakeholders. Supporting health recovery processes entails seizing opportunities, while containing harmful drives. Realistic strategies and effective measures must be negotiated with overambitious stakeholders. The chapter concludes with advice on designing, managing, and evaluating recovery-oriented interventions, and readings to deepen the study of health recovery processes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that: 1) there is no single ‘cookie-cutter approach’ to health systems strengthening, and 2) health systems must be significantly more holistic and equitable. This chapter examines the global spread of COVID-19 and its impacts on health systems and communities. By analysing public health gaps and challenges in L&MICs, the authors provide concrete examples of innovations and interventions that were effective in responding to the pandemic. It explores how different health systems across L&MICs and HICs can be better equipped to mitigate health emergencies and maintain routine health services by leveraging a range of essential public health functions, primary health care, and risk management capacities. Health systems resilience is only possible when systems thinking is operationalized and aligned with the wider SDGs. There is a case for multisectoral engagement in mounting a comprehensive health systems response to COVID-19 at the national and global levels. The chapter offers lessons on why strengthening health systems -- through integrated investments and with equity and resilience as key objectives – is key to sustainably achieving health security and universal health coverage.

This chapter explores concepts of service delivery including coverage, provision of health care, processes and inputs involved in delivery of services, and the requirements for good quality care in low and middle-income countries (L&MICs). Health service delivery models are organized in diverse ways that encompass the levels of care, location and platforms, as well as vertical and horizontal modes of integration, and personal and non-personal services. Several key characteristics and enablers are markers of high-quality health services and when adhered to lead to favourable health outcomes. The community’s preferences and demand with regard to what services to provide is key to building their trust. Essential packages for defining health services should be needs-based, incorporating the disease burden, ensuring quality, coverage and utilization needed to have good health outcomes. The pursuit of Universal Health Coverage requires Primary Health Care as the foundation of health systems in L&MICs, equity in services provision, as well as good information and monitoring systems.