There are two features that distinguish this panarchy representation from traditional hierarchical ones. The first, is the importance of the alpha phase within a level as the engine of variety and the generator of new experiments. The second is the connections between levels labeled as Revolt and Remember on the adjacent figure, where three levels of an hierarchy are represented.

The Revolt and Remember connections become important at times of change. When a level in the panarchy enters its omega phase and experiences a collapse, that collapse can cascade to the next larger and slower level by triggering a crisis, particularly if that level is at the K phase where resilience is low.

This effect is shown by the Revolt arrow - the situation where fast and small events overwhelm slow and large ones. An ecological example of this situation occurs when a ground fire in a forest spreads to the crown of a tree, then to a patch in the forest and then to a whole stand of trees before it is finally extinguished. Each step in that cascade moves the transformation to a larger and slower level. For societal issues, an example would be when local activist groups succeed in efforts to transform regional institutions and politics. Such a change occurred in New Brunswick when small groups opposed to spraying insecticide over the forest, succeeded in changing regional forest management policies and practices (Baskerville, 1995).

The arrow labeled Remember indicates the second type of cross-scale interaction important at times of change and renewal. Once a catastrophe is triggered at a level, the opportunities and constraints for its renewal are strongly organized by the K-phase of the next slower and larger level. After a fire in an ecosystem, for example, the larger level slows the leakage of accumulated capital of nutrients that have been mobilized and released into the soil. And the options for renewal draw upon the accumulated seed bank and physical structure that has accumulated during the growth of the forest. It is as if this connection draws upon the accumulated wisdom and experience of maturity- hence the choice of the word Remember. It is what Stewart Brand (1994) describes in his marvelous treatment of buildings as adaptive, hierarchical entities. The mature evolved buildings of lasting character are a reflection of seasoned maturity - an accumulation of idiosyncratic, wise, sustaining and thought-provoking experience expressed in the form and content of the evolved structure.

Two kinds of connections between are critical in creating and sustaining adaptive capability. One is the "revolt" connection that can cause a critical change in one cycle to cascade up to a vulnerable stage in a larger and slower one. The other is the "remember" connection that facilitates renewal by drawing on the potential that has been accumulated and stored in a larger, slower cycle.

"Revolt" may take place when a level in the panarchy enters its omega phase of collapse. The collapse can cascade up to the next larger and slower level by triggering a crisis, particularly if the higher level is at the K phase where resilience is low. This effect could cascade to still higher and slower levels if those levels had accumulated vulnerabilities and rigidities. In "revolt" fast and small events overwhelm slow and large ones.

"Remember" may take place when a level in the panarchy is in its indeterminate alpha phase, and the configuration of the next higher level is in a stable K phase which provides the context for the self-organization of the lower or embedded system in a similar configuration as that held by its previous incarnation. In this sense the higher level of the panarchy contributes a memory to the lower one.

There are potentially multiple connections between phases of the adaptive cycle at one level and phases at another level.  Two of these are particularly significant in the search for the generative dynamics of sustainability, namely the connections that we have named "Revolt" and "Remember".

When a level in the panarchy enters its phase of creative destruction and experiences a collapse, that collapse can cascade up to the next larger and slower level by triggering a crisis, particularly if that level is at the K phase where resilience is low.  The "Revolt" connection represents this effect - where fast and small events overwhelm slow and large ones.  The revolt effect could cascade to still higher slower levels if those levels had accumulated vulnerabilities and rigidities.

An ecological example of this situation occurs when conditions in a forest allows for a local ignition to create a small ground fire that spreads to the crown of a tree, then to a patch in the forest and then to a whole stand of trees. Each step in that cascade moves the transformation to a larger and slower level. A societal example occurs when local activist groups succeed in efforts to transform regional organizations and institutions, because they had become broadly vulnerable. Such a change occurred in New Brunswick when small groups opposed to spraying insecticide over the forest succeeded in transforming increasingly vulnerable regional forest management policies and practices as part of a slowly unrolling saga of lurching understanding- both scientific and political.

The second type of cross-scale interaction, which is also important at times of change and renewal, is the connection  called "Remember." 

Once a catastrophe (omega stage of the adaptive cycle) has been triggered at a given level, the opportunities and constraints for the renewal of the cycle are strongly organized by the K-phase of the next slower and larger level.  After a fire in an ecosystem, for example, processes and resources accumulated at a larger level slow the leakage of released nutrients into the soil.  Additonally, the options for renewal draw upon the seed bank, physical structures and surviving species , that form biotic legacies.  It is as if this connection draws upon the accumulated wisdom and experiences of maturity - hence the choice of the word "Remember".

Remember also serves a valuable function in social systems. In a healthy society each level is allowed to operate at its own pace, protected from above by slower, larger levels but invigorated from below by faster, smaller cycles of innovation.

Both Revolt and Remember connections become important at times of change in the adaptive cycles.

Example:

The history of water management in the Everglades can help highlight some aspects of the panarchy model, especially around up (revolt) and down (remember) scale processes.
The cascading or up scaling of crises at one level to a larger level is described as revolt processes in the panarchy model. The positive feedbacks of the temporal processes intersecting with the broader scale connections create this rapid upscaling. In these Everglades crises, the social constructs seem to amplify and resonate with deep-seated myths or beliefs about the system. For example, the myth of a 'fragile' Everglades ecosystem appears to be reinforced by media stories. The propagation of such social constructs seem to provide the upscaling phenomenon.   Mass media provide the matrix by which these events cascade across scale and are spread to wider audiences.  So perhaps one of the keys as to why some ecological crises, and not others, played key roles in crystallizing deep social changes is that they were rapidly shifted to larger scales and created a larger arena in which alternative futures were determined.

But there is something missing, that we can only identify for future research, as to what makes these larger systems vulnerable at some times and not at others. Another difficulty in this analysis is that the revolt and remember events in social systems are more difficult to pinpoint due to unclear bounds of social structures across scales.

If indeed these identified crises were events of revolt, the resulting solutions to the crises were also linked to broader and larger scale structures and processes. That is, as the crises were scaled to larger scale venues, then suddenly the resources at those larger scales became available for solutions at the local or smaller scale. This is clearly the case in all of the crises in the Everglades since the 1920's, where federal resources or capital were brought to bear to resolve the local surprise.  The remembrance process - tapping in to capital at larger scales - has been critical in both creating and confining options for renewal in Everglades policy following smaller scale crises that revealed the inadequacies of that policy.

(adapted by P. Bunnell, 2002 from C. S. Holling, L. H. Gunderson and G. D. Peterson, 2002)

C. S. Holling, L. H. Gunderson and G. D. Peterson, Sustainability and Panarchies, p. 63-102 in Gunderson and Holling (eds.), 2002, Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems, Washington: Island Press

L. H. Gunderson, C. S. Holling and G. D. Peterson, Surprises and Sustainability: Cycles of Renewal in the Everglades, p. 315-332 in Gunderson and Holling (eds.), 2002, Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems, Washington: Island Press