The concept of resilience has recently become popularized in the field of sustainable development, especially as it relates to climate change. However, only the notion of resilience from an ecological perspective is commonly discussed, while the discourse on human security is often omitted. To date little has been done to merge these two concepts in the field to assess systems that are vulnerable to climate change. This paper will provide a theoretical framework that researchers may use to identify potential upstream and downstream factors (i.e. social, environmental and economic) to assess resilience, and in turn watershed health and environmental security in the Vu-Gia-Thu-Bon (VGTB) basin in central Vietnam in the future. It will draw upon previous work in the Cham Island Marine Protected Area and Hoi An City where researchers have started to use the concept of resilience to demonstrate the relationship between coastal cities and ocean environments that are currently coping with the impacts of climate change. Ultimately, it will result in a framework to assess climate change and local livelihoods through the lens of ecological resilience and environmental security in the context of Vietnam.