This paper synthesises returned-to terms, concepts and themes used throughout the book. Building on how the authors of the book have utilized central terms and concepts, we discuss six of the dominant terms (resilience, vulnerability, disasters, hazards, sustainability, and hunter-gatherers/small-scale societies). Through this, a need for continued inter-disciplinary conversations and acknowledgement of these terms’ origins and research histories are emphasised. The multiple stories that this book has given voice to are also addressed, rooted in the various sources and methods used in the case studies that span a wide geographical scene (from Scandinavia to Japan), and offer a truly deep-time perspective (ranging from recent disasters to challenges with climate change in the Epi-Palaeolithic). The chapter closes with some future aspirations and lessons for working with human-environment interactions on different scales and more general implications for the possible role of small-scale decision-making for living well with environmental and climate change.