Dr Suzanne Phibbs

This project will consolidate and add to knowledge about resilient communities in New Zealand, across the continuum of hazard mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery -with a particular focus on indigenous knowledge. Building on research on the Canterbury earthquakes, the Rena oil spill, responses to economic shocks, and recovery from natural hazard events the research will investigate post-disaster community resilience in urban, rural and Maori communities: a large urban area (Christchurch City) a secondary urban area of Kaiapoi and amongst Ng?i Tahu; the resilience of a mostly rural community to climatic events such as droughts and floods (Central Hawke¿s Bay District); and the resilience of a small, predominantly M?ori community, to economic shocks (Murupara). The research team will work with each community to explore and document existing experiences and knowledge, towards informing emergency planning and disaster management. This will incorporate a number of embedded institutions. Research partnerships with these communities are likely to highlight particular perspectives such as a dependence of the individual on the whole, social connectedness (whakapapa and wh?naungatanga), and responsibilities for guardianship of the environment (kaitiakitanga). Stakeholder reference groups will provide cultural advice and support for research processes. Combinations of hui, interviews and focus groups will be used to gauge communities¿ understandings of characteristics and attributes of resilient communities, what they can do to help build a resilient community, and how they can improve a community¿s resilience. Douglas Paton¿s eight domains of resilience will be used as a framework for developing a New Zealand specific model of community resilience factors. Community research partners will make recommendations on the development of measures for facilitating and evaluating community resilience, and the dissemination of research findings to key institutions.