Professor Daniel Aldrich recently spoke on campus on the role of social capital and building resilience to disasters.
Here’s a good blog post on Daniel’s work…
Social Capital and Disaster Recovery
In two weeks I’m off to attend a UN conference on DRR held in Geneva May 19-23.
I’ll be speaking in the ‘Engaging Indigenous People in Disaster Risk Reduction‘ session, Wednesday 22 along with several other researchers. A few of my Lincoln colleagues will also be attending, and along with other NZers we’ve been invited the Hon. Nickki Kaye – Minister of Civil Defence - to an evening at the NZ Embassy.
A very interesting report on Cantabrian wellbeing post-disaster, click on link below…
All Right research summary (April 2013)
Little on Maori, apart from the following two bullet points:
- For older Maori and Pacifica, positive supports for wellbeing included wide family and community networks and a strong sense of faith.
- Younger Maori and Pacific participants had less opportunity to socialise, and had financial problems and anxiety about the earthquakes.
…which echo our own research and continue to build the picture of people still struggling in the third year of this post-disaster environment here in Otautahi/Christchurch.
Broader findings are for a campaign to:
- Emphasise that it is okay and acceptable to be concerned about one’s mental health, or in other words, normalise mental health.
- Provide people with the tools to assist with improving their mental health.
- Provide within a credible context examples of processes that have worked for people under similar circumstances
- Move people away from the tangible issues that are ‘beyond their control’ and shift them to a new mindset where they are ‘empowered’.
A new report out on Building Community Resilience by Louise Thornley, Jude Ball, Louise Signal, Keri Lawson-Te Aho, and Emma Rawson. Maori are one key participant group.
The report identifies four common influences on community resilience:
- pre-existing community connectedness and community infrastructure
- community participation in disaster response and recovery
- community engagement in official decision-making, and
- external support from organisations and authorities outside the community.
Access the full report here: Building Community Resilience Report (March 2013)
I’m taking part in a Session at the upcoming Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, May 19-24. A draft programme has been put together by John Scott (Tlingit) of the Center for Public Service Communications.
- Introduction and welcoming remarks by John C. Scott.
- “Challenges of DRR among indigenous populations residing in urban settings.” Graciala Ortuza, Mayor, Lampa, Chile
- Analucy Bengochea, member of GROOTS (Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood) and Coordinator of the Community Practitioner Platform on Resilience in Honduras, C.A.
- “Best practices by indigenous communities in reducing risk to disasters.” Speaker, Dr. Simon Lambert, Faculty of Environment, Society, and Design, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
Something that comes up in conversations around earthquakes, especially with pet lovers, is whether animals can sense on imminent earthquake. This paper by Masashi Hayakawa finds a plausible explanation in the presence of lower frequency (ULF (ultra-low-frequency, f ≤ 1 Hz) and ELF (extremely-low-frequency, f ≤ a few hundreds Hz)) electromagnetic emissions evident before earthquakes.
Masashi Hayakawa (2013)
As I’ve done before, I’m posting a bibliography of the articles and research that we’ve used to inform our own work. Let me know if any of the links have broken, or if you think there’s something important I’m missing.
Continue reading →
Melanie and I are presenting our research to a Nga Kete e Toru presentation in Lincoln University library, March 20th, starting a 2:30 pm.
Nga Ketu e Toru
Melanie Shadbolt and Amanda Black were interviewed about our earthquake work by Te Karere on the second anniversary of the February event. Just click on the link below…
http://youtu.be/TZ_OZqFv128
Kia ora koutou,
Last year we took part in Nga Pae o te Maramatanga’s International Indigenous Development Research Conference and presented several papers. Copies of two of our earthquake-related work are now linked below, as is another paper I presented on Maori and innovation.
Indigenous resilience through urban disaster: the Maori response to the 2010 and 2011 Christchurch/Otautahi earthquakes
Maori experiences and expressions of leadership through the Christchurch/Otautahi earthquakes
Innovation, Maori and the Maori economy
Grafitti on the old Knox Church, corner Victoria St and Bealey Ave...
