Multi-Level Resilience

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State Phase 1
Duration 2014 - 2019
Project Leader(s)
University of Canterbury

Project Summary

The Multi-Level Resilience project worked in partnership with end-users to co-produce multi-hazard resilience measures for critical infrastructure and isolated communities.

One aspect of the project (led by then PhD candidate Alastair Davies) focused on increasing the disaster resilience of potentially isolated rural communities through a participatory governance approach. Community members, practitioners, policymakers and researchers co-created an earthquake impacts scenario, allowing them all to better understand the likely disruption that would result from disaster damage to distributed infrastructure networks, and to make decisions to reduce both that disruption and the social consequences of it. Through this approach, Franz Josef community members, infrastructure providers and emergency managers have enhanced practical measures to reduce impacts and improve readiness, response and recovery for major natural hazard events in the West Coast region of New Zealand. Meanwhile, the research team also published a paper summarising the impacts of the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake on South Island transport which showed that infrastructure failure can be the primary cause of disaster loss in a New Zealand context.

A second aspect of the research (led by then PhD candidate Tyler Barton) explored the vulnerabilities and capacities of rural regions in responding to disasters. Experiences and insights gained from rural residents and emergency managers following the November 2016 Kaikōura earthquake were used as an example of how co-seismic and multi-dimensional hazards affect rural businesses and communities. The research also explored how the compounding effects of North Canterbury’s pre-existing multi-year drought coupled with the 2016 Mw7.8 earthquake severely impacted the livelihoods of farmers and rural residents. Tyler’s research highlights the critical importance of ensuring that rural needs, priorities, and perspectives are considered in future rural disaster responses, and are included in official disaster risk reduction efforts at all levels.

Resources from this project

Article

Exploring disaster resilience within the hotel sector: A case study of Wellington and Hawke’s Bay New Zealand

Nancy A. Brown, Shirley Feldmann-Jensen, Jane E. Rovins, Caroline Orchiston, David Johnston, Exploring disaster resilience within the hotel sector: A case study of Wellington and…

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Article

Edited Special Issue: Tercentenary of the 1717 AD Alpine Fault earthquake: advances in science and understanding hazards.

Upton P, Cochran U, Orchiston C, Howarth J, Pettinga J, Townend J. 2018. Tercentenary of the 1717 AD Alpine Fault earthquake: advances in science and…

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Article

Quantifying risk to agriculture from volcanic ashfall: a case study from the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Thompson MA, Lindsay JM, Wilson TM, Biass S, Sandri L. 2017. Quantifying risk to agriculture from volcanic ashfall: a case study from the Bay of…

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Article

Near-real-time modeling of landslide impacts to inform rapid response: An example from the 2016 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake

Robinson TR, Rosser NJ, Davies TRH, Wilson TM, Orchiston C. 2018. Near‐real‐time modeling of landslide impacts to inform rapid response: an example from the 2016…

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Article

Project AF8: Multi-agency response planning and community resilience initiative

Orchiston C, Wilson T, Mitchell J, Johnston D. 2018. Project AF8: multi-agency response planning and community resilience initiative. In. Integrating science, engineering, & policy: 11th…

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Article

The work-sociology of academic aeromobility at remote institutions: Networks, co-presence and proximity.

Higham JES, Hopkins D, Orchiston C. 2019. The work-sociology of academic aeromobility at remote institutions. Mobilities. 14(5):612-631. doi:10.1080/17450101.2019.1589727.

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Article

Superseding sustainability: Conceptualising sustainability and resilience in response to the new challenges of tourism development.

Espiner S, Higham J, Orchiston C. 2019. Superseding sustainability: conceptualising sustainability and resilience in response to the new challenges of tourism development. In: McCool SF,…

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Article

Post-disaster social capital, adaptive resilience and business performance of tourism organisations in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Chowdhury M, Prayag G, Orchiston C, Spector S. 2019. Postdisaster social capital, adaptive resilience and business performance of tourism organizations in Christchurch, New Zealand. Journal…

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Article

An integrative framework for investigating resilience within the hotel sector.

Brown NA, Orchiston C, Rovins JE, Feldmann-Jensen S, Johnston D. 2018. An integrative framework for investigating disaster resilience within the hotel sector. Journal of Hospitality…

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