We’re thinking of all those affected by the extreme weather events in the North Island.
The Resilience Challenge mission to accelerate our resilience to natural hazards is more urgent than ever.
We have collated our relevant research together in one place, to provide guidance to agencies and organisations involved in the recovery, and knowledge and tools to support our collective resilience-building so we are better prepared for the next big storm.
We will continue to add resources to this section as we develop them. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please contact us and we’ll see if we can help.
Floods are inevitable. Flood disasters are not
Challenge Director Richard Smith discusses how the many previous decisions we make as a society determine whether a natural hazard event turns into a disaster.
Ethical Guidelines for Post-Disaster Research
Guidance for researchers, scientists, and engineers collecting data in disaster-impacted areas, especially if interacting directly with affected communities.
Communications and Warnings
Impact-based severe weather warnings for Aotearoa New Zealand
Our Weather & Wildfire researchers Dr Richard Turner (NIWA) and social scientists Dr Sally Potter and Dr Sara Harrison (GNS Science) introduce impact-based weather warnings.
Better resilience to weather with impact-based warnings
Build Magazine article explaining impact-based weather warnings and how their incorporation of community exposure and vulnerability make severe weather warnings more useful for decision-making.
The benefits and challenges of implementing impact-based severe weather warning systems: Perspectives of weather, flood, and emergency management personnel
What are the challenges and benefits of implementing impact-based forecast and warning systems? We asked participants from New Zealand and international agencies to find out.
Identifying the Impact-Related Data Uses and Gaps for Hydrometeorological Impact Forecasts and Warnings.
There is a growing need for vulnerability and exposure data to inform impact-based forecasts and warnings, especially for social and health impacts, not just infrastructure.
Modelling Impacts
Transformed: Cyclone Gabrielle’s devastation viewed from space
Associate Professor Murray Ford of the University of Auckland shares the changes seen pre- and post-Cyclone Gabrielle as his team maps Aotearoa's changing shoreline.
Pre- and Post-Gabrielle coastline mapping data
View digitised coastlines from our Changing Shoreline project team, based on aerial photographs and high resolution satellite imagery taken prior to Cyclone Gabrielle, and after.
New landslides tool helps in Cyclone Gabrielle response
We've helped GNS Science develop a new landslides modelling tool that was used in the response phase to Cyclone Gabrielle.
Adaptation planning
Who moves and who pays? Managed retreat is hard, but lessons from the past can guide us
In this op-ed from The Conversation, Raven Cretney, Iain White and Christina Hanna of the University of Waikato share their latest research on managed retreat.
Q&A: Cyclone Gabrielle’s biggest climate lessons for NZ
Jamie Morton of NZ Herald speaks to three of our key research leaders about lessons from recent extreme weather events in the North Island.
Explained: What is ‘managed retreat’ and how may it be used in NZ?
Dr Christina Hanna talked to Herald science reporter Jamie Morton about the inevitability of moving our most vulnerable communities out of harm's way.
Coastal risks can be reduced now
In Build Magazine, Sylvia Allan, Larissa Clarke and Dr Judy Lawrence discuss the barriers and opportunities to enable adaptation to coastal flooding and erosion.
Climate services transformed: Decision-making practice for the coast in a changing climate
Reducing coastal exposure and vulnerability requires a transformation in the development and delivery of climate services, and an understanding of the decision-making and policy context.
Preparing for Sea-Level Rise through Adaptive Managed Retreat of a New Zealand Stormwater and Wastewater Network
Can these networks continue to be adapted/protected over time to retain Levels of Service, or will retreat eventually be the only viable adaptation option?
A Decade of Dynamic Adaptive Decision-making tools in New Zealand – Practice applications, lessons learned and next steps
Summary of a symposium held in March 2023 to mark 10 years since New Zealand introduced dynamic adaptive pathways planning approaches for addressing climate change.
Kaupapa Māori approaches to adaptation
Māori cultural sites among most vulnerable to climate change, rising sea levels
Newshub | 27 March, 2023 Of nearly 800 marae situated across Aotearoa, 80% are built on low-lying coastal land or flood-prone rivers, but moving away…
Threading the basket of knowledge: The role of iwi and hapū management plans for natural hazard research design
This report outlines how to use Iwi and Hapū Management Plans - a useful starting point to inform research and engagement with iwi and hapū.
Indigenous Responses to Natural Hazard Events
Drawing upon case studies from Aotearoa and Fiji, the authors outline how indigenous disaster risk reduction knowledge and practices can complement Western scientific knowledge.
Mapping coastal marae and urupā
Challenge-funded student Akuhata Bailey-Winiata outlines his research examining the exposure of coastal marae and urupā to sea-level rise.
Infrastructure
Resilience of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Built Environment
An overview of our research to build resilience across New Zealand's vertical infrastructure (buildings) and horizontal infrastructure (utility networks).
A geospatial assessment of critical infrastructure impacts and adaptations in small rural towns following the 14 November 2016 (Kaikōura) earthquake, New Zealand
Researchers explore critical infrastructure challenges and impacts, service disruptions, and community adaptations in the small rural town of Waiau following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake.
The role of data and information exchanges in transport system disaster recovery: a New Zealand case study
How did the transport system respond following the Kaikōura earthquake, and how did information flow and feed into in post-disaster decision making?
Transport infrastructure performance and management in the South Island of New Zealand, during the first 100 days following the 2016 mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake
This paper examines the response and early recovery phases during the first 100 days following the Kaikōura earthquake, and highlights lessons for transportation system resilience.
Recovery
Business recovery from disasters: Lessons from natural hazards and the COVID-19 pandemic.
This paper provides a framework for business recovery to support policy-makers to anticipate business recovery needs in economically disruptive events, including disasters.
The road to recovery: Reimagining Kaikōura after a natural disaster
This research critically analyses the process and stages of recovery for the Kaikōura tourism industry, with lessons for other rural tourist destinations facing natural hazard risk.
Guide to Disaster Recovery Capitals (ReCap)
A resource from the Recovery Capitals (ReCap) project providing evidence-based guidance enabling strengths-based, holistic and inclusive approaches to disaster recovery.
Recovery Capitals: a collaborative approach to post-disaster guidance
This case study critically analyses the development of the "Recovery Capitals Framework" to inform future inclusive, holistic and evidence-based disaster recovery efforts.
Vulnerable people
Social Vulnerability in Disasters: Who is being left out of our efforts to prepare for disasters?
A research team is investigating the impacts of disasters on vulnerable lives, including homeless people, low socio-economic renters, migrant communities and people who inject drugs.
Ensuring access to needle exchange services in disasters
This study looks at the experience of people who inject drugs on the West Coast to understand how disasters impact their access to safe equipment.
Community engagement
Engaging with Communities for Climate Change Adaptation
Researchers recommend new approaches to engaging with communities exposed to natural hazard risks, to enable successful adaptation.