WEBINAR: Law and Disasters – An Auckland Volcanic Field case study

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10 April 2024

Are we prepared for disasters? As a nation we have a history of pushing through emergency legislation in the wake of natural hazard events to govern our emergency response. This has led to an expectation that post-event bespoke frameworks will be introduced to manage post-disaster recovery. Is there a better way? Instead of treating disasters as individual hazards, should we treat them as a pattern of events and legislate accordingly?

Join us as we hear from experts to explore Aotearoa New Zealand’s current legal frameworks and the impacts these have on our ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural hazard events.

Using an Auckland Volcanic Field eruption scenario based on the latest science, we’ll identify the challenges of managing disaster risk, examine the impacts of our current reactionary approach to disaster law, and explore possible alternatives.

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Webinar Speakers

John Hopkins

University of Canterbury

John is a Professor of Comparative Public Law who specialises in disaster law and sub-national governance. He is the Director of the LEAD Institute of Law Emergencies and Disasters at the University of Canterbury Faculty of Law and a theme leader with QuakeCoRE Te Hiranga Rū (the NZ Centre for Earthquake Resilience). His research into the field of law and disasters has included work with the European Commission, the International Federation of the Red Cross and the New Zealand National Science Challenges to examine international and national approaches to hazard management in New Zealand, and overseas.

Jan Lindsay

University of Auckland

Jan is Professor of Volcanology in the School of Environment at Waipapa Taumata Rau | the University of Auckland. She has previously held positions at GNS Science in Taupō; the GeoResearch Centre (GFZ) in Potsdam, Germany; and the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, and is a Past President of the Geoscience Society of New Zealand and a past Vice President of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI). Jan has worked on numerous projects in the broad area of volcanic geology, hazard and risk in Aotearoa New Zealand, Chile, the Lesser Antilles, Hawai’i and Saudi Arabia, and co-leads the long-standing Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland (DEVORA) research programme.

Holly Faulkner

University of Canterbury

Holly is a research associate for the Institute of Law, Emergencies and Disasters (LEAD). She is currently completing her PhD looking at legal preparedness for large-scale urban disasters, using the Auckland Volcanic Field as a case study. Holly has been involved in law and disaster projects for the last couple of years and has recently co-published an article looking at European Union disaster mechanisms ("To the RescEU? Disaster Risk Management as a Driver for European Integration"). Holly also works as the administrator for LEAD and the International Disaster Emergency and Law Network (IDEAL).