SURVIVING FUTURE DISASTERS IN NEW ZEALAND: CURRENT RESEARCH AND POLICY DIRECTIONS

New Zealand is vulnerable to a wide range of potentially devastating impacts from diverse natural hazard phenomena. Although New Zealanders have been subject to significant earthquakes in the distant past (e.g.1931 Napier earthquake) we have had a relatively calm period over the past 78 years. The fact that few New Zealanders have experienced disastrous hazard events is a good thing. The downside, however, is the resulting complacency and limited understanding of natural hazard risk. The benefits of improved risk awareness include: increased support for risk reduction activities, increased readiness and response capacity and a capability to recover from events in an efficient manner and in a way that contributes to the future social capital of the country. Furthermore, building these capabilities at individual and community levels can reduce our economic exposure to future natural hazards. Much inherent strength lies within communities and this can and should be harnessed to improve resilience. The active involvement of formal and informal community networks in hazard education and other mitigation activities has been shown to be a key predictor of preparedness. The increasing complexity of our society will require improved capacity and capability across all areas of emergency management. There is a compelling and urgent need to develop more effective strategies for surviving future disasters in New Zealand.